Budding events manager rises to prove that disability is not inability
By Amos Wachira
Clara Mutongi is a resilient woman. As a two-year old girl, she had an accident that left her unable to walk. She had to learn how to walk again. Today, she runs a thriving events management firm, and is testimony that disability is not inability.
When her name was called out in the podium in May this year, she couldn’t hide her joy. She’s the brains behind Dream Realityworks, and was feted as a Rising Star at the wedding awards.
Beyond the glamor of the glitzy awards ceremony, the recognition symbolized her resilience in life and in business. After an accident in her formative years, her world fell apart. With supportive parents, she battled her disability valiantly, leading a normal life, like any other child.
“Despite what happened, my family has never made me feel like I am different.”
From an early age, her parents instilled confidence in her. And this has helped her to found a thriving events management firm.
She founded the firm in 2015 after nosing an unmet gap in the crowded events management space.
With the rising commercialization of the industry, it’s harder to get personalized services today compared to ten years ago. Having worked in the industry for many years, she says she realized that it was getting commercialized at a fast pace. With competition ringing in, most players thrived on small margins and failed to provide bespoke services. Her idea was to provide personalized services aimed at turning an ordinary event into a dream.
She ventured into business when one of her friends requested her to do outdoor decor for her party. “I conceived this idea back in 2015, when a friend was planning a late lunch, and asked me to arrange an outdoor set-up for her with a bit of exterior decor and when I did it, I felt like this was something I could do,” says Clara.
Before she came into the scene, she had tried other things which failed to give her the adrenaline rush. For instance, she had worked in tech startups. She had also tried her hands in baking cakes, a hobby that she passionately loves and practices today, but it was events management that gave her the thrill.
On starting Dream Realityworks, Clara says that it was not easy, but her drive to make a difference in the fast changing industry inspired her. When her firm opened doors to its first clients in February 2016, Clara was already a few miles ahead.
She had done her homework well to know that people wanted their events to turn out as glamorous as they could imagine. Even with her wide range of services on offer, there is always that sinking feeling that entrepreneurs have about how their products and services would be received in the market.
“Even though I was upbeat starting up, I still had fear due to uncertainty as there are several other events management companies out there, I just didn’t know how my new company would be received,” she says. Fortunately for her, the market was ready for her services. After the first gig, word spread that Clara was doing this and word of mouth referrals started trickling in. With a few clients that she could get, Clara was ready to transform her idea into business.
As a young business owner, she says that not many youthful entrepreneurs have the right mindset for business. “As young people, we struggle with impatience so much that it sometimes halts a dream that could have turned lucrative. Young people start businesses imagining that they will break even very fast often in unrealistic timelines, not realizing that an investment requires time to fruit,” she observes.
So, what exactly does it take to start and run a profitable business?
She asserts that it takes patience to run a business. This must be accompanied by financial discipline. “Entrepreneurs need to separate their business finances from their personal finances and that is why having an accountant is highly beneficial to an entrepreneur.”
Clara has done events for different clients since she started. She says that her target market is anyone with a penchant for quality event management services.
“We have done parties for luncheons, birthdays for toddlers and for octogenarians, weddings among others.”
Interestingly, Clara has been in events management space since she was a little girl. “I always found myself preparing stuff for other people even within family. For instance I’d plan on washing utensils, cooking, cleaning, making the room neat especially when we had guests coming but little did I know that this was event management,” she recalls. She realized that she could manage events for a fee while she was in college, where she studied information technology.
“I could host events for a fee while still in school studying a totally different thing.” In school, Clara wanted to pursue a career in hospitality, but the slow pace of the industry kept her away.
As an IT professional, she has managed more events and projects than she has developed codes for IT programs. This is the reason she was employed in the events management industry for most of her working life.
“I don’t at all regret beginning as an employee because employment has taught me skills I need to run my business. Skills such as how to work with people towards achieving a goal.”
Starting her own events company remains one of her biggest milestones.
Running an events management company
In events management, Clara says that the most important thing is how many events you get, and this has to do with how one manages her staff, so that they can deliver quality services, and leave the customers satisfied. “Customers bring in new customers. How well you meet the needs of the customer determines how many more come for your services.”
She advises business owners doing this business of events management to walk with their customers. Clara mostly markets her business through social media and word of mouth.
Even though once established, events management is a well-paying job, Clara says that it has its own challenges. “Like any other business, there are challenges. The first one is the difficulty in getting good customer service representatives considering that these are the ones that keep the business going.”
Secondly, she says, is getting the items for the event set up to the venue. This of course requires logistics and can be expensive. However, these are surmountable. The most demoralizing of them is having served a client who declines to pay for the services offered.
“Some clients disappear with the money but there comes a situation where you thank God for the opportunity and move on with life.”
Financing the business, she says, is a hurdle that many young entrepreneurs face. However, they should not keep away from starting businesses because of such challenges.
Sometimes, she says, it takes more than capital to start a business. “With good working relationship with suppliers one can manage financial crisis at the start.”
But with all the challenges, she soldiers on, doing her best and hoping for the best.
She says she draws her strength from two pillars; her faith in God, and support from her family.
“Without God I wouldn’t be where I am, and my two strengths my mum and my late dad.”
With her simple mantra: ‘Patience pays’, she is raring to fight for a bigger piece of the events management pie.
