How I Turned My Side Hustle into a Scalable Food Brand

Описание: What does it really take to build a scalable, African-born brand in the middle of a pandemic, and with two toddlers at home?

In this episode of So How’s Business, we sit down with Nairobi-based entrepreneur Nanzia, the founder of Roro's a fast-casual healthy food brand. From her first salad shop in Dar es Salaam to opening branches in Nairobi’s top malls, Nanzia shares unfiltered lessons on growth, failure, pivoting, and motherhood.

This isn’t just about hospitality, it’s about resilience, systems thinking, and smart scaling in a market that’s flooded with new restaurants every week.

If you’re a founder, dreamer, or working mom, this conversation is for you.

Chapters

(00:00) Why Chaos Isn’t a Sign You’re Failing
(00:26) Meet Nanzia
(01:47) Accidentally Starting a Business in Tanzania
(03:24) Solving Her Own Problem
(04:46) New York to Nairobi: The Big Shift Back
(05:52) Scaling Too Fast, Too Soon
(08:36) Early Struggles: “We Weren’t Ready”
(10:37) Village Market: The Right Move at the Right Time
(12:09) COVID Hits, Everything Has to Change
(13:43) From Salads to Hot Food: Pivoting the Product
(15:41) Bootstrapped Growth: How She Funded the Dream
(16:57) Knowing When to Walk Away
(18:25) Letting Go: You Are Not Your Business
(22:44) Loving Food Isn’t Enough- Harsh Truths
(25:10) People Management Is the Hardest Part
(30:42) Is Nairobi’s Restaurant Boom a Mirage?
(35:50) Scaling Smart- Without Losing Yourself
(46:20) Motherhood, Burnout, and Invisible Labor

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African female entrepreneur, Nairobi startups, how to start a restaurant, scaling a food brand in Africa, women in business Kenya, hospitality entrepreneurship, restaurant founder advice, startup mistakes, Nairobi business podcast, balancing motherhood and business, startup pivoting strategies, how to open a restaurant in Africa, business lessons from COVID-19, fast casual restaurant Kenya