The first large order came from Thika Textile Works.
The welfare officer wanted lunch for one hundred people during a training day.
Nyambura nearly said yes immediately.
In her first life, yes had opened the door to work nobody calculated.
Instead, she asked:
Menu?
Delivery time?
Plates?
Deposit?
Water?
Serving staff?
The price looked good until Akinyi listed meat, vegetables, charcoal, transport, wages, equipment fees, and waste.
The profit was thin.
They negotiated a larger deposit and a small price increase.
The Chama of Four Names held a special meeting.
Nyambura would lead cooking.
Akinyi would purchase supplies.
Halima would handle packing.
Rose would check quantities after school.
Two additional women were hired at a written daily wage rather than invited as unpaid helpers.
Wairimu wanted to miss school.
“The order is big,” she said.
“That is not a reason for your education to become small.”
The day before delivery, the meat supplier delayed and charged more. Overnight rain dampened the charcoal. One pot of githeri caught at the bottom.
They saved the upper portion, but food ran short. Akinyi bought cooked maize and beans from another trader at a high price.
The pickup they expected did not arrive.
At 12:20, the food was still at the matatu stage.
The factory break began at one.
Nyambura hired an entire matatu trip and paid extra for the heavy pots.
They arrived twelve minutes late.
The manager was furious.
“We will reduce the delivery charge,” Nyambura said. “We will also provide tea for the last-shift workers.”
The offer consumed the expected profit.
Serving exposed another failure. Meat pieces were uneven. The first workers received larger pieces. The final line received smaller ones.
Nyambura stopped, cut the larger portions, and introduced a standard ladle.
The food tasted good, but the feedback sheet listed problems:
Late delivery.
Uneven meat.
The final servings were warm rather than hot.
Good githeri.
Respectful staff.
Adequate quantity.
The factory held part of the final payment pending review.
Nyambura requested written reasons.
Back at the market, they calculated a KSh 68 loss.
Halima said ordinary daily sales would have been safer.
Nyambura agreed.
“I confused the ability to cook for thirty people with a system capable of serving one hundred.”
She did not blame only the supplier or the rain.
The meeting minutes recorded:
No dry-fuel backup.
No written supplier terms.
No reserved transport.
No portion-control tools.
No warming containers.
No capacity limit.
Akinyi wanted the chama to absorb the loss because the group pot had been used.
Nyambura refused.
“My business accepted the contract. The chama receives its use fee. The owner absorbs profit and loss.”
All workers were paid as agreed, even though Nyambura’s savings nearly disappeared.
The factory called them back for a smaller trial order.
“The manager was surprised you wrote a failure report before we did,” the welfare officer said. “The previous caterer blamed our workers.”
This time, the team used a checklist:
Supplier confirmation.
Dry charcoal.
Measured portions.
Reserved transport.
Temperature check.
Complaint log.
They arrived early.
Food was hot.
Every portion matched.
The factory awarded them a weekly order for sixty people.
A staff member asked why her wage had not been reduced for tea she drank during work.
“Staff food is a budget line,” Nyambura said. “You do not eat your wage.”
After the first successful month, Wairimu found a KSh 6 arithmetic error in the accounts.
“Do not hide an error because I am your mother,” Nyambura told her.
The factory later explained why it stayed with the women.
“They failed once without disappearing.”
One hundred plates did not make Nyambura successful.
They taught her that a skilled cook and a reliable food system were not the same thing.