How being tight on cash inspired university student to start thrift business

For years, thrift shopping has been one of the ways youths, and older people alike, eke out a living or make money from a side hustle. 

For young people, many prefer buying thrift items, popularly known as ‘mitumba’ because in addition to being more affordable than items at malls, there is usually variety and the likelihood of ending up with what is sometimes referred to as ‘Kenya uniform’ – where you find many people wearing the same design of clothes or shoes – is less likely. For those with a keen eye on fashion, one can sometimes stumble upon high fashion labels being sold at a fraction of what they would cost if sold new.

For those who are initiated in the thrift shopping trend, they know that there are also many grades of clothes one can find, from the Ksh. 50 items that can either work or have defects that make them not worth buying, to what is referred to as first grade – the clothes and shoes that were never worn for one reason or another, were used as samples and then discarded.

Speaking to Wananchi Reporting, Viola Dola a thrift shop owner, explains how she began her business.

"I began my business at the age of 19 in my second year of campus. My friends and I had agreed to ensure we look good regardless of how broke we were,” she said.

“We would go and get some good pants in Gikomba market and people would compliment our looks and ask where we got the clothes and that initiated the idea to start a business.”

Viola said her customer base slowly grew from just youths in her school to people of different age groups.

"By the time I was starting my business, I had no idea of how to run a business or anything business wise, my main goal was just to make my friends look nice,” she said. 

“I had a WhatsApp group where I would post the clothes and sometimes take the clothes in different hostels to customers.”

"I never imagined that my business would grow this much, that I would have an actual thrift shop.".

Most of Viola's customers are ladies as they are her target market. However, she also receives male customers who book and buy clothes for their girlfriends.

"When starting I was targeting ladies between the ages 18-24 but when I moved my advertisements to Instagram, I sometimes get messages from young men who see something on the page and book it for their girlfriends." She said

Every rose has its thorn and so does this business. 

Viola said that as a university student running a business, there have been times it has consumed a lot of her time, especially when going to purchase the clothes to stock her shop. 

"Some of the challenges I face are little or no customers, sometimes I might just buy clothes and they might end up not being bought for weeks, even months the main reason for this is competition from other shops."

On balance, Viola says she enjoys the business.