If you would have probably meet Hodiah Chepchirchir the founder of Chepchikoni when she was young and asked her if cooking was what she wanted to do she would have possibly said no.
But what started as her love for food is what puts food on her table.
From the passionate hustle, Chepchirchir owns two restaurants in Industrial area and Roysambu Estate in Nairobi.
The food entrepreneur shared her first experience in the business and the challenges she has faced.
She started her first food business venture with a friend but they shut it down because it was not successful.
In an interview with Founders Connect Africa, Chepchirchir said, “When I was young, I knew I was a foodie (a gourmet) but never thought I would make it a business, so I enrolled for a Bachelor of Commerce degree at the Kenyatta University. When I graduated, I got a job, but that did not last for even six months. I was bored, and I knew that was not what I wanted to do with my life.”
Chepchirchir said that she had to go back to the drawing board and define her real interest in life. Since she needed to make ends meet, she thought of turning her love for cooking into a business.
The entrepreneur said "I had to make ends meet, and because I loved cooking, so I started house calls, cooking for bachelors at their houses at a fee. I would cook a whole week’s meal and put it in the fridge, they would just come home from work and warm their food. ”
The demand for the business grew so much that she got an assistant.
Chepchirchir said “The demand exceeded my expectations, aided mainly by my social media brand which was growing and bringing in many clients. Some wanted office lunch, other homemade meals, and others were outside catering jobs.”
She then invested Sh400, 000 and delved into a partnership deal to start the first restaurant. They got a lot of traction from their aggressive marketing online strategy.
“Some of the food we cook include pilau, beef, chicken, chapati and beef. Our clients are majorly bachelors and students with our prices range between Sh200 and Sh350,” she said.
As their business expanded, they realized that they had to start another restaurant in Industrial area.
Clients from Parklands, Thika Road and Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD) are served by the Roysambu restaurant.
Chepchikoni, the food brand, is on the journey to be the popular brand with a franchise in every major town in Kenya.
“What makes us unique is delivering the meals to the doorstep of customers. This has helped us to attract clients from every corner of the city,” Chepchirchir highlighted.
According to SNDBX Team Leader, Joram Mwinamo, Chepchirchir and the partner can scale up the business by documenting procedures on how things are done in both restaurants.
Mr. Mwinamo advised, “When it comes to documentation, you have to document everything; from how you open in the morning to how you take stock of the foods there, how you go about planning your meals and cooking so as you have consistent quality, so that the food tastes the same, no matter who is cooking."
He also added the consistency should evident in both restaurants and rest that will emerge.
“To build a brand, people buy into the consistency, the meat will always taste a certain way, she should make sure she standardizes how things are done in all restaurants,” he added.
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