Samuel Kamochu is the co-founder at Meliora Technologies, a Kenyan software engineering company that was started in 2015.
Customer satisfaction has been our top priority in the five years that we have been in business. This has seen us work with some of the biggest enterprises in Kenya and beyond, including banks and telecommunications firm, Safaricom. We recently received a top rating score of 96 per cent from one of Kenya’s leading banks which has been using our services for four years now.
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This led to more business as the lender recommended us to its subsidiaries. In addition, in August last year, a bank in Zimbabwe that uses our solution decided to make a switch to a competitor. But in less than one month, they opted to switch back to us due to the low quality issues they faced.
The customer is king. If you satisfy a customer beyond expectations and maintain a good track record in quality, the customer will always have your back.
There are three things that have worked for me in my 11-year career. These can work for anyone looking to grow their career or business. First you need to put in the hours to build your skills. There is no shortcut when it comes to acquiring the right skills.
Second, you must serve and support others in your team. You must be well prepared to build a team that understands your vision and objectives. Third, you must be strong and watch out for things that might discourage you in the process of building your business or career.
I started my career in telecommunications as a graduate management engineer. Telecommunications was a new field for me since I’d pursued a degree in Computer Science. My first 2 years were characterized by a lot of learning, all the way from radio to the core network. I put in so many hours in learning. I considered them an investment.
Within four years, I had become so good at my job that teams in the business came to me for consultations. Despite my shining star, I was remained stuck in the job group of a junior engineer. The HR promotion process moved excruciatingly slow. But I stayed put and improved on my duties.
I was eventually ‘poached’ by a senior colleague who had moved to a different company that was known as ComzAfrica. He had seen my skills and effort and was happy to place me in a more senior position. Keep being good at what you do. It will not end in vain.
We once invested in an online money trading investment which ended up being a pyramid scheme. We made some money but the engagement ended in a net loss. As I nursed this loss, a trusted friend taught me two tough lessons. If one is making money without doing anything, chances are very high that they can lose money without doing anything either.
In addition, if you are making money and not working for it, chances are that there is someone who is working and not making money.
I started saving my money through Sacco early on in my career. This saving method and the benefits that come with it such as bigger loans at lower interests, and higher interests paid on savings have not failed me. I also invest quite significantly in unit trusts.
There is nothing wrong in being employed. All entrepreneurs depend on employees to achieve their goals and ambitions. Employment prepares you for entrepreneurship. You will gain experience and the money needed to start your business. I don’t think we would have started Meliora if we had not gone through employment.
We would have made terrible mistakes had we just ventured into business without the foundation of employment. Probably, the business would not be in existence today.
There is something very fundamental that a line in our national anthem says. “Natujenge taifa letu, ee ndio wajibu wetu”. We must work. We must build the nation. We must focus on making our country and other people’s lives better.
Love your neighbour, mind about them and fix their problem. If you do these things, you will have peace and money will definitely follow. Be patient and trust the process.
A version of this profile feature on Samuel Kamochu was also published by the Saturday Magazine. The Saturday Magazine is a publication of the Nation Media Group.
