The following profile was first published in the Money Magazine.
While growing up in Nyahururu, Laikipia County, Titus Ireri’s dream was clear — to become priest.
His choice was partly influenced by his father, who was a catechist. “I admired the vestments a Catholic priest wears at Mass and on Sunday. I could visualise myself one day in the pulpit, preaching the gospel to parishioners,” Mr Ireri says.
And so when he sat for his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination in 2000, Mr Ireri was optimistic that he would soon join a seminary.
However, his dreams were dashed when he scored a D+. His vocation required a minimum entry grade of C+.
He toyed with the idea of repeating Form Four, but he knew that his parents could not afford the school fees. Therefore, he got a job as a farm hand, where he earned Sh25 a day.
And as life became unbearable, he asked his brother, Francis Gathumbi, to take him to Nakuru in 2004 to try his luck at hawking. His father tried in vain to dissuade him.
When he realised that his son was set on that course, he gave him Sh1,500 and a debe of maize. In Nakuru, Mr Ireri started hawking electrical accessories.
For about three years, he saved every shilling as his business flourished, managing to raise Sh30,000, which he used to replenish his stock.
This marked a turning point for him as he was now able to expand his outfit. He started making a profit of between Sh100,000 and Sh150,000 a month.
No regrets
The eighth born in a family 11 does not regret abandoning his dream to be a priest as he is the proud owner of two shops.
“I had a passion for priesthood but as fate would have it, I never became one. I have no regrets because my dreams of becoming an entrepreneur after the first door was permanently shut have been fulfilled,” he says.
His stock is now worth millions of shillings and his shops in Nakuru are the hub of an increasing army of hawkers, who scramble for the latest phones and accessories.
Interestingly, even as he freely interacts with the hawkers who flock his shop to bargain for better prices for phones that range between Sh1,000 and Sh30,000, none of them has the slightest idea that a decade ago, he was a hawker just like them.
And for a man who was earning Sh800 per month as a shamba boy (farm hand) about 14 years ago, Mr Ireri is today a regular traveller to China and Dubai, where he buys his goods.
As his business expands, he is able to pay his landlord Sh40,000 monthly rent for the two shops and salaries for his six permanent workers.
“I could not dream of taking a bank loan as I had no collateral. Today, with my enterprise, I can comfortably walk into any bank or microfinance in Nakuru and apply for a loan in excess of Sh1 million,” he adds.
Besides the two shops, he has a sleek car and has ventured into real estate.
“Top on my agenda is to set up a mega distribution shop for mobile phones in Nakuru town in the next five years,” Mr Ireri said.