CRIS NJOKI ON SH1.5 MILLION BUSINESS LOSS

Fashion designer and influencer Cris Njoki has opened up about a substantial business setback, facing a significant loss of Sh1.5 million.

Speaking on Financially Incorrect podcast, Njoki said after saving Sh2 million to start her fashion line Ikojn. She could not find a manufacturer locally and decided to go to China, “I set a target and I knew I needed Sh2 million to start my brand. I was looking to produce the clothes somewhere else and the initial cost of production was coming to Sh500,000, plus the cost of raw materials and I still wanted to get some machinery.” 

She added, “I hit my goal. I tried to find a manufacturer to do it locally but I didn’t find someone so I went to China. When I got there, the manufacturers were not producing less than 10,000 pieces and I wanted to produce 100 pieces per style. After searching we found a small manufacturer upcountry who was able to make 500 pieces per style.

I had six styles  and the whole production came to Sh1.5 million and I was told it would be ready in a month. I came back to Kenya and registered the business, opened up a store and created the social media pages.”

The pieces were delivered to Njoki after a month but they were all substandard and she could not sell any of the pieces so she decided to donate all the clothes, “After a month the items were ready, I was so excited. The items came in four huge boxes. I opened the first box and took out the piece and it was completely different from what I had agreed with the manufacturer. The fabric was like polythene paper and it was unsaleable. My entire life savings was gone, I cried so hard for days I felt like my life was over. All the clothes were crap.”