Emmah Wanjiru Ngigi is a passionate entrepreneur from Kenya and she’s the founder of Linic Entreprises Ltd, a company which provides cleaning services and detergents and which aims to be the premier hospitality consultancy & housekeeping service provider of Kenya. She has graduated from Kenya Methodist University in Business Management and after working in many hotels as an housekeeper, she has decided to start her own cleaning business.
“Today with over 186 employees on board, Linic Enterprises continues to offer high standard hospitality and consultancy, adding value to several clients through highly skilled and well trained staff, high quality supplies, attractive market rates and quality standards. With our work we have achieved several important goals, such as empowering 75 marginalized women during this period of growth and giving free training for them. Moreover, we are also active in the field of charity, as 2% of our total monthly income takes care of a needy child’s hospital bill.” she claims.
Emmah has decided to take part in the 5th edition of the Global MBA in Impact Entrepreneurship at Tangaza University College in Nairobi to gain new ideas and move Linic to the next level. In fact, born as a small company, Linic Ltd is growing day by day and is expanding in other sectors.
“Over the years, the company has extended the range of its services (Residential & Commercial Cleaning, Hospitality Training, Hospitality Consultancy, Provision of Detergents, Interior Décor & Design) and built core competencies within such industries as hospitality industries, banking, finance and manufacturing among others. The Company aspires to continue to offer world class expertise for years to come, thus remaining relevant in this ever changing hospitality sector.”
“With our work we have achieved several important goals, such as empowering 75 marginalized women and today with over 186 employees on board.”
1. How was your Business Idea born?
I have always had a passion of venturing into cleaning services industry. Entrepreneurship for me did not come out of necessity, nor did it come as a means to an end. While many undertake entrepreneurship as a means of creating businesses that can help them sustain a type of lifestyle or income level, I took on entrepreneurship as a means of creating change for those around me and empowering my fellow women to earn a living.
2. How can your business improve the life of the beneficiaries of your activities?
First of all our main beneficiaries are our clients, employees and general public. To the client, we provide high quality service in order to meet and exceed their expectation. To the employees, we make sure that we pay them an income that will enhance their living standards. For instance, the company has a registered SACCO where employee can borrow money at a low interest rate. Moreover, we engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) to ensure the lives of the general public, especially women, are well catered for by provision of sanitary goods to them. We also visit children homes where we offer material assistance.
3. What has been the main challenge you had to overcome in your entrepreneurial experience?
Convincing unemployed, distressed and hopeless women that they have a life to live and make a difference in their lives. I have managed to do this by providing them with talk sessions where we impact them with knowledge and life skills as well as embracing them by showing them that they are also important and needed in the society.
4. In your opinion, what are the main qualities an entrepreneur should have?
Patience, confidence, resilience, selflessness, determination, god fearing, ethical, knowlegable.
5. Is there a person you are inspired by, i.e. an entrepreneur or a particular mentor?
Yes, Tabitha Karanja, CEO of Keroche Breweries (a company that produces high quality, natural and sugar free products ensuring consistency in high quality production in Kenya).
6. What would you suggest to a new-born entrepreneur?
Never give up. Keep on trying and be persistent in your goal. Also, set realistic and achievable goals. Indeed, a new-born entrepreneur should come up with realistic goals and make plans to achieve them in good time.
7. Could you tell us a particular satisfactory moment you had in your entrepreneurial activity?
I remember a time when I empowered a young entrepreneur who had lost self-belief and afterwards, I noticed that she became confident in herself and she was able to channel her inner strength to become an entrepreneur of value and substance in society.
8. Could you tell us how has it helped you and your business?
I was able to understand my business better, my passion for positive change grew and I no longer work for profit only but for the satisfaction that comes from serving and helping others. It helped me embrace the spirit of partnership, which leaves me with a lot of time to manage my business and explore more business opportunities. I was able to upscale my business. Front integration and backward integration was made easy during the course and it finally made sense to me.
Learn more on Linic Enterprises
Facebook page: @linicltd
