Purity Gicheru a mother of two and a wife one day decided to make invitation cards for her niece’s birthday and that turned out to be the birth of her entrepreneurship journey. “When my sister in law saw the cards I had created she was convinced I had to do it as a business, and though I had been thinking about it I had never really thought to act on it.”
Purity is the founder of a Party-cular World, a company that designs cards ranging from birthday and wedding party invitations to greeting cards. She adds that her plan was to start a party design and planning business, but because she was short on capital, she had to start somewhere and designing party cards was the most affordable way to get into the business. With a little financial support from her husband and motivation from her sister in law, she was ready to get a Party-Cular world off the ground.
Her major marketing strategy is online through her social media platforms but this is also one of her greatest challenges because Kenyans are skeptical of online business. However, she has partnered with other businesses that have made a name for themselves and this creates some level of trust among her potential clients.
Asked what she enjoys about being self-employed, Purity said,
“I love that I get to do what I love and I also have flexible timings so I get to spend more time with my family.”
She owes her success to her support system which is her family friends and mentors,
“My family is the best. My mother being an entrepreneur herself understands me and is constantly checking up on me just to know how the business is doing. My clients have also been amazing, I have two types of clients those who know what they want down to the smallest of details and those who leave everything up to me because they believe in my expertise. I appreciate them all equally.”
The young entrepreneur points out that there is no formula for being successful; there is no one size fits all when it comes to entrepreneurship. One needs discipline, passion and to ensure customers are always satisfied.
Purity is hopeful that with all the effort she continues to put into a Party-cular World she is going to get to where she eventually wants to be which is being a party designer and planner.