Months after starting her spa business in Nairobi, Citizen TV anchor Lilian Muli expanded her entrepreneurial portfolio with another endeavor, this time in farming.
In an interview, she discussed the new initiative, which received a huge response after a casual remark on her social media platforms.
Muli revealed that she chose to try selling oranges from her family property, Manora, in Machakos county, after a successful harvest.
“Our family farm has an orchard where we sell fruits commercially and on a large scale – bananas, mangoes, oranges depending on which fruit is in season and we also have a dairy farm,” she said.
Muli said when posted fruit on her social media pages, she received many orders in various quantities from eager purchasers.
She priced her oranges cheaper than the market value, which was still three times the input cost, and orders began to come in via Instagram direct messages.
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“Due to the fair prices, people were ordering in bulk, sacks on sacks that I even contracted some riders to fulfill orders to different parts of the city,” she stated.
Muli revealed that there were so many orders that she was unable to fulfill them, saying that the fruit was sold out in two weeks.
She concluded from the comments that the agribusiness enterprise had a large market, particularly through social media channels.
“So now I am looking how I can scale up the business on my end and plan for it because there is money here,” she stated.
Muli also encouraged anyone with the means to pursue agribusiness, whether full-time or part-time, especially given the uncertainty of employment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Young people especially, should not look down upon farming as it can provide income when done well. People were saying that I am hawking oranges, and I very proud of that, so do not let anyone make your hustle look little if that’s where the money is coming from,” she advised.
