From Earning KSh 100 A Day To KSh 300,000 A Month: How Ivy Njeri Built Nairobi Spaces

From there, she worked as a supermarket cashier, where her monthly salary was KSh 12,000. Sometimes, it would drop to KSh 6,000 because of deductions.

Today, Ivy’s business, Nairobi Spaces, generates between ksh 200,000 and ksh 300,000.

The company manages over 4,000 Airbnb listings and served over 3,500 guests in 2025.

Speaking during an interview, Ivy explained how she moved from doing odd jobs to making six figures within just a few years.

Ivy grew up in a humble family of three siblings.

Her parents were able to afford school fees and basic necessities, but they could barely afford money for luxuries such as school trips.

As a college student, she worked at a laundry shop earning KSh 100 per day and also as a supermarket cashier making ksh 12,000 per month.

After completing her diploma in Information and Communication Technology, she decided to pursue freelance website development.

However, finding paying clients was a nightmare.

During her entire period as a freelance developer, she secured only one paying client, who gave her KSh 15,000.

She also tried her hand at forex trading, which hit a brick wall.

Ivy’s breakthrough came after she decided to relocate from a bedsitter in Zimmerman to a one-bedroom house in Utawala.

While house hunting, she noticed numerous vacant rental properties.

She began recording videos of these houses and posting them on TikTok, helping prospective tenants who were also house hunting.

At first, she charged KSh 2,000 for house viewings and ksh 10,000 when clients viewed the houses.

One day, a Nigerian Airbnb host named Victor contacted her after seeing her TikTok videos.

“I’ve seen your page on TikTok. I’ve seen what you do, and I have this Airbnb I’d like you to market for me,” he told Ivy.

He paid her ksh 5,000 to advertise his property, and that was how Ivy’s Airbnb business took off.

Rather than renting and furnishing apartments herself, Ivy developed a business model that connects guests with existing Airbnb owners.

Owners provide Nairobi Spaces with their lowest acceptable accommodation rates.

The company adds its profit and makes money whenever a guest books through it.

For example, when an owner charges KSh 5,000 per night, Nairobi Spaces might advertise the property for KSh 6,000.

A guest booking for 20 nights would therefore generate KSh 20,000 in revenue for Nairobi Spaces.

As demand increased, Ivy created WhatsApp groups connecting Airbnb hosts and agents.

That network eventually expanded to more than 4,000 listings.

By January 2025, Ivy had begun keeping formal business records and building a team.

At the time, Nairobi Spaces was generating approximately KSh 200,000 to KSh 300,000 monthly.

Bookings became the company’s largest source of revenue, followed by marketing services and consultations.

Ivy also experimented with selling furnished Airbnb businesses, where she would earn a 10% commission on completed sales.

Her first such sale involved a furnished unit along Ngong Road, which sold for KSh 200,000 and earned Nairobi Spaces KSh 20,000.

Throughout 2025, the company helped accommodate more than 3,500 guests.

Ivy attributed much of that growth to consistently posting accommodation videos on her TikTok page.

“The more you post on TikTok, the more inquiries you get,” she explained.

She also observed that her Instagram page attracted customers who were often willing to pay higher accommodation rates.

December 2025 became the company’s strongest month.

“December was one of the best months last year. We made around 500,000, I would say,” she said.

Today, Nairobi Spaces operates with a four-person team, including Ivy.

She plans to concentrate on expanding the company’s network and improving its booking services.

“I would like to put my full attention on growing the company and growing my team and also growing the access of hosts that we have,” she explained.

She also plans to develop an accommodation-booking application that will incorporate artificial intelligence (AI).

“We’re looking into having an application for people looking for accommodation in Kenya,” Ivy said.

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