With the Covid-19 pandemic and measures to curb it, many across the city are spending more time at home. This has led some to seek ways to improve their homes to make them more appealing.

Two young female graduates, Allen Ingabire and Paulette Mpano, driven by their passion for nature have found a business opportunity therein in interior and home décor.

It all started with their love for plants; how they transform spaces and their versatile capacity to act as herbs and medicine.

This, they say was fascinating to them and through research, they came to understand that this could be developed into a business. They ultimately saw potential in this field after discerning that it was a few people who had ventured into this type of business.

The entrepreneurs do landscaping, indoor and outdoor decorations. Photos: Courtesy.

The more they talked to people about this idea, the more they were pushed and motivated to go for it. That’s how Ivy Bliss Murugo was born.

Their idea was to invest in something that would allow people to explore the beauty of nature in their homes and offices. They also desired to contribute towards the fight against climate change.

For three years now, the young entrepreneurs have had their focus on landscaping, indoor and outdoor decorations, where they sell potted plants, do gardening, designing and advisory in this field.

Their products are made through a combination of different materials from different vendors to come up with finished designs.

"To elaborate on this, we work with potters who make the pots, nursery owners to get plants and what we do is come up with an Ivy Bliss potted plant, or buy plants somewhere and plant them in someone’s garden,” they say.

Their first design project

When it was all still an idea, Ingabire, (the founder) had a conversation with the CEO and co-founder of Akilah institute, Elizabeth Dearborn Hughes, about what she was going to do in the future since she had just graduated (from Akilah), as she recalls.

"I explained to her the idea of starting a plant business in Kigali. Two months after the conversation, Elizabeth challenged me to provide 70 potted plants to all Akilah staff.  It was a huge first order and we were not prepared. We did not see it coming but we accepted the challenge. We had pots made, searched for plants and everything else that goes into a well finished product and delivered as agreed.”

They also sell potted plants and do gardening for clients. 

And though, there are so many things they did not understand about plants, running a business and working with different vendors, their project ended up being a success, they say, adding that the money they made from this project became their capital and that it has been a fun journey since then.

They have since learnt a lot from the job. For example, they now understand that to be a great designer, one needs passion coupled with constant learning.

"This industry evolves a lot and it requires someone to really be on the lookout for what’s trending. We don’t call ourselves great designers or landscapers but we hope that one day we will be. What we most love about our job is the satisfaction that comes with doing what we love and seeing the expected results come to reality,” the girls share.

Even though they say they don’t have full time employees, they delight in the ability to create occasional opportunities for talented potters, plant nursery owners, carpenters, and gardeners. That makes them feel like they are contributing to their community.

"We also love that our business gives opportunities to our clients to explore what more they can do in their homes and offices that was not there in the last few years. To us, plants give a new life to any place. They grow, heal, bring peace and warmth into our homes which can inspire how we live daily. On top of that, we live in an era where people spend more time at home especially with the Covid-19 outbreak. People want something that keeps their mind busy outside of work, something that is relaxing and brings satisfaction.”

The feedback they have been getting since the first lockdown is the satisfaction and serenity that the plants offer; watering them and seeing them grow day by day- people embark on a journey with them and grow together.

Their inspiration

When making or choosing designs, the duo says they look at what is durable, attractive to the eye and matches the space they are working with. This is how they mostly find what designs, plants or pots they use on a particular house/project.

"Usually, it depends on the space we are working on, whether it’s outdoors or indoors. We also consider clients’ preferences, along with many other factors. We then come up with tailored proposals, sometimes we work with clients who don’t know what exactly they want; for them we share proposals and try to sketch for them so that they envision what the finished product will look like.”

They have learnt that many clients are not familiar with knowledge about plants, for example they don’t know what plants go inside, what needs full sunlight, what doesn’t like water, or what you can’t have when you have babies around because of toxicity. That’s why they give all the required advice to clients before they embark on any project.

Designing trends

In Rwanda, indoor plants are the new thing and they stand out because they bring life and beauty into spaces, the girls say.

They also noticed that that the trend of hanging plants on walls or wood boards has been picking up lately.

"Not so long ago, people only planted plants in gardens and no one thought that some could be hung on walls, or placed on wood boards or even bring them inside. I think all these great innovations are coming and they give us an opportunity to help people have them in their homes.”

So far, their business has been a success with clear optimism for their business to grow and become the leading and go-to-plant guru for Rwanda and other countries.

Nonetheless, their journey hasn’t been without hiccups. For them, it was the constant fear that they will fail or that nobody was going to buy their product or service. They however trusted their guts and hopped on this journey.

The other challenge is; they are both full time employees at other companies which makes it a little challenging to fully concentrate on this business.

"Also, some people in Rwanda do not comprehend our business and it could be a challenge to penetrate the market. There is a limitation of what plants are available in the region. That makes it hard to provide different plants to different clients.”

On the other hand, their cash flow currently only allows them to work with occasional employees which sometimes is a challenge when they have big or urgent orders.

They nevertheless look to the future with hope to expand their line of business.

"One of the businesses we have started working on is gifting. We started with a pilot phase by creating gift hampers during the festive season and we received positive feedback. We intend to share more about ourselves and what we do so we can continue growing in this market.”