ACTRESS MINNE KARIUKI SPEAKS ABOUT BEING AUCTIONED AFTER FAILING TO PAY LOAN

Actress and businesswoman Minne Kariuki has opened up on the challenges of running a business in Kenya. Speaking in an Interview with Buzz Central, the Ma’Empress actress said after her show Tabasamu was cancelled on Citizen TV, she decided to start selling ballast in Mlolongo but the construction business was not easy.

“I sat down with my boyfriend, who is now my husband and I told him my mum was in construction and she would mentor me. My mum was an agent at a quarry and she was going to mainstream construction because she had bought her lorries. But she told me she could not introduce me to the owner of the quarry so I had to go and find him by myself. I literally stalked the Indian owner Pravin for two weeks. Then I gained the courage and I went to his office and introduced myself.

Favour just found me, I didn’t have any background in construction but he agreed to sell me the ballast. The first three months I didn’t have any clients. I was just looking at my ballast but my boyfriend just gave me hope. I got a nice guy called Wambua who was in a union with drivers and that’s how I got my clients. Starting a business you need grace, I used to wake up at 2am to be at the quarry at 3am, my office used to be a tree and there was no luxury, things opened up and it was just me believing in myself.”

The mother of one said business picked well that she bought two lorries one in cash and the second one on loan but when the market changed, most of the tenders were given to Chinese companies, she couldn’t pay the loan and she was auctioned, “The business went very well but there was time the Chinese took over. I think we didn’t see it coming because they were coming with all these cheap costs for road works and buildings and now the government wanted to work with the Chinese. I was a sub contractor and my Indian bosses were lacking business because all Chinese had the big contracts.

It was a ripple effect, I had taken a big loan to buy my second lorry and the trajectory was looking good for at least 10 years. I just didn’t see it coming, I had not saved enough money and it really affected me. I was six months pregnant then and I wasn’t paying my loan on time and they kept calling me. One time my mum was in my house and they kept calling, she took my phone and got to know about it and she told me to let go. She understood the Chinese had spoiled the market and I got auctioned.”