When George Olang stared of his career at his university to study Bachelors of Science in Mathematics, he thought that this would be his line of profession for the rest of his life.
Barely two months into cooperate world with his fresh degree, Olang left his lucrative job and joined his mother in selling Mitumba shoes.
Olang noted that the shoots of his entrepreneurial skills had already sprouted and need to take them where they were meant to be, that is why he found himself in Gikomba market, Kenya’s largest second clothe market.
He started off by buying few shoes and reselling them, his plans worked and his business began growing little by little.
“One morning I just went to the market, bought three pairs of shoes then resold them to a shop owner at a profit. Slowly I started supplying shoes to my colleagues and friends and after two months of balancing my side hustle and my analytics job, I quit to start my own shoe shop,” he told Nairobi NewsHustle.
Tranquillo Shoes, his firm had an interesting marketing strategy tagged under a visionary business model.
He used to buy second hand shoes in Gikomba, clean them and make them look nicer than before, he would sell them in the CBD or Westlands.
His business grew from walking with 200 pairs of shoes to 1000 shoes in stock!
“At the market I ensure every shoe I buy is in a good condition, one that you cannot tell whether it has been worn or not, the ones that are called first camera. We clean them and send the special orders to our customers while for the rest we display at the shop and post photos online,” he says.
To satisfy his customers, the 29 year old businessman only sources good quality shoes, one that have not been worn out so much.
He plays down with dead stock by giving discounts or donating them to charity familes.
He sums up with a word of inspiration
“Love what you do and you will overcome the challenges.”
