Although Paul Gitachu runs what many would consider a small shop, he is en route to recording Sh1 million annual turnover.

Uttah — as Mr Gitachu is popularly known — has a cooking gas and M-Pesa shop in Ol Kalou town, Nyandarua County. His determination to succeed is illuminated by the tenacity that has characterised his life.

“I hate poverty,” says Uttah, 25. You see, seven years ago, he had lost hope. “I attended a village day secondary school. To raise fees, my father pruned flowers at the school,” he says. “Watching him labour was a constant reminder that we were poor.”

After sitting for his KCSE exam in 2007, which he scored a C, Uttah started working as a labourer at construction sites earning Sh150 per day.

“I couldn’t go to college so I started working to help raise my younger sister’s school fees.”  In 2008 though, he got a relief when he was hired as a salesman at a cooking gas store in Ol Kalou. “The Sh4,500 per month salary was a better.”

QUIT MUSIC

From his first pay, Uttah rented a one-bedroom wooden house. And in the following six months, he saved Sh10,000 and recorded three songs at a cost of Sh3,000 per track.

“I was good in music at school and I dreamt of recording my own.”

He then saved another Sh10,000 and recorded three new songs with his friend, James. However, the quality of his music was poor. It did not get airplay.

“I was consoled by a week’s invitation to perform at a gospel music show in Arusha, in 2009.”

In January 2010, Uttah decided to drop music and concentrate on his sales job. But in 2011, he jumped into youth politics contesting for the Ol Kalou town sub-location delegate’s post in the National Youth Council.

“I won with a landslide. My dream to escape from poverty was finally dawning.”

As fate would have it, however, the National Youth Council collapsed a week later. And as he dusted himself, he reverted to his old job, selling gas, this time for good. “I began to think that perhaps my success lay in business.”

Throughout 2011, Uttah saved Sh30,000 that he used to buy 15 lambs. In early 2012, he sold all the sheep making Sh105,000 and enrolled for a distant learning business administration diploma at St Theresa Commercial College, in Nyeri.

“I thought that a business course would nurture my entrepreneurial skills.” The studies came at a cost; Uttah agreed to earn half his Sh4,500 pay for the months he was away doing exams. By the time he completed, he had accumulated a total of Sh50,000 debt from friends, employer and the college.

Nevertheless, he was now set to make his mark in business. From his little pay, he began buying empty 6kg gas cylinders at Sh2,000 and reselling them at Sh3,000.

From April to August 2013, he saved his profit and half his salary. “To motivate me, my auntie promised to sell me a quarter acre at Kiganjo village if I would save Sh300,000 successfully.”

FIRST MILLION

By December, Uttah had Sh100,000 savings. He then took Sh200,000 bank loan to buy the plot only for his aunt to renege on the deal.  Not one to give up, Uttah began buying empty 6kg and 13kg gas cylinders in bulk. “I rented a two-bedroom house and turned one of the rooms into a store.”

Soon, he started refilling cylinders while selling others empty. From 6am to 8am, Uttah would sell his gas and between 8am and 7pm, he would be at his workplace. Between 7pm and 10pm, however, he would continue selling his gas in the estates.

“I built a customer base and ensured each of them took down my contacts.”

In June, last year, he relocated his store to a safer building before giving his employer a three-month quit notice. “By then, I had completed repaying my loan and the bank was willing to loan me Sh200,000. I was ready for business.

He opened his store on October 15, 2014, with 100 gas cylinders. Today, Uttah has more than quadrupled his stock and opened an M-Pesa arm.

“I hope that by the end of this year, I will record a Sh1 million turnover. The business is currently self-servicing.”

“Vigorous marketing and friendly customer relationship has been my secret. I give my customers a reason to return and see my business as a young, growing brand,” he says.  Currently, his biggest challenge is finding a safe mode of ferrying gas cylinders from the depot to his shop. “I cannot fail to adhere to the set safety regulations.” Asked about his music career, “I still dream of pursuing music as a hobby,” he notes.