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I loved clean spaces so it became my job
Monica K. Waruinu supervises work at one of her cleaning sites. PHOTO /Pauline Bangirana
What you need to know:
Daring: Cleaning has been sanitised and professionalised. No longer a reserve of the marginalised members of society, it has become a profitable business investment, if done with love and care.
Monica K. Waruinu is the managing director of Britex Cleaning Limited, a cleaning company situated in Kyebando, Kampala. Walking into the company’s office premises, one feels as if they have walked into a clean bubble. The whitewashed walls are spotless and every item is placed neatly in its right space.
But brightest of all is Waruinu’s smile, which is welcoming and cheerful. The mother of two describes herself as a God-fearing person and devout Christian. She holds two degrees in International Business from Makerere University Business School.
Getting started
Waruinu always noticed the shoddy work cleaners did both at her workplace and at home. She says she always found herself having to redo it all. This desire to have a clean working and home space birthed a company that would offer comprehensive cleaning and fumigation services on all kinds of floors, upholstery, carpets, roofs and pest controls. Her first clients were friends and colleagues from work, who wanted her help to fumigate or do a thorough cleaning of their homes and offices.
“I would do the work on weekends until I started getting big clients, “she says.
This prompted her to start saving and after 10 months, Waruinu had saved Shs5m to enable her start her firm. Using the knowledge she had in making detergents, Waruinu made her own detergents to save on costs while using the best cleaning solutions. She notes that prices vary according to coverage, challenge and equipment used to offer the services.
Challenges
Waruinu has had her fair share of challenges but the biggest and most persistent is getting committed supervisors and competent staff. In a bid to curb this, Waruinu provides training for her team of cleaners. “There has been a challenge of capital to acquire machinery and grow the business, especially considering the fact that there is a lot of machinery that can do tasks faster and more effectively,” says Waruinu.
Cleaning, according to Waruinu, must be done to perfection. However, challenges arise when different service providers in the same industry price differently since there is no standardisation of prices in the cleaning business. To this, she says: “We try to have our own competitive advantage through giving value for money.”
Achievements
“I have made personal and business achievements ever since I started Britex Cleaning Limited; I am a different woman now from who I was years back,” she notes proudly. Her biggest achievement is creating jobs for others. “The feeling of watching people grow because of an opportunity you availed to them is beyond satisfying,” says Waruinu.
Lessons
The achievements and challenges have come with numerous lessons such as patience, learning to adapt and financial management.
“I have learnt to be patient with clients, the workforce and to watch my business grow even when things are not going according to plan, I have learnt to be patient through it all,” she says.
Waruinu narrates of an incidence she was tasked by a client to offer cleaning services and the client expressed that the site did not require thorough cleaning only to get there and realise she had been duped and yet, she still had to patiently deliver a great job.
Through her business, she has learnt to adapt to market demands that keep changing especially with the advancement in technology that presents itself in advanced machinery. This, she says accompanied by the current pandemic, she has had to work towards keeping up to date on current trends and what is going on around the world so as to deliver the best in her business.
Advice
She urges fellow entrepreneurs to never compromise on the standards of their work even when it seems hard. Waruinu notes that sticking to one’s standards is rewarding eventually because one is confident that they are doing their best.
She further stresses that it is very important to treat employees well because then, they too will lovingly drive your vision. She encourages re-investing profits into the business until it is thriving. Waruinu also urges people to find what they are passionate about and do that. “Do not belittle yourself, you have the capacity to rise up to any challenge just as well as your male compatriots,” she advises. She urges women to look for mentors that can teach, encourage and cheer them on. Waruinu says her friends, parents and church members, especially her pastors held her hand throughout her journey.
