Taking into account the series of tough challenges he faced at the beginning of his fascinating business journey, Mr Ken Kogei now believes nothing is impossible if you belief in yourself and remain firmly focused on the ultimate prize.
He quit employment in 2011 to launch Kaileys Consortium, a firm that mainly trains on occupational safety.
His employer did not take kindly his departure from the company and refused to pay him for the last month he had worked for him. Yet this was the money he was banking on to lift his start-up off the ground.
Mr Kogei, who studied Environmental Health at Kenyatta University and graduated in 2009, also had no savings as his salary was too little to enable him put aside anything for a rainy day.
BUSINESS JOURNEY
Thus, he set off on his business journey with almost empty pockets. The only saving grace was that his business was service-oriented and did not need massive capital outlay.
But even the little money needed to enable him move around to meet his prospective clients was hard to come by.
For lack of cash to rent an office space, he converted a section of his house in Kitengela, Kajiado County, into his business premises.
At some point his financial status was so dire that he was compelled to go back to employment.
He got a job with a shipping company in Mombasa where he worked for more than a year.
Meanwhile his company, manned by a single staff, was doggedly trudging on braving the searing heat of Kajiado.
Being far removed from his venture, Mr Kogei encountered a set of challenges managing the fledgling firm.
Running an established company, let alone a nascent start-up, from far is by no means an easy feat.
However, his steely determination proved a key asset. Despite numerous hurdles from the word go, it was not all doom and gloom for Mr Kogei.
IMPECCABLE CREDENTIALS
He had a potent weapon in his arsenal; the quality of work he had done for the clients of his former employment.
He had built impeccable credentials which earned him the first customer, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (Kari). Kari awarded him a contract to train its health committees.
The money that the research institute paid him essentially set the foundation for Kogei’s firm whose turnover last year was Sh15 million. This is a massive figure taking into account where he came from. “When Kari paid us, we did not even have fare to go for the cheque,” he says.
Kaileys targets to double this figure this year. “All indications are that we will hit the target having already gone past the Sh20 million mark,” he says.
After landing Kari, it was not long before the entrepreneur netted two other big clients; tea multinational firm, Finlays and flower farm, Sian Roses.
TURNING POINT
Mr Kogei says Kari, Sian and Finlays came on board when his venture was wrestling with teething woes. But from then on, there was no looking back for Kaileys.
Now the firm boasts an impressive roster of customers who include parastatals, corporates, several flower firms in Kajiado and Naivasha as well as a number of apparel firms in the Athi River-based Export Processing Zone (EPZ).
Currently its core business is occupational safety. It trains on safety at construction sites and in farms where variety of chemicals are used as well as in factories where staff operate various machines.
It also focuses on fire-fighting and fire safety. Furthermore, it treats effluent and audits the level of safety and health measures in companies.
Although Kaileys has been recording a healthy growth from the moment it gained momentum in 2013, it is this year that it has witnessed unprecedented upturn.
“We have had a rapid increase in the number of clients this year,” beams the 29-year-old entrepreneur adding that this has stretched the capacity of his firm to the limits.
This, he says, has necessitated an urgent need to expand the company which has 10 permanent staff and 12 on temporary contract.
“We are seriously thinking of expansion strategies to serve our clients better. We should not be found wanting on any front,” he says.
BUSINESS EXPANSION
The company is also looking into diversifying the scope of its work.
It plans to venture into construction of greenhouses and play a more prominent role in overall set-up of buildings to ensure that safety and quality standards are adhered to at every stage of construction.
“The potential in this industry is immense. We have vast ground to cover,” Mr Kogei says.
His goal is to take the firm to all the East African member countries in the near future.
He says economies in the region are integrating fast presenting an array of opportunists that entrepreneurs can tap and grow their ventures manifold. The firm has already bagged jobs, mainly through subcontracting, in Uganda and Tanzania.
What makes him tick? He says passion for his work has seen him through thick and thin.
“We literally started from zero and to reach where we are, we have gone through a baptism of fire of sorts. There was a time we needed to travel but we had no money yet our client was expecting us,” he reminiscences.
The entrepreneur says the initial phase of a venture is the most turbulent.
“The level of your resilience, astuteness and ingenuity will determine whether you sink or stay afloat,” says the eloquent entrepreneur, “In the face of challenges, never allow a sense of defeat to blur or sweep away your vision.”
CREDIT WOES
He said he was rebuffed by banks when he applied for credit to prop up his start-up.