Thinking of Venturing into the Fried Fish Business?

She has tried several kinds of businesses with minimum success but nothing has been as successful as selling fried fish.

Meet mama Margaret Namalwa Wanjala of 48 years from Namarambi Bungoma County. “I studied at Misikhu Primary School did my CPE and passed well but I never had the chance to continue with my education because of school fees.” she begins.

At the time while she was growing up Margaret wanted to be a policewoman as she explains, she was a child who was full of energy, aggressive, her decisions were firm and she was very hardworking.

That dream however never came to pass, after finishing her Primary School education she went to Mombasa to stay with her in-law whom she thought would take her to school but that did not happen.

She opted to return to her village at her parents’ house where her dad Mr. Alexander Wanjala took her for an accounting course and tailoring in Kisumu.

“I did the course and after 4 years I begun hustling where I ended up working for my former primary school Misikhu boarding.”

After 2 months of working she got married at the age of 18 years and stayed with her late husband for 6 years before he passed away.

Life was quite difficult at the time her husband died since her left her with 4 children who were still young and by the time he passed on she had just given birth two weeks earlier.

“Being the second wife to the late was hectic for me, and it even got worse when he passed on, my in laws accused me of his death and they took away everything we both had worked for leaving me with young children not even caring about them.”

She tried all kinds of jobs she could including being a house help, selling second hand clothes, vegetables, selling sweet potatoes, being a shop keeper but nothing seemed to work out yet she had to provide for her family.

After two years of toiling with the children she got married again to a husband she thought would love her children but nothing seemed to work out.

“At first he was a nice person, he would take care of the entire family well but it reached a point where he mistreated and became violent towards me and his step children he would buy little food to feed his two children and leave the rest to starve especially when I was not around. ”

This however did not take long and as she narrates she decided to move out after he beat her badly one day when she refused to give him her late husbands’ pension that he demanded to be given.

Selling fish

During the days she was a house help she used to sell fish for one of her employers an art she decided to try her hand on.

During the first days she failed countless times to the point of almost giving up, all the capital she invested in bore no profit.

Luckily one of her in laws agreed to give her a loan that she would revive her business again and pays later when her business was stable.

At the same time mama Margaret was lucky to get advice from her sister who was working at the municipal council of Bungoma by then who advised her to change the venue from the municipal market to near Posta grounds on the street.

“Since I came to this place my business has never remained the same, I remember the first day I moved here I sold up to 10 kilograms of fish something that never happened before and until today on a good day I would sell up to 70 kilograms of fish,” she says. Depending on the size her fish would range from shs 100 to shs 250.

The money she makes from her business has assisted her buy a piece of land, which she plans to build rentals once she completes the payments.

At the same time she has managed to give her children education to the level she can, single handedly, though two of them passed very well in they final KCSE exams secured chances at different universities but she couldn’t manage to take them higher than that because of lack of enough money.

“This business has been a blessing to me for the last 13 years I have been here and I have nothing to regret about. It has made me strong and given me the belief that a woman can make it on her own, you see when I was married nothing seemed to work out for me but when I stayed on my own and learnt the hardships of life I have come this far since I begun the business after I separated with my former husband.”

She has mastered her art in her business and in the evening passing through the Posta street one wouldn’t fail to notice her do her work and the nice smell of fish would obviously take a customer to her including those with big vehicles who would pack along the road just to buy fish from mama Margaret.

How have you gained popularity and managed to have a huge customer base?

“First thing is cleanliness, I make sure I reach at my work station early enough to ensure everything is okay, I am welcoming, I am patient, I don’t carry my personal issues to work at the back of my mind I know the customer is always right and lastly prayers are my strongest weapon.”

She learnt all this from seminars she attended where they were advised on how to deal with businesses, customers and savings.

Her days she adds starts as early as 5.00 am where she travels to Malaba in Busia to buy fresh fish, she comes back by 8 am cleans the fish then leaves them to dry in the sun. She then ensures by 2 pm she is at her work place to begin frying and selling. Although she has been at the Posta Street for all those years, she has faced several challenges.

“Misunderstandings here and there from my colleagues, on the days I would sell more fish some would spread malicious rumors about my business, during the rainy seasons business isn’t good since this place is open I don’t have a shade where I can shelter myself and continue with my business even when its raining.”

However she says she has learnt to turn deaf ears to survive from the rumor mongers, do exactly what took her there which is to provide for her children and make her life better in the near future.

“Whenever I look back and see how difficult my life was I strive ahead to have a bright future, I want to be called a land lady some day, I want to own a big shop in my compound, you see one day I will be old and weak I wouldn’t be able to continue with this business so I would remain in the shop back at home while my daughter comes to sell fish.”

Her advice, ”let no excuse weaken your spirit and fail to proper in life, I am a widow, with 5 children and 3 grandchildren and gone though so much in life but I have stood out for myself and my family.  A woman has a strong spirit and she can do anything but always put God first in whatever plans you are undertaking.”

Article by Shillah Mwadosho.