From a very tender age, Caren Mbogo loved nature and the outdoors. As a five-year old, Caren dreamt of having beautiful scenes around her with well-manicured lawns and beautiful landscapes. Several years later, never losing sight of her dream, Caren enrolled in the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology to pursue environmental horticulture and landscaping technology; and after completion jumped into the employment wagon. When her employment journey dealt her a bad card, she decided instead of mopping around, to turn her dream into reality. After her last employment she took two months to figure things out and lay down her business plan. In the year 2017, at a young age of 23, the gods were in her favor. In January she got a call from a lady who wanted her lawns manicured. The lady had assumed that Caren was still at her former company; and when Caren informed her that she no longer worked there, the lady insisted that Caren should handle the work. Just like that, Caren signed up her first client. The successful completion of the assignment gave Caren the footing she needed and a month later, she had gotten a second and a third client. By the end of 2017, not only had she become very good in manicuring lawns, but she had developed a fully-fledged landscaping suite with over 8 employees and 45 clients handled.
The Growth Process
The landscape game is truly not for the weak. For starters, you need to have the ability to modify the visible features of an area of land, including gardening, which is the art and craft of growing plants with a goal of creating a beauty within the landscape. It requires an expertise in artistic design. Lucky for Caren, her short stint in employment had given her enough experience, together with an eye for detail and beauty. She began with one employee as a casual labour and not long afterwards, due to the amount of work that was coming daily, Caren got a second casual labour. Thankfully the people who joined her team were former colleagues at the previous workplace, thus establishing a level of trust from the onset. For equipment and capital, Caren began with one lawnmower that she would hire for a daily rate of Kshs 1,000 and a panga (machete); keeping her costs to a minimum. In this day and age of entrepreneurship, you really have to start where you are and with what you have. For advertising she opted to put a bit more money into the process, believing in the return on investment that comes with advertising. Caren took to social media to talk about her work and began blogging on a weekly basis; which helped with the flow of clients. As her business grew, she sought to take a loan from her mother in order to purchase her own equipment and expand her scope. Besides doing the manicured lawns, she branched into indoor and outdoor plants. Halfway into the year, Caren got a call from Muthaiga Golf Club where she had interned at before she got her first job, to help them maintain their grass before and after their annual golf tournament. The truth is, in her first year of business things were good. As 2017 came to an end, Caren had made enough profit to repay her loan and even give her employees an annual bonus.
2018 came with its own ambitions, and Caren did well to align with them. In February she was given a project in Kitengela for a full landscape suite, and in the month of March a second call came from Lukenya Getaway. They wanted her to beautify their environment. Before long, she had gotten clients from half the residents who wanted what they either saw at Lukenya, or with the neighbours. For the better part of 2018, Kitengela had become her “unofficial office” for she was always there with her staff.
When all that glitters is not gold
In the month of March 2018, Caren hired her fourth employee, someone she hadn’t dealt with before. Over the months, he proved to be extremely diligent and trustworthy, and she gave him the keys to her “landscape empire.” He was older, and she in turn had just turned 24, and seemingly that is where the problem begun. With work in various parts of Nairobi County she put him in charge of a project that they were handling at the South B estate. It was involving and he matched up to the amount of work. One time, from her Kitengela projects, she took a day off to relax and enjoy the weather. However that turned out to be the longest day of her life. It started with a call from one of her employees. She thought it was another client and answered with enthusiasm, but upon answering, she immediately knew something was wrong. The new employee who had taken off with all their equipment, leaving their warehouse in Kinoo empty. He not only wiped their equipment store, but also the office equipment and supplies.
Without thinking, she had dashed to the office and then her worst fears were confirmed. At 24 years, she never saw herself handling such big problems. Whatever happened to dancing in the sun? The matter turned ugly, as she immediately went to the police to file a report, and two days later the employee was arrested. He was found working on a compound, earning his keep with stolen property. He probably never thought Caren would pursue the matter further and thought he had gotten away with his crime. He denied the charges citing that he had actually been sent by Caren to do some work. When asked to produce the equipment he had taken from the company however, he was unable to defend himself. The matter went to court, and during that time, for a fleeting moment, Caren felt defeated. She eventually won the case, the employee however refused to return the equipment, and so he was sent to prison, and Caren had to start over once more. By end of the year she had managed to replace 75% of her equipment. To add to her misery, some of her clients were difficult and frustrating her every little effort.
Singing her song
As challenging as 2018 has been for Caren to say the least, with all the twists and turns of a soapy drama, Caren has not bowed down to defeat. Her parents, who are also entrepreneurs, have taught her the game of resilience and so, she has managed to keep her head high. She has plans to venture into a new area of landscaping that is looking very promising.
When she is not worried about plants or looking for the right stones to use on a property, Caren enjoys a good read. An introvert, she enjoys a quiet day all by herself, enjoying the stillness of nature and basking in its beauty. One of the most surprising things is that Caren, did not pursue an entrepreneurship course and yet, she has managed to blaze her own trail.
Her advice to young women who are looking to start their own outfits is, “You need to start. There is never going to be a time when everything is perfect, and the stars have all aligned for you in order to start your business. However, in the chaos of life, just start your idea, and as you go along, the chaos will begin to make sense.” Another interesting thing is that the name of her company, NERAC Landscapers, which she had registered in 2016 way before she even knew how things would pan out, is her name spelled backwards. I bet you didn’t get that the first time you read it no? In five years’ time, Caren sees herself setting up a business in Kigali, Rwanda and in Tanzania.
Did you enjoy this story?
Post a comment below. We like to hear from you.
Contact / follow Caren Mbobo
Photos courtesy of NERAC Landscapers
Lilian
January 30, 2019 at 8:41 am
Amazing work Caren. Reading your story is a reminder that, we can do anything if we set our minds to it. keep it up!