Eunice Maina, 38, is the Founder and Director of Bismart Insurance.

In 2007, Eunice relocated from Nairobi to Mombasa after her husband got a job transfer. While there, she reconnected with two former workmates and they decided to start a business together. With a little survey of the area, they were convinced that a cyber café would do well.

They managed to raise Sh. 700, 000, which they used to buy 10 computers, computer accessories and also meet expenses such as rent and designing the premises. Prior to opening the business, they did not discuss how it would operate; all they were focused on was making money. They did not even agree on the steps they would take should the business not perform as expected.

“We opened in February 2007, and during the first few months, the business was doing well because we could afford to meet expenses such as rent, Internet bills and electricity. However, after the elections in 2007, due to the unstable state of the country, the business started going down. We didn’t have money to renew the municipal licenses or pay rent, which was about Sh35,000 a month. Convinced that the business had failed, in April 2008, we donated some of the computers to a needy school in Nyali and relocated to a cheaper premise which cost Sh7,000.

We also decided to offer web design since we had a background in Information Technology. This was even harder because clients were hard to come by. We pumped most of our savings into the business to keep it going, but it was in vain. We finally closed down in February 2009, and I joined an insurance company as an insurance sales agent on commission basis. Being employed was even tougher – for the first three months, I had no client, so I didn’t earn anything. I wanted to be self-employed, but since I didn’t have starting capital, I resolved to continue working.

I also discovered that people prefer to buy from successful people, therefore one has to work really hard to succeed for people to believe that you are in it for the long run.”

A holder of a BSc degree in IT from the University of Nairobi, Eunice’s determination saw her rise up the ranks within the insurance company, and by end of 2010; she was promoted to the position of unit manager, and later, to country manager of a micro insurance product in 2015. However, the urge to run her own business never left her, and in December 2016, while at the peak of her career, she quit her job. She was certain that she was not cut for a 8am to 5pm job.

“I partnered with a developer to come up with an insurance product, only for him to rip me off by registering the company as his. Although this time I didn’t lose much since I had only contributed the Sh25, 000 needed to register the company, it was an awakening call. I took an introspective look at my business journey and I discovered that I needed to be careful about who I partnered with. I founded another company, Bismart Insurance, a platform that connects customers to the best insurance and investments solutions in the market.

We have been around for only four months, but it is such a promising business. Today, we have over 45 customers, and the number is growing by day.

Why the initial businesses failed:

My partners and I didn’t do an extensive research on the business we wanted to establish.

We also didn’t set aside some money for a rainy day.

As for the second business, I didn’t do a background check on my partner, I just focused on the skills he was bringing into the business.

How I bounced back:

I got back in employment to gain more experience and also save enough to set up my own business in future. I also enrolled for Centonomy classes on entrepreneurship. Continuous learning on how to keep a proper balance book has also been of great help.

Lessons learnt:

• Partnership is akin to marriage. Take your time to get to know your partner and ensure that you have a written agreement.
• You also need to start a business that you are passionate about.
• It pays to be persistent.