Tracking finances to improve income at a catering business

Petronilla Nzomo started Peca Catering Services in 2012. As a new mother, she needed the extra income, so she turned her cooking hobby into a company. Operating in Kilifi County, Kenya, Petronilla employs 4 permanent, and 6-8 temporary staff, mostly youth.

The company has a CSR programme in which they train youth in cooking and baking skills, to set them up for future employment. Petronilla learned about the AMI programme via a WhatsApp group, from another participant, and quickly signed up, eager to improve how she ran her business.

She has been using the tools from the programme to focus her time on the most critical tasks, and to learn how to track her finances to make better decisions.

“When I started the business, I was doing everything myself from marketing, shopping and cooking, but now I have learnt to delegate. 90% of what I was doing I have delegated and now I focus on the 10%,” she said.

“I used to spend fast, often using client money to shop and counting the remainder as profit, but now I distinguish what I buy, from what the business buys, I record everything daily, in fact, in January, I started to officially pay myself.”