MY HUSTLE: I’m not a doctor like dad but I’m always on call

Dickson Mutuma, 26, was happy when he did not score an A in his Kenya Certificate Secondary Examinations (KCSE) exams.
It meant he could finally pursue his dream of not studying medicine.

“My father had always wanted me to be a doctor and scoring a B-minus automatically meant I didn’t qualify to be admitted to study medicine. I was elated!”

TAKING A DIFFERENT PATH

He got admitted to the University of Nairobi to pursue Bachelor of Commerce (Finance).

“Growing up, my cousin Silvia Machoka was my role model. She was a beacon of success and I wanted to be just like her. When I found out that she had pursued the same degree at the University of Nairobi, my mind was made up. I was going to literally follow in her footsteps.”

VILLAGE BOY MOVES TO THE CITY

Dickson was very excited about joining university and more so, coming to Nairobi. Up until that moment, he had spent all his life in Kaaga village, Meru. His childhood had been one long, energy-packed phase of adventure in the lush landscape of Meru and its gentle flowing rivers. He fondly remembers hanging out with about 15 cousins at his grandfather’s home in a village called Mojwa. Their grandfather had to slaughter an entire cow to feed them all. Although he loved his home town Meru, higher education was calling. In his third year at the university, something happened that drastically changed the course of Dickson’s life. It all started with a unit that was introduced that year called e-business.

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

“I was immediately drawn to the unit due to the lecturer’s approach. He was always pestering us with updates in technology in relation to business. He even had us develop websites for our assignment. That class was my first brush with technology and it was love at first sight.”

That year, Dickson got his first laptop. He was intrigued by the information relayed in class by his lecturer. Like Bereans in the Bible, he would spend hours after class, cross-checking what his lecturer had said and researching some more. He read about Facebook, its genesis and how it operated. He binged on Apple and its founders with a special interest in Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs. His was an insatiable thirst for technology and its role in business.

UNBREAKABLE SPIRIT

One day, he approached his lecturer with a brilliant idea for a website. The lecturer, sold, linked him up with a technician who had the skills to execute Dickson’s idea. However, their interaction was brief and ultimately disappointing. The tech guy was unable to grasp Dickson’s idea and opted to brush it off. Dickson was crestfallen, but only for a moment.

“I decided to study programming and get the technician’s skills. My spirit was unbreakable. I remained resolute.”
After his undergraduate degree, Dickson enrolled for a three month course in programming and web development at E-Mobilis Mobile Technology Institute in Nairobi.

“I missed class only once for the entire duration of the course. We did not sit for a single exam. Instead, we were tasked with developing an app by the end of the training. I developed an app called Kilimo Solutions that enabled both farmers and dairy co-operations to track quantity of milk delivered by farmers and also track payments made to them at the end of the month. Unfortunately, the app was not embraced due to conflict of interest in matters transparency. I was however incubated at M-Lab East Africa courtesy of the app. While there, my entrepreneurial skills were sharpened and I learnt the business aspect of software solutions.”

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‘FAILURE IS PART OF THE JOURNEY’

Dickson now owns two e-commerce websites that he developed himself. The first one, marimari.co.ke sells an array of goods including clothing, fitness equipment and electronic appliances. Secondly, he has mvinyo.co.ke, which stocks alcoholic beverages. Both websites have been operational for about six months now, netting him a profit of about Ksh 70,000 to Ksh 100,000 per month. Dickson ships in his wares from China which has given him a competitive advantage in the market by cutting on middlemen costs.

“I am currently working on increasing the profit margin by further cutting the cost of middlemen. In the next five months, I am hoping to employ at least three people who will manage social media advertising as well as customer care services. At the moment, I am running all operations solo. I liaise with bodaboda owners for deliveries within town and courier services for out of town deliveries. My business thrives on prompt delivery of orders.

Within town, we deliver within a maximum of one hour. For Coast region, we deliver within eight hours max, now with the SGR; we are looking at five hours Max. Clients call me round the clock, and I deliver their orders. I never became a doctor like my dad but I’m always on call, just like him. ”

Dickson’s journey has not been all rosy but had the occasional thorn here and there. After completing his three-month training at E-Mobilis, he was jobless. Things got pretty thick and in 2015 and he went back to Meru. He got an internship as a financial officer for a whole year. In 2016, he got joined a software development company in Nairobi earning a meagre Ksh.7, 000 per month. This however, brought a ray of hope. He was back to doing what he loved.

He met George Gathoni at IHub with whom they developed their first operational ecommerce website, kwiktech.co.ke and later marimari.co.ke

Dickson is inspired by Jack Ma of Alibaba. He has learnt not to be afraid of failure.

“Failure is part of the journey, but don’t let it define you. As Vusi Thembekwayo once said; do what you have to do in order to do what you want to do.”

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