Mass joblessness, especially among the sprightly and innovative youth, is a drag on the economy. Unemployment has also been fanned by the view among companies that fresh graduates lack specialised skills and experience needed to perform tasks. Every corner you turn there is a University or a College University that seems to have sprung out of nowhere dishing out degrees like sweets at a nursery school party ,all thanks to Kibaki’s presidential era. This scenario accelerated an already dire situation of Jobless graduates at the expense of technical colleges that produced seriously skilled work force.
The industry was left with little supply of semi-skilled labourers and a massive demand of their services, and these guys are making a killing from that. Go ask how much it is to buy a nice sofa set for your one bedroom in Kinoo; ksh 40,000 at the least and the guy barely uses 50% of that on raw material. Anything that is Jua Kali made has been ridiculously overpriced just because we mostly want those antiques that we can barely afford and we are even willing to take loans to buy them. The Middle class dilemma.
We recently met an entrepreneur, who started Nairobi Handyman services which provides a one stop shop for semi-skilled and unskilled labour to Nairobi residents and those surrounding Nairobi to find out why they decided to travel that route. He says that industry is growing very fast as it is directly related to the real estate growth.
What is Nairobi Handyman?
Nairobi Handyman is a one stop shop for semi-skilled and unskilled labour. We are that place you call when you need some repairs done, some home renovations, some cleaning done etc. Our key focus is in home and office repairs, renovations, remodelling and personalized cleaning services, it was registered in 2013 but we opened our doors early 2015.Nairobi Handyman was founded by Maina Harrison a BCOM (accounting graduate from KCA University.
What inspired you to start Nairobi Handyman Services?
Since my childhood I was always interested in Manual activities such as carpentry. Then when I went to the university entrepreneurship related units and talks were my favourite, I also used to be and still am a fan of shark tank show and that’s where I got the idea from. So one thing led to the other.
How does Nairobi Handyman work?
It’s very simple; you want something fixed or cleaned at home or office. Give us a call, we will give you a free quote for small jobs but if it’s a big job we will do a site visit and advice on how to go about it. Once we do a site visit we will send a quote and a working plan. That simple.
How Many customers do you currently have?
Many. We have both commercial and individual clients, we work for realtor companies, offices, landlords etc.
Do you have any competitors?
Yes we do. Our main competitors are the individual technicians who work independently. We also have several handyman companies around Nairobi
What’s unique about you that differentiates you from the competition?
We focus on timeliness, efficiency, safety and quality. We ensure that our technicians are always on time and they are well vetted to ensure that the safety of the client’s property is guaranteed and that’s why we have zero cases of lost client’s items.
What challenges does Nairobi Handyman Face as a start up?
Market penetration challenges- it’s normally very tough to have people accept a new service or new product in the market. It time and money consuming. Money challenges- money to expand, promote and acquire assets for the business is a challenge though we hope things will change with the implementation of the low rate bill
Do you have any upcoming event?
Not for the time being but if we organize any we will let you know.