Entrepreneurial Stories

Shadepro’s journey to ensuring you are covered and your car is protected from the Sun

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A little vitamin D is good for the body but what about a lot of it? Sunlight can cause your dashboard, seats and paint to fade over a long period of time. It is important to protect your car as you spent a lot to buy it, so why spend more on unnecessary fixes when you can avoid it. Shadepro Solutions ensures you never have to experience how that feels like. They provide car shades and tents to ensure your comfort and even trampolines for some entertainment for the kids.

Alex Kinyua, one of the founders of Shadepro Solutions came up with the idea after seeing that there was a great need for shades from the county governments, relatives and other private institutions. He decided to join forces with a partner who had already started venturing into the shades business. This partnership has been going so well that they are also investing in other different businesses.

They make the shades and upon placing an order they install them for you. The business that was started using their savings and a loan did not have a smooth start Alex says,but working with a friend has its perks such as understanding each other’s strength and leveraging on them.

“The first challenge we encountered was delay in payment and high capital requirements. We did not let that deter us we found a way around it and forged ahead. If the river can bypass an obstacle, why not us?”

Shadepro uses social media and referrals to market their business. This are great platforms since they are relatively free but Alex emphasizes the only way to make them work for you is if you provide great products as well as services.

A sample of Shadepro shade

A sample of Shadepro shade

“Social media has created a global village and you wouldn’t want to be known as the worst service provider in the village because once the damage is done it takes a lot of time and resources to do damage control so to be on the safe side we make sure to provide quality shades and give timely services at reasonable charges. “

As most entrepreneurs will agree the path to self-employment is not easy it takes a lot of effort and sacrifices. Nevertheless it has its good moments. Alex and his partner for instance have been able to build strong bonds with great clientele and meet people from all walks of life.

When asked what advice he would give to college students who want to become entrepreneurs Alex had this to say,

“They should not only leave campus with the vision of being employed but also save up and aim at starting a business despite the size of the business.”



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About Kuza Biashara

About Kuza Biashara

Starting a business is a leap of faith even in the best of circumstances. We at Kuza Biashara are focussed to encourage these daring small business owners who have the potential to innovate and change the world by contributing to the nation’s economy and livelihood.