Carolyne Wanjiku: Anything Is Possible If You Are Willing To Pay The Price

Are you willing to pay the price that will ultimately propel you to success?

Take Carolyne Wanjiku, the founder and CEO of Kenya Sunrise Eco Energy. Before venturing into business, she had been employed for five years.

She started her career as a waitress at the Village Market for one year, earning a monthly salary of Sh15,000. This was a temporary position, and when her 12-month contract period ended, she was relieved from the job.

Contract Jobs

Soon enough, she got another job, this time at a petrol station, with a lower salary than the previous one. Her monthly pay was Sh10,000.

Even though she took that job, she knew this was not where she wanted to build her career.

“I wanted a more fulfilling and financially rewarding job. But I couldn’t be too choosy and stay at home in wait.”

A few months into her new job, she quit the job to join a company that dealt with biogas production and installing biogas appliances.

“I went from earning Sh10,000 per month to Sh35,000, which was more than I had ever imagined I would make.

The biogas company shut down three years later, and Carolyne was left jobless.

Even though she remained jobless, she was confident that the experience she had gained through employment would work in her favour. The entrepreneurship bug started hitting her during her time out of a job.

Her customers from the biogas company she had previously worked for kept calling her, asking where they could access biogas services. Some even suggested that she open her own biogas outlet.

The thought of running her own business scared her, as she had never considered doing this before.

She felt comfortable looking for and securing a job because it was clear-cut—you work, you get paid. She did not want to be constantly sweating day and night chasing after clients.

The final push came from her spouse, and this was her turning point. This was the time she considered the business as a viable opportunity.

“Everyone around me said this was a golden opportunity. The more this was repeated, the more it awakened me to the realisation that perhaps I could try it.”

The following year, Carolyne registered her own biogas company, starting with Sh100,000 saved from her previous job.

Challenges

Raising the business from scratch to where it is today was difficult.

“When I started, I quickly realised that there’s a difference between people telling you to venture and them supporting your venture.”

Also, after getting started, not too many people believed that a cow-dung-related business could sustain her.

“Most of those who heard about my new business thought I had bitten off more than I could chew.”

Due to her limited flow, she was also unable to build a consistent flow of customers. “There were times when I would keep my customers waiting while I hustled to get a motorbike to go and fetch more items from suppliers.”

A year into the business, she was conned of goods worth Sh300,000.

“… a customer bought goods and paid via a cheque. The bank rejected the cheque, and I ended up losing my stock. I started from scratch and gradually ploughed back the profits into the business until I recovered the lost amount.”

Takeaways

Carolyne’s business took time to grow. Through her time in employment, there are valuable lessons she learned that ultimately propelled her to her success in entrepreneurship.

Ultimately, you have to be willing to pay the price and put in the hard work to accomplish your goals.

Take every opportunity that comes your way, no matter how small. It will propel you towards success through the skills you gather along the way.

Remember, anything is possible when you pay the price.