•Muriithi, much like most university students, found himself struggling to live by while pursuing his engineering degree at Kenyatta University
•Although the financing sufficed for a while Muriithi found himself back at square one, given the escalating standards of living. He had to find a way to make extra coins
Start small, be consistent and stay within your means, these are mantras Moses Muriithi swears by for aspiring business owners.
The 31-year CEO of Fanaka Real Estate says this, alongside extensive research, has been key to sustaining his real estate business in a tumultuous market.
Up at 5 am, the young business owner takes his routine 40-minute jog around his neighbourhood, and after a shower and breakfast, is seated at his office along Kangundo road by 7 am, ready for the day’s work.
His firm, which currently has 20 employees, has toughened out Kenya’s hard economic environment since its inception in 2016.
MAKING ENDS MEET
Muriithi, much like most university students, found himself struggling to live by while pursuing his engineering degree at Kenyatta University.
In trying to stay afloat while studying, some students look for odd jobs, others give up while others depend on loans such as the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) loans to sail through.
The young entrepreneur found himself in the last lot that depended on HELB loans to survive.
Although the financing sufficed for a while Muriithi found himself back at square one, given the escalating standards of living. He had to find a way to make extra coins.
At this juncture, online writing and data entry jobs seemed like the most viable solution.
“I didn’t know how to write, neither did I know the ways. However, I was determined and from my savings, I bought my first online writing account for Sh15, 000,” Muriithi said.
DOWN BUT NOT OUT
As fate would have it, Murithii quickly found out that his first account was his savings down the drain.
Just one week after he purchased the online writing account, he had to face the sad reality that it might have been a scam.
As he explained, Muriithi suspects that the owners of the account repossessed it since he did not know how to change credentials.
“I had only done one job. I was not even paid for it, but nevertheless I did not give up,” he said.
He decided to go back to the drawing board, only this time; he opted to work under other experienced writers who would show him the ropes.
Muriithi says this gave him sufficient experience, which was crucial when he decided to branch out and purchase a new account. At this point, he was making at most Sh40, 000 per month.
“After the first year, I was able to buy a better account worth Sh100,000, which could yield much,” he adds.
NO TO EMPLOYMENT
By the time Muriithi was done with his studies, he had three accounts and five writers under him, with one making at least Sh140,000 per month.
This largely impacted his decision to opt for self-employment as opposed to most graduates who leave school longing for a white-collar job.
“They (writers) are people who were depending on me. By the time I was finishing school I was thinking ‘how do I get to employment?’ and I had already people who I had employed. What happens to them? So I put up managers and writers in excess of 10 people,” he said.
Muriithi, however, admits that due to its demanding nature, his online writing venture took its toll on his social life.
“I lost a good number of friends due to my commitments, leaving me somehow isolated. The writing, however, did not have any effect on my education,” he said.
LIGHT BULB MOMENT
Having grown his savings during his online writing years, Muriithi decided he wanted to purchase a parcel of land along Kangundo Road.
He, however, realised the agent he had found was only showing him land that was at least 11 kilometers from the main road.
With no company offering prime land or land near the road in the area, Muriithi saw an opportunity to bridge a market gap.
“This hit me and I saw a good opportunity. I decided to take up the chance and that is how Fanaka was born. I immediately started the company and opted to buy and sell prime land along Kangundo Road,” he says.
He notes that extensive research in terms of product offerings, the real estate industry as a whole and the market he was looking to penetrate.
“We minimized our reach so that we focus on one particular area so that we could be able to get the information fast, understand about the technical know-how, and the system from acquisition to sale,” he adds.
Muriithi says in an industry where people are always in fear of losing their money, it is important to have everything in order, be it plots in prime areas and ready titles.
“A land search enables one to get the details of the land in terms of ownership, acreage and incase it has restrictions, such information will be provided,” he said.
The biggest challenge, he says, comes during the acquisition of property, in an industry full of cartels and conmen.
He affirmed that his company has been able to overcome this by conducting proper due diligence and establishing real owners before acquiring a parcel of land.