When 24 years old Jewel Kendi graduated at the end of 2011 with a Bachelors of Arts in International Relations from the United States International University (USIU), she found herself in a situation not strange to a lot of job seekers in Kenya. She was jobless.
“I applied for numerous jobs after my graduation with all this fancy companies which most graduates dream of working with especially the NGO’s but nothing was forth coming,” narrates Ms Kendi as we meet in a popular eatery along Mombasa Road.
Like a lot of parents are at this moment when their kids don’t land a job as soon as they had hoped, Ms Kendi says her father was one concerned man when he asked her what her next step was going to be.
“I am the first born of four siblings and having being the one to organize their birthdays in the past and enjoying every moment of it because I have a passion for putting things together, I thought to myself why not try out event organizing?” recalls Ms Kendi who adds that
“Plus I am actively involved in church activities where I have helped put together church events in the past with things to do with conferences and youth events so it seemed like the right thing to do.”
After figuring out what her next step in life was going to be to help her beat unemployment, Ms Kendi says she needed capital to actualize the idea. “I wasn’t well off myself being a graduate and all so I asked my father to loan me some money which he gladly did.” He provided her with Ksh20, 000 which she was only able to use for one thing.
“I used all of it to register the business which goes by the name The Pentagy Company Limited and the rest I used to hire a lawyer to do all the paperwork and that was it,” she says.
How then was she able to get the business going with nothing left? “I had a registered company now and since I had already built a reputation for myself with the events that I had been able to organize in the past for free such as birthday parties and church events, when word got out that I was now doing serious business and not just trying to help put things together I started to get referrals from various people.”
She recalls her first big client being the church where she fellowships “ I was successfully able to put together a conference and it felt good to get paid for it since now it was not just about helping out but about running a business. Before long I was doing weddings.”
She later rented an office along Kenyatta Avenue and was able to employ four people. “I serve as the managing director/ project manager and I also brought on board another project manager, a logistics person, a messenger and an accountant to keep the company in check,” says the young entrepreneur who adds that the age brackets of her employees range between 20 and 30 years.
To cuts costs of her small business, at the beginning of last year, Ms Kendi decided to close shop. “I was paying rent of close to Ksh75,000 and with a business such as this, no one wants to meet you in an office to discuss how you are going to plan an event for them,” she reveals.
“People want to meet you in places where they are best comfortable with, places such as restaurants and if for example you are planning a birthday party for a kid, the parent will want to meet you at her home to maybe see the bedroom of the kid and get a feel of what the kids interests are.” A reason she says was good enough to make the business go virtual where the team of five now operates with laptops and phones.
“An office was okay at the beginning because people will want to see where you work from but after time, I wasn’t really using it, so why spend all that money on it?” she poses.
Ambitious and goal oriented, she later went back to USIU for her MBA where she graduated last year. “They say you need experience to make your MBA practical, well I had a business now to use as my litmus test, so why not?”
She confesses that, “It was hectic trying to juggle between school and the young business. Plus at the time I had just secured myself an internship with one of the big four audit firms as a management consultant. It was a crazy routine, from internship to school in the evening and in the evening when most people get to rest, i would start to think about the company.”
The 24 year old who now makes over Ksh100, 000 in profit from a single event says “Most of the profits the company makes goes back to the business plus how much you make in an event depends on your involvement. There are those clients for example in weddings who will want you to be involved even with following them around when they are buying their wedding dress and then there are those who will want you to be involved less, say just to cater for the flowers,” she explains adding that, “It also depends with the budget of the client and then you can start to bargain from there.”
So, does she love what she does? The 24 year old who also has a job in marketing in one of the leading media stations says in few words, “Events is fun.” She elaborates this by adding that, “The thrill comes because you are allowed to think outside the box and when you are operating in a market where there is a lot of you like we are in event organizing, you really have to think outside the box to be unique.”
She gives an example where most clients in weddings will say they don’t want flowers, “As an event organizer it’s up to you to think of what you can offer them instead. You can for example cut plastic bottles at the funnel and design them in a creative way to form a bouquet and I love that because it allows me to be as creative as possible,” says Ms Kendi
The 24 year old who plans to venture into social entrepreneurship and to mentor young girls in the future says an active website for the company will be ready by end of March this year. Plus she has learnt a few things in the process.
She says, “In business, it’s never about you. It’s all about the future of the company and your employees, because you want to treat and pay them well if you want them to be loyal to you and not leave you every now and then.
Secondly, if you want something really bad, never listen to those voices which will try to shut you down.”
She admits she got a lot of discouraging opinion from people who were asking her why in the world she would opt to venture into event organizing when the market seems to be saturated with event organizers. “If you have a dream and the passion to do it, why not?” she poses.
And her advice to those who want to venture in this line of business, “You have to be creative and have the ability to think outside the box. It also helps if you have contacts no matter how small they are to help you start.
Lastly, remember that sometimes the business may not hit off as fast as you had thought or planned, the trick is to keep doing it and don’t give up.”
source: career point
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