He was a middle aged man from our Settlement Scheme who ran the only Hides and Skins stall in OlKalou. His shed was behind the KFA shop facing the entrance to AC Primary School. Nyandarua farmers reared large herds of animals, mainly cows and sheep. Majority of farmers had huge tracts of land to raise the animals where they roamed free.
With plenty of animals available, and farmers selling them often to raise school fees for their children, there was a lot of meat sold in OlKalou butcheries, making it relatively cheap. This means there were lots of animals slaughtered every day, giving Jomo a lot of business. He dried his hides and skins by pegging them to the ground. If a raw hide is left on the ground to dry without pegging, it curls up from the edges as it dries, shrinking as it rolls up towards the middle of the hide, rendering it useless. Jomo diligently pegged his hides (Kwamba Njuwa) until they dried out completely.
I have no idea who and where his customers were, but there were never hides stacking up in his shed, meaning, he was selling them as fast as he was drying them.
The business Jomo was doing makes me realize that businesses are created from meeting a need. Check your community and see what area is currently not served. Provide that service, whatever it is, as long as it is meeting the needs of a community and BOOM, you are in business.
