How Nani’s Cafe Turned Sober Parties Into Business | Zanelle Wanja | Business Edition

What happens when you remove alcohol from the party business? Zanelle Wanja’s answer was Nani’s Cafe Party, a Nairobi social experience built around music, coffee, wellness and community. But before Nani’s, Zanelle built Azana Collective, a fashion business that generated strong sales but struggled with high production costs and weak financial controls. The experience taught her a crucial lesson: revenue means little if the economics don’t work. After a year in fintech, she returned to entrepreneurship and built Nani’s differently. What started as free events grew into 350+ person experiences, with paid tickets, major brand partnerships and a flagship home at Gigi Social Club. In this Financially Incorrect Business Edition episode, Zanelle breaks down the lessons from Azana, why free events failed, how Nani’s built a sustainable business model, and whether sober socialising can become a scalable African business. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Access all our links in one place: https://lnk.bio/Financially_Inc 💹 Ready to start trading? 🧑‍🏫 Learn how to trade: https://lnk.bio/fxpesa 📲 Open a demo trading account: https://bit.ly/DemoAccountYT 📈 Start live trading: https://bit.ly/LiveAccountYT --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Episode Chapters 00:00 – Intro 00:27 – Inside Nani’s Cafe Party 00:53 – The Rise and Fall of Azana Collective 05:26 – Building a Business, Then Losing It 13:22 – When Sales Outgrew Financial Discipline 16:51 – The Fintech Pivot That Changed Everything 18:17 – Why She Bet on Sober Parties 26:06 – Can Sober Parties Actually Make Money? 31:36 – Why Free Events Failed 39:45 – The KSh 1,500 Pricing Breakthrough 42:27 – The Event That Finally Sold Out 45:20 – Oatly Covers 70% of Event Costs 49:37 – Finding Nani’s New Home at Gigi 55:32 – The Event That Made The Most Money 01:01:46 – When The Business Finally Pays Them 01:05:42 – Can Sober Parties Scale Across Africa? 01:07:00 – Closing Thoughts