Inspiration from a Nigerian furniture maker and funds stashed for a trip to Dubai allowed Emily Wangui to start her own business.
Wangui’s challenges started early on. “My first challenge was knowing what machines and tools to purchase for the business. I was completely green in this area, which meant that I had to trust a carpenter to list for me everything that was needed for furniture manufacturing, from the electrical planing machines to the power tools, all the way to the size of the nails we needed. That carpenter is still on my team in the joinery department,” she says.
With 18 months of doing business under her belt, Wangui currently manages a team of roughly 20 people, with 14 salaried core members handling administration, joinery, and finishing, and a handful of contractors bringing experience in sofa framing, upholstery, welding, and lathing.
“We facilitate about 10-15 orders per month and each order can have anything between 2-100 furniture pieces depending on whether it is residential or a commercial space,” Wangui says.
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