I grew my side hustle of installing car windshields into a fully-fledged business
When you visit Factory Street 28 road in Industrial Area, Nairobi, the first thing you will notice is the high number of automotive businesses, all of which are owned and run by men. Then as you walk along the street, you will notice Naibei Everlyne Chebet's automotive glass business. The business is popularly known as Glassshield Mania Limited. It towers above the local and Indian business competition. You will notice a string of different vehicle models lined up in its garage for windscreen installation.
"My company deals with the importation and installation of automotive glass for all makes and models of vehicles," says Everlyne who is in her early 30s.
Before she started this business, Everlyne, who is a mother of three young girls, had been working at a bank in Nairobi. Her main obligations were to market the bank's insurance products and process claims. "I was in charge of three regions," she says.
Despite having what seemed like a good and prestigious white-collar job, Everlyne wanted an extra income stream. "The job market is very unpredictable. Relying on your job as the only source of income is like walking on thin ice. I wanted a side hustle that could give me some income. A venture that wouldn't take me months or years to muster," she says.
From her insurance duties, Evelyne established a gap in businesses that provided replacements for windscreens. "In early 2016, I started doing research and talking to insurance companies about the struggles they went through when replacing insured cars windscreens," she says.
One of the people she spoke with decided to give her the kicker she needed to launch her side hustle. "He wanted to gauge how serious I was about starting my own business. He asked for my company's registration and certification documents. A few days later, he asked me to provide a windscreen for a Land Rover Discovery 4," she says.
Everlyne hired two workers, sourced for a windscreen, and went to the garage where the vehicle was stored for installation. "It was my first time doing a job of this kind. I was fortunate that one of the workers I hired was a technician with above-average skills. He did a stellar job and though we were asked to correct a few errors, my first customer was satisfied with what we had done," she says.
This experience gave Everlyne the boost she needed. "I felt vindicated. My idea was not bad at all," she says. In May 2016, she rented a space in the Industrial Area where her business would be based. "The total rent was Sh45,000. I had Sh10,000 which I paid to reserve the space. I also didn't have adequate money for stock at the time," she says.
To get her business going, Everlyne would advertise her services on social media using photos. When she got a customer, she would go out and purchase the type of windscreen the customer needed. "I would purchase and transport the windscreen to my office before the customer arrived for replacement. That way, the customer would be confident that I had the stock for all vehicles," she says. This make-believe struggle went on for three years until 2019 when she gained enough capital and a strategic investor, Dr. Eric Choge Bartuiyot who invested Sh3 million in her business.
"When I started importing, in March 2019, it took me around six months to sign my first contract with an insurance company. But I was lucky to have been selling to walk-in customers before I signed my first major contract," she says. In October 2019, she left her bank work to concentrate on her business.
Everlyne recalls that price fluctuation was a big challenge. She was also not very conversant with product descriptions for all makes and models of vehicles.
"I was afraid of getting scammed when I started the business. I ended up relying on one supplier. I would send photos of vehicles to him and cross my fingers that he would send me the correct windscreen," she says.
This was a challenge that continued to manifest even after she started importing. "At one point, I imported windscreens that were not in demand. The business almost collapsed and it took me months to get back on my feet," she says.
Evelyne explains that when importing a container of windscreens, you need about $40,000 (Sh4.48 million) and around $20,000 (Sh2.24 million) for clearing.
"If you bring in stock that isn't on-demand, you will tie up your money, yet you need cash to keep the business going," she says. Although 2020 was a difficult year for businesses in the country due to the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, it was also the year that she had her biggest business moment. She signed over 10 contracts with insurance companies for glass product services.
Apart from running a business, Evelyne has previously experimented with a financial lending side hustle. This may have come naturally from her background of working with banks. "I used to save my money in a Sacco and bank. After saving for a while, I started lending them money to shylocks. They would then lend it out and refund me on a monthly or quarterly basis with interest," she says.
This hustle ended disastrously. "I stopped lending to shylocks after one of them disappeared with the money I had given him," she says. Her business and employment experiences have taught her the essence of planning for money.
"When you get money, always plan for it. Seek advice, and research how best to spend it. Money that comes easily goes easily," she says.
In business, Evelyne says that you must be honest with your services as much as you struggle behind the scenes to meet your customer's needs. "Don't substitute quality with poor service just because you are struggling," she cautions.
Evelyne, whose hobby is reading, says that she is scaling up to recycle laminated broken glasses into construction materials. "In this business, disposing of broken or dead stock is costly. My partners and I have been exploring how we can recycle these materials instead of disposing of them. We are now preparing to launch a recycling arm that will recycle broken laminated glasses into safe and affordable construction materials such as building blocks," she says. BY DAILY NATION
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