The First Sale: How One Viral Moment Sparked a Gen Z Founder’s Journey скачать в хорошем качестве

The First Sale: How One Viral Moment Sparked a Gen Z Founder’s Journey

Her first sale was a 4-inch paintbrush. The video of her celebrating it went viral. But the real story? It’s a masterclass in starting messy and building anyway. At just 26, Grace Kimaru dove headfirst into the hardware business in Dandora, Nairobi, with no industry experience and zero background in construction. In this episode of (So) How’s Business?, we go behind the viral moment to unpack what it really takes for a young African woman to build a business in a male-dominated industry. 🔎 In this episode, we talk about: ✅ The story behind her viral “first sale” video and why that moment meant proof of concept ✅ How she funded her first stock (with help from her dad) and the pressure that comes with it ✅ Getting dismissed by suppliers, almost getting scammed online, and learning pricing by trial and error ✅ Sitting on the wrong stock, turning customers away, and trying to fix a chaotic inventory ✅ Using TikTok to build an authentic founder brand around cement, pipes and steel ✅ The mental load: long days, no Saturdays off, and dreaming of a “payroll that stresses me out” ✅ Gen Z audacity vs millennial overthinking: jumping in vs analysis paralysis ✅ Why she chooses to “fail loudly” online so others can learn from her mistakes ✅ What older founders and mentors can do to better support young women entrepreneurs in Africa (00:00) Meet Grace: 26-year-old hardware founder in Dandora (02:05) The 4-inch paintbrush: the first sale that went viral (05:10) Why everyone remembered their first sale (07:40) From empty shop to content creator: trying TikTok for business (10:15) How a Kiambu farm girl ended up in hardware (13:20) Learning the hardware game in one week (and faking it till you learn it) (17:00) Suppliers, factories & almost getting scammed buying cement online (21:30) Funding the first stock: Dad, privilege & figuring it out alone (24:00) Stock mistakes, random inventory & the heartbreak of turning customers away (28:10) Gen Z audacity vs millennial overthinking & analysis paralysis (32:00) Building community online: failing loudly, learning loudly (36:30) Long hours, no Saturdays off & dreaming of a “stressful payroll” (40:20) Going viral without sales: playing the long brand-building game (44:00) What older founders should know about Gen Z entrepreneurs (48:00) Mentorship, exposure & seeing what’s possible in African business (52:00) Advice for scared starters: ask stupid questions, get support, just start (55:30) Quick-fire round: fears, myths, mistakes & celebrating every win If you’re interested in: ➡ African entrepreneurship podcast content ➡ Women founders in Africa & female-led startups in Africa ➡ How to fund your startup and avoid common pitfalls ➡ Authentic founder journeys and African women success stories …this episode is for you. ✅ If you enjoyed this episode: 👍 Like the video 💬 Comment with the story of your first sale 📩 Share this with a woman founder who needs a push to start 📲 Subscribe for more African women in business stories every week Follow us on all our socials: ‪@sohowsbusiness‬ Instagram: https://shorturl.at/TElff Tiktok: https://shorturl.at/8MwGh Facebook: https://shorturl.at/Opr6a Linked in: https://shorturl.at/GW5Wu #SoHowsBusiness #WomenInBusinessAfrica #AfricanEntrepreneurs #FemaleFounders #GenZFounder #AfricanWomenSuccessStories Follow Grace on Instagram https://shorturl.at/ByUPC