• In 2020, things started off well and the year looked bright with bookings in place.
• This was until the pandemic hit and the government put in place new guidelines for number of attendees allowed in weddings.
Image: CLAIRE MUNDE
It started out as a way to avoid a loss – Erica had ordered Ziploc bags online to store her frozen foods, but when they arrived, she realized they were a size too small.
Because the vendor did not accept returns or refunds, and she had ordered four packets containing 40 bags each, Erica decided to post the bags for sale on her residential estate’s WhatsApp market group.
In under an hour, six residents had side chatted her wanting to buy the bags and they sold out, with two people missing out.
This made Erica realize the demand for Ziploc bags, but more importantly, the power of residential estate WhatsApp groups.
Erica bakes cakes for a living. She specializes in event cakes – weddings, corporate events, birthdays and more.
When she first moved into her current residence in Syokimau, the estate manager advised her to join two WhatsApp groups to keep abreast with happenings in the estate – her court’s WhatsApp group and the larger estate’s market group.
The estate has more than three hundred apartments and each court has a separate WhatsApp group to address common issues. However, there is a central market WhatsApp group where residents – and non-residents – buy and sell goods and services.
PANDEMIC HITS BUSINESS
Erica says her business has had ups and downs since the Covid-19 pandemic struck.
In 2019, she says she had 10 orders for wedding cakes alone. The prices for her wedding cakes vary based on the number of tiers of cake, the total kilogrammes, to complexity of design and flavor of cake as well as the type of icing.
Erica’s wedding cakes range anywhere from Sh27,000 to Sh60,000 or more, depending on the above factors.
In 2020, things started off well and the year looked bright with bookings in place, until the pandemic hit and the government put in place new guidelines among them, the number of attendees allowed in weddings. The guidelines also affected events which were cancelled along with her cake orders.
“Those who were determined to follow through with their weddings just adjusted their numbers, and the size of the cake as well, which diminished my profit, but there were those who decided to postpone their big day all together and the bookings fell through,” Erica says.
Erica has always been a home baker, but she never considered selling her cakes on her estate WhatsApp group until the Ziploc bags incident.
“The fact that the Ziploc bags sold quickly and that coupled with the fact that orders were not coming in as they used to, I decided to start making muffins and banana and oat bread and selling them on the WhatsApp group and to my pleasant surprise, they also sold out quickly,” she says.
Erica says her estate WhatsApp group has been a blessing and she now gets a significant number of orders from there.
“With the new curfew being set at 8pm, many residents sometimes forget essentials such as bread and I’m always there to offer them fresh, tasty bread. Yes, my banana bread is more expensive than regular supermarket bread, but you can’t beat the freshness and taste. Once you’ve had a taste, you’ll want more.”
Erica has also gotten orders for children’s birthday cakes and wedding cakes from the WhatsApp group.
BUTCHERY BUSINESS
Another business person – Andrew Gitonga – says his estate’s WhatsApp group has brought him good business.
“I own a butchery not far from our estate and many of the residents have become our loyal customers.”
Gitonga says the groups have opened up his business to new clients beyond his estate.
“I realized some of those in our estate WhatsApp group are not only residents, but also people who once lived in the estate but moved out and didn’t exit, or people in the estate who have invited their friends to the group by sending them the link. To me, it’s all good for business, because there are people who make orders from the group who are far away from our estate but our riders are on standby to send deliveries.”
Although there are many upsides to the WhatsApp groups, Erica warns against people who take advantage of their neighbours.
“There was a time I sold a neighbor a bunch of cupcakes and she said she would send the money, but weeks later, she was yet to do so. She even proceeded to order more, saying she would pay up for both at once after delivery. I declined. It’s wrong, because at a supermarket, you pay cash before leaving with goods, one should not take advantage of their neighbor. We are all trying to make ends meet.”
Another downside of WhatsApp market groups is some sellers tend to spam groups, putting their products every other hour, which some people do not appreciate and this makes them exit such groups.