Meet Wilson Riitho Curving A Niche In Tent Making In Thika Town One Tent At A Time.
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| Wilson Riitho at his workshop, he is one of the veteran tent makers in Thika. |
Wilson Riitho is one of the veteran tent makers in Thika, with an experience spanning more than a decade; he is one of the pioneer tent and design makers. His workshop Riwans Tents and Design is located at Makongeni Estate, along Garissa Rd 300 metres from Delta Petrol Station. He has specialised in making tents such as dome tents, car port, shade, flower stands, gazebos, parasols with a huge clientele ranging from chama’s, churches, event organisers.
1. Did you grow up in Thika?
No I was born, raised, studied in Nyeri, I came to Thika to
seek for employment.
2. What do you like about Thika Town?
Thika is growing it has a lot of potential as compared to
Nairobi, in the coming years it should be a town to watch out for, I have to
say my business has grown because of
this town that is why I love it.
3. Why tent making
and design?
I love designing things, when I ventured into this business
I wanted to challenge myself to do things that would set me apart from other
designers in this business, this business has given me life it has enabled me
to invest a lot on a personal level.
4. What sets Riwans
Tents & Design apart from other Tent makers?
At Riwans Tents and Design we are the only tent makers who
go an extra mile to educate our clients on what material to use in terms of
quality, what designs to explore all this is geared towards offering services
and products that give them value for money ; another thing is that compared to
our competitors we can boost and say we are pioneers in this business, many of
this tent making business that are coming up cannot compare with what we have
to offer we make and design dome tents, carports, parasols while they only seem
to specialise in small tents.
5. Can you say that
Thika people support what you do?
Yes they have supported me very much it is through my
clients that I have gotten referrals from places as far as Eldoret, Nyeri,
Meru, Nairobi, Kisumu, without such support my business couldn’t have thrived
at all.
6. What kind of
training & skills do you require in this business?
Well, this business requires a lot of precautions, there are
certain things that one should put into consideration if you want to be
successful, such as basic knowledge of metal fabrication and wielding, a bit of
design, ideally if you love structures and you have love structural engineering
this would be an ideal job for you, but most importantly you should be having a
zeal and passion to pursue this career.
7. What would like to change about Thika?
The way event
organizers carry out their trade in this Town is abit wanting, I would like to
see that this has been improved on people need to see the value of investing in
good quality tents for their events to be successful avoid going for short
cuts, another thing is that I mostly rely on electricity to make tents the high
cost of power is hurting my business, I would appeal to the powers that be to
help me & other micro business people and lower the rates especially in Thika.
8. Who are some of
the high level clients that you have dealt with?
Well my clients primarily are churches, event organizers,
who are wide spread across Kenya from towns and cities such Kisumu, Nairobi,
Lamu, Eldoret.
9. Where do you see
Riwans Tents & Design in 5years time?
I would like to be see my business grow in leaps and bounds,
I would love to venture into the larger East and Central Africa market, and
make Riwans Tents & Design a house hold name.
To get in touch with Riitho Call him on 0720 531 663
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