How I Created A Real Estate Empire From ksh 40,000

I recently had an interview with Moses Muriithi Kihunii at our Bizna Kenya offices where he shared his life-changing and life-shaping entrepreneurial story.

Moses is the founder and CEO of Fanaka Real Estate Limited, a company dealing with buying and selling land based in Ruai Town here in Nairobi.

 Starting any kind of business especially here in Nairobi is not easy, and if you’re faint hearted you’re likely to quit in the first 3 months of starting the business.

Here is how Moses started off as an entrepreneur;

       “I knew from the start I’ll want to be self-employed, that’s why I had to struggle and raise my startup capital while on campus” he says. He had applied for HELB loan during his university first year, “I saved a lot of my HELB loan and used it to buy an online writing account for about 40,000ksh, however, this turned out to be a loss since the account had some technical issues and got deactivated.” He did not give up after this loss, he instead saved again and bought another writing account. “It was from the earnings of this second online account which I used to invest in real estate. I worked with online accounts for a period of 3 years between 2012- 2015.  While doing the online work, I used to give myself a target; e.g. in a year, I would decide I’ll buy 2 or 3 plots of land which I set myself to see it happen. By the 3^rd year, I had several plots in prime areas. I decided then to open a company and venture in the real estate industry.”

“I officially registered Fanaka Real Estate Ltd in 2015. And 2 years down the line, we have undertaken 7 projects and completed them successfully to the satisfaction of our clients. What has made the company successful, is the integrity aspect. We make sure that all our parcels are clean, have ready titles and are in areas suitable for immediate development. I realized clients shy away from investing for the fear of losing their money in fault deals. We as fanaka, always encourage clients to go do a search at the lands offices before committing themselves.”

In his real estate business, Moses mentions the main problem he has dealt with so far is dealing with brokers who alter the prices of land in order to make larger commissions! This, in turn, makes the price of land to escalate for the end consumer.  “However, this is no longer a challenge as we now deal with owners directly. Also, the fact that we buy large parcels, gives us a bargaining power. As a result, we are able to sell our plots at affordable rates.”

On the uniqueness of his company from the rest, he says their main objective as the Fanaka Real Estate Company is to handpick the best plots for their clients. In addition,  all their plots have ready Title Deeds.

“Most of our plots are located near the Tarmac roads and other vital resources such as piped water and electricity”, he says. “We have also pinned down our prices to make sure we offer the most affordable prices for our plots. We have plots going for as low as 300,000ksh which clients can pay in monthly installments.”

He uses mainstream media, online marketing (OLX), social media and referrals from previous clients as his company’s marketing strategy.

What motivates and keeps him moving despite challenges? “Passion and the desire to offer real estate solutions to my clients is what drives me”.

And finally his advice to young entrepreneurs: “First study the market to understand the challenges you’re likely to face in that particular industry, secondly, in whatever business you venture in, always do it with transparency. As long as you understand the dynamics in the industry, you will be able to deal with whatever challenges that may come your way.”

To contact Moses:

Email; [email protected]

TEL; 0799174070 OR 0706446378

Website; www.fanaka.co.ke