A ‘Feel Good’ African Brand Built by an African Woman
Inside the C-Suite, Episode 4. Wandia Gichuru, Co-Founder of Vivo Activewear
Co-founder of Vivo Activewear, Wandia Gichuru is proof that you are in control of your destiny and can always change your path in life. Her amazing story sees her saying goodbye to the corporate world and starting from scratch to build a new and exciting retail business.
Wandia’s warm and friendly personality makes listening to her story a real pleasure. She’s passionate about her products and rightly proud of the positive impact her business is having on the local economy. Listeners will not only find themselves becoming inspired by her optimistic manner but can learn a great deal from the incredibly insightful way she breaks down relevant business concepts.
EPISODE SUMMARY
0:40 — Lucky number 13
The podcast opens up with a salute to the day’s triumph!
1:28 — “I chose to go into something completely different”
Wandia touches on her background and the feeling of restlessness she experienced from life as an employee. Needing a change, she explains how she spotted a business opportunity and started to make things happen.
5:18— “We wanted to be accessible”
Wandia talks pricing strategies and how important it was for her to target the right demographic.
6:22 — Sourcing the goods
Wandia outlines how Vivo has shifted to producing in Kenya and is gradually trying to source more materials locally. “Ultimately, our vision is to be an entirely African brand.”
8:16 — Attracting talent
It’s not always easy for a smaller business to attract talented employees. Wandia discusses some of the challenges she faces as an employer.
9:52 — “Do you have to print that?”
Running your own business is a totally different experience to that of working for a company. Wandia talks us through her transition, giving intriguing insights into just how tough it can be… Especially when you have the responsibility to pay the wages of over 100 employees.
13:27 —“It’s about the impact that it can have”
Wandia shares her experience of being part of the Stanford Seed Program, mentioning an inspirationally pivotal moment that opened up her perception of what could be possible. This gave her a renewed sense of responsibility to the greater community.
17:05 — Location location location!
Wandia explains how choosing the right location was the initial key that would set Vivo up for success.
19:57 — “What we want to work towards is being able to meet the client… Wherever the client is”
After coming to terms with their lack of online sales, Wandia talks us through how the Vivo business model has been adapted to ‘better fit’ the customer.
24:24 — The expansion plan
Wandia outlines how the business has expanded outside of its home city of Nairobi and how this has changed the way they do things.
26:02 — Sharing the wealth… A marriage with an arranged divorce
Unlike many startups, Vivo didn’t go down the private equity route when it was time to raise capital. Wandia explains the path she took and why it was a better fit for the owners of Vivo.
32:18 —“In a board you don’t talk about that… You talk about this!”
The owners of Vivo wanted to establish a board very early on. Wandia discusses how she did this, the impact it’s had on the business culture, and the benefits an independent board can bring to the table.
“Some companies start with a clear vision. I can’t say that we were one of those”
Introducing Wandia Gichuru
Before catching the entrepreneurial bug, Wandia had already forged a successful career for herself. Having worked for the likes of Citigroup and the World Bank, her professional life appeared to be going just right. However, like many of her peers, she found herself becoming restless with the lifestyle of being an employee and began to question if it was the right fit for her.
In a drive to obtain more freedom and independence, she made the decision to leave the corporate world behind her. In 2011, she established Vivo Activewear in Nairobi, along with a friend and co-founder Anne-Marie Burugu. Having grown the business to 13 stores and now with over 100 employees on the payroll, her story is a glowing example of quitting the day job, finding your passion and building a successful business.
The Journey of Vivo
1. Identifying the gap
Inspiration comes in many forms and Wandia happened to find her renewed calling in life when she was enjoying a few dance classes in her spare time with a friend. After trying to buy some sporty clothing to wear for the classes, she couldn’t find anything appropriate on the market. That’s when she realized there was an opportunity. As she explains it, “there’s a gap clearly, because we can’t find what we’re looking for, there must be others like us, who are struggling. And, we convinced ourselves that there was enough of a growing community who was interested in dance and fitness to warrant a business being set up.”
Yet, despite her formal education and many years of working for large organizations, Wandia didn’t start out by drafting up a strategic business plan as you may expect. “Some companies start with a very clear vision. I can’t say we were one of those!” Describing themselves as naive in the early days, the fellow co-founders made a lot of assumptions, using a blend of common sense and trial and error to find what worked. They were clear on one thing, however: “we wanted to be accessible… Can the people who work in the malls where we have shops come and buy in our shop?” She explains “we priced first, and then we sourced based on knowing that we must work within this price point.” After establishing their first store in a prime mall location, the scene was set and the business has continued to grow organically ever since.
2. Learning to grow
Despite earning an MBA and gaining an incredible wealth of experience, Wandia was a relative newcomer when it came to being an entrepreneur. Her belief in what she was doing, combined with the ability to adapt and learn has allowed Vivo to continue growing organically, despite not having a clear vision to work towards.
When starting the business, Wandia explains “the plan was to do it only online. We were just going to set up a website and put posters up and advertise on Facebook”. However, it soon became apparent that before buying clothing, a customer would want to try the items on. “And so, we then completely moved to a storefront type strategy”.
During a rigorous interview process to access an entrepreneurial network, Wandia was repeatedly questioned as to why Vivo was severely neglecting its online sales potential. Her response was to adapt the business model once again, modernizing its approach to suit the customer. “And so we started to be a lot more flexible. So now we don’t insist that you pay upfront… Let us bring it to you and you can try it… In fact, we’ll bring you two or three options and see which one you like better. We will bring every single payment option to you.”
Big business ambitions usually come with a need for extra finance. Not wanting to compromise her freedom and independence, Wandia rejected the idea of private equity funding. She explains “if we’re gonna sell equity now, I don’t know if I want to do it with a group of people who may have quite a different sort of timeline and approach to the business.” Her solution was to offer shares to friends and family. This allowed her to raise enough capital to grow, without the external pressures and rigorous reporting requirements
that often come with institutional investors. Setting up a board has also been instrumental to Vivo’s growth. Wandia recognized the benefit of having an independent perspective and it’s continued to serve the business well.
3. A bigger responsibility
Wandia decided to become part of the Stanford Seed Program, an excellent initiative dedicated to helping businesses grow in poverty-impacted countries. While attending day-one of the course, she had what she describes as her “Stanford goose-bump experience”. An impactful talk about mission, vision and purpose from a Stanford Professor suddenly had her “connecting the dots” and Wandia came to realize the greater impact that her growing company could have on the local community. For example:
- The company now has over 100 employees. Wandia knows that every shilling paid in wages not only helps the employee, but also several other people who are depending on the employee. Creating so many jobs comes with incredible responsibility. As she puts it “…100 people who will not pay their rent or school fees next month if you don’t pay their salary.”
- Despite an early strategy of importing from foreign lands, Vivo now makes 50% of its items in-house and tries to limit the amount of goods being imported. This has been a terrific boost to the local economy and community, producing even more jobs.
Vivo really is a ‘feel good’ brand that sells functional, yet vibrant women’s clothing, all while helping to support its local community, with Wandia affirming “ultimately, the vision is for it to be an entirely African brand.”
Takeaways
Wandia Gichuru is the perfect example of what you can achieve with the right mindset. Her entrepreneurial journey is one of growth and adaptation, full of learning experiences. Here are some of the key takeaways from this podcast:
- “A lot of us had very good careers, but wanted something else…”
Despite having achieved success in the corporate world, Wandia found herself in the same situation as many of her peers, feeling there was more to life. She didn’t continue down an unfulfilling career path and directed her time and energy towards something she really cared about. - “There’s a gap clearly, because we can’t find what we’re looking for”
Wandia was enjoying some dance classes with a friend and when she couldn’t find any appropriate sports clothing on the market. At its most fundamental level, entrepreneurship is about fulfilling a need that’s not being met. And that’s what Wandia did. She simply started selling items that she couldn’t find elsewhere. - “When you’re starting out and you’re bootstrapping it, every shilling counts and so you really have to look at those calculations quite carefully”
Wandia didn’t start out with an endless budget or a concrete plan. She took risks but never gambled aimlessly. Realizing that location was going to be a key factor for success, she set up the initial store in a small, yet premium location. And, despite heavy rental costs, the constant passing trade would allow sales to flourish. Vivo didn’t expand the site until they had earned their track record of success. They determined what the key was to make the business successful and that’s where they directed their resources. - “Be very clear about who you’re getting married to”
Wandia relates the entrepreneur-investor relationship to that of a marriage… Except you know you’re going to get divorced. Therefore, it’s not only important to make sure any investor won’t adversely interfere in the way you run the company, but to also ensure that you’re both on the same page in terms of a future exit strategy.
