Restless investor who thrives outside the comfort zone

Kevin Muriithi, once a slum boy, started his entrepreneurship journey early in life. Mr Muriithi has interest in every business that generates good profit.

In 2005, while living in Mathare slums a few kilometres from KCA University where was an accounting student, he saw an investment window in Kenyatta University where he had gone to visit his friend.

‘‘There were few shops selling movies, doing bulk photocopying,’’ he said.

But the challenge was getting a shop in the university because he was not a student in the college. He talked to his friend who got him a small shop in the college.

The next day, he picked part of his school fees to buy merchandise and employed his friend who was a part-time student to run the university shop.

‘‘The university management had no clue that I was the owner of the business. This would have led to the cancellation of the permit and expulsion of my friend from the institution. It was a nice strategy that served the purpose,’’ said the 29-year-old during an interview with Business Daily at his office in Nairobi’s Westlands.

He used Sh30,000 from the school fees and to avoid being questioned by his parents why he was not attending classes, Mr Muriithi told them he had secured a part-time job in Ruiru town and needed to move.

‘‘I used the remaining amount to pay for my exam fees. Since I was  a part time student, I could  use my free time to supply my friend with the needed business items,’’ said Mr Muriithi.

After one year, he closed down the business in search of a more profitable venture.

Competition

‘‘Students had opened more shops in the university and I had to think of the next business fast. I had managed to save nearly Sh75,000 and was very sure this could help me start a medium-sized business that was not too costly to run,’’ he said.

He started a meat business targeting both homes and schools. With the help of his friend at Kenyatta University, he got return customers and increased his sales.
‘‘One thing I knew is that when you are dealing with students, let payments be instant to avoid delayed payments or none,’’ he said.

The nearby schools turned out to be his cash cow. ‘‘I did not own a butchery. I bought the meat at a cheaper price and sold it at a higher price,’’ said Mr Muriithi. The venture become very involving given that he was still a student and he finally opted to close it.

He later started a stationery business targeting corporates, schools and bookshops. ‘‘The beauty with this business was that, you invested mainly on what the clients wanted; meaning that it was hard to encounter losses. Private schools were my best clients,’’ he said.

He also supplied stationery to law firms. ‘‘At this stage, I learnt that trust holds the key to any successful business,’’ he says.

He again shut down the business to ride on his previous corporate clients, but now starting a taxi business.

He made Sh280,000 in savings from the stationery business which he used to buy a second hand car and employed a driver. The car was an entry into the transport business where he started hiring more vehicles on a monthly basis and leasing the fleet to companies.

‘‘This was the only rewarding business that I enjoyed doing since the profit margin was always high. I had hired around 10 taxis and after the monthly expenses, I was able to save nearly Sh200,000,’’ said Mr Muriithi. Some of his clients at that time included AccessKenya.

In 2002, he decided to end the taxi business to team up with his brother Wilfred Wachira and founded Jabali Furniture, targeting companies in search of high-end office furniture.

‘‘Jabali Furniture deals with imported home and office furniture and was started with a capital of Sh4 million. The capital came from my savings from the taxi business plus my brother’s savings. We sell and lease furniture as well as offer consultancy to the clients on which design fits their space,’’ he said.

Jabali Furniture sources its products from China and has employed 10 workers. Currently, most of their clients include University of Nairobi, National Council for Persons with Disabilities among others. The company boasts of having served about 440 customers.

He says the main challenge of operating a business in Nairobi is getting space because costs such as goodwill are too high.

‘‘Getting a good space in Nairobi comes with a lot of costs and this has been a key challenge for start-ups,’’ said Mr Muriithi.

The serial entrepreneur says he is not settled yet, as every challenge presents an investment opportunity.

‘‘We are pursuing other interests which we cannot disclose for now,’’ said Mr Muriithi.