Crocheting for a living

Naomi Kaitetsi makes neck warmers, curtain holders, cartoon dolls and animal themed key holders for sale. PHOTOs/Joan Salmon. 

What you need to know:

Naomi Kaitetsi Byekwatso’s initial capital was Shs200,000 from which she bought yarn, tapestry mats, hooks, paint for bottle decor, and pom pom makers. Crocheting is now her source of livelihood.

It is said that children learn by seeing. Growing up, Naomi Kaitetsi Byekwatso, the proprietor of Oshea Hooks and Purls, watched her mother crochet table cloth to supplement her nursing job.

Because Keitetsi was still young, her mother did not teach her crotcheting. At that time, she wanted her children to concentrate on their studies. 

Years later, Kaitetsi started experimenting with the craft but she treated it as a hobby. However, the learned skill soon became a source of income when the project she was working for closed.

“I took to what I knew and loved to do. Using my home space, I started crocheting crafts for sale. Just like my mother did many years ago,” says Keitetsi.

How she started

The journey of commercialising her skill started in June 2018 when her best friend, her first customer, asked her to make a warmer. “I had made myself a neck warmer and wore it to the village on a cold day. I took a photo and shared it on Facebook. As soon as she saw it, she ordered one and she paid Shs30,000,” she says. 

From her first customer, her family and friends have since supported her business by making orders as well as recommending her products to their friends. Keitetsi learnt that if she used Facebook strategically, she could get more clients.

Startup Capital

Kaitetsi’s initial capital was Shs200,000 from which she bought yarn, tapestry mats for shaggy mats, hooks, paint for bottle decor, and pom pom makers. She, however, ended up not using some of these items and she decided to concentrate on crocheting neck warmers.

 Despite having the basic skills, she added stuffed toys and other customised crochet crafts such as curtain holders. “Crocheting is a broad concept and at the start, I was all over the place. Later, I decided to zero down and concentrate on a few items.”

Kaitetsi’s items have varying costs with neck warmers going for Shs30,000 for adults and Shs25,000 for children. Melanin dolls are between Shs30,000 and Shs50,000 depending on the size. Curtain holders cost Shs50,000 per pair, cartoon character dolls vary depending on the complexity of the pattern while animal themed key holders are Shs5,000.

Rewards and challenges

 The mother of two, who works from home, says earning from her sweat has been rewarding. Her first big order fetched Shs500,000. Kaitetsi says on a good day, she makes Shs100,000.

But she is quick to say she has encountered clients of different temperaments.

“Some clients bargain so much that after computing, you end up making losses. It took a lot of market research to learn how to deal with clients and how to price my products reasonably,” she recounts her challenges.

 This got Kaitetsi reading about pricing online and comparing prices with people in the business. One of the lessons she has learnt is that even the data, electricity and airtime spent on making crafts and marketing her work ought to be accounted for in the final price of the product.

After mastering product pricing, Keitetsi embarked on learning book keeping, how to manage customers, use of social media to increase sales to boost her crotchet business.

Training

Kaitetsi has also undertaken several trainings in shaggy mat making, bottle decor, crocheting clothes for both children and adults, and hand knitting. She says Youtube tutorials have also been handy in honing her crocheting and knitting skills.

“I still learn online to keep up with trends. Clients’ needs keep changing and so do the styles. To be ahead of competition, I must keep abreast with the latest trends. So, learning is a continuous process of my business,” says Kaitetsi

 Apart from the pricing, Keitetsi says some clients place orders and later change their mind about buying the product. She adds that people still prefer imported crafts and think local crafts are of low quality. Perhaps this explains why they want to pay very little for them.

Marketing

Despite the hurdles, she has things to be thankful for. For example, in 2018, Keitetsi sold her products to more than seven different countries such as South Africa, Kenya, USA, UAE, and UK.

 In 2019, she got an opportunity to meet President Museveni at State House. This was preceded by an exhibition at Kololo organised by UNDP.

 Kaitetsi says crocheting has exposed her to the practicalities of entrepreneurship, marketing, sales and customer care, networking, skills that have made her a  better manager and marketer.

“I don’t take a rude client to be malicious. People are dealing with a lot. So I respond to them with love and respect,” she adds.  Keitetsi has learnt to set realistic goals and when she needs more time to complete a project, she informs her client ahead of time.

Mentor

Naomi Kaitetsi intends to inspire the youth to venture into the crotcheting business. She plans to empower women economically through trainings, particularly in financial literacy and marketing.