This archive report was first published on 20 September 2019.
Published on September 20, 2019, Anyiti Nanyama's fortunes have changed dramatically since she founded Crystal Africa Cleaning Services Limited, a start-up that offers cleaning and garbage collection services.
Started just three years ago, the business now provides services to clients in residential areas, banks, and malls in Machakos, Nairobi, and Kiambu counties, employing 100 young people and generating significant profits.
Anyiti's journey to success was not without its challenges. She first dipped her toes in entrepreneurship as a student at Strathmore University, where she sold sweets, clothes, and jewelry to her fellow students, but all these ventures failed, leaving her with valuable lessons to take home.
She then tried her hand in horticulture and chicken rearing, but neither of these enterprises was successful. However, the losses she incurred emboldened her and motivated her to keep going, and she was determined to find a business idea that would give her the much-needed return on investment.
Armed with Sh18,000, Anyiti joined hands with three friends and together they got into the cleaning business in 2015. 'At least this time I won’t have to bear the losses alone,' she thought.
However, the business soon ran into headwinds, and only a handful of clients came on board. Within no time, her patience and that of her partners started waning, and her partners eventually gave up and abandoned the business.
Anyiti was left on her own once again, struggling to steer back on track a business whose collapse appeared imminent. Thankfully, the business attained some semblance of stability after a few months, and slowly, new clients started coming in and signing long-term contracts.
Today, Anyiti's company is in charge of hygiene at several estates in Nairobi and Machakos counties, including Greenspan Apartments, Komarock Heights, Mlolongo, and Great Wall estates, which have as many as 500 housing units.
She says that she considers herself an employee like everyone else, with a regular salary and other benefits, and that being disciplined in terms of how she views her work and in her expenditure has enabled her to establish a culture of ethics within the company.
Anyiti is also passionate about empowering others, especially women, and is proud of her former colleagues at Strathmore who pursued employment and are excelling in the corporate arena.
She is planning to expand her business by putting up a recycling plant for glass, metal, and plastic waste, which will maximize her revenue while creating jobs for more people.
