Is car mechanics a last resort “career” only reserved for those who do not succeed in class? One successful garage owner wants to change this perception. He says just as some students become pilots and doctors, some were meant to be mechanics. And this is a career those in school can proudly look forward to joining.
In 1987, Amos Kinoti started a small garage on Waiyaki Way employing three artisans. Twenty-two years down the line, Kinoti is a successful manager with more workload than he can handle in a single day.
As a primary school pupil in Mulanthakari Primary School in Meru County in 1950s, and later a student at Mulathankari secondary school, he always dreamt of car mechanics. Four years after high school, Kinoti joined Thika Technical School and attained grade III in mechanical engineering.
After his studies, he secured a job at Cooper Motor Corporation (CMC) Motors Group Limited. Twelve years later, he resigned at CMC and was quickly hired by another company called Chequered Flag. He was offered a position of garage foreman and store keeper.
“It is at Chequered that I got enough experience to deal with all types of Japanese vehicles,” says Kinoti. While working for Chequered, he envisioned owning a small garage.
“In 1987, I resigned at Chequered Flag and opened a small garage along Waiyaki Way. Since I had limited resources I looked for my long term good friends whom we had experience in the same field and talked to them to help me at the garage,” he says.
Luckily, Kinoti convinced three artisans, Maurice Owino, Samuel Onyango and George Okull, who to date still work at the garage.
“Since then, we slowly grew in leaps and bounds trying to sell ourselves and services to various clients. It was hard to convince some friends to visit our place but to those who came always returned, pleased with the good work we had done,” he said.
In 1991, they got Action Aid Kenya as their first non-governmental client. “All of us were shocked, it came as a dream when Action Aid Kenya by then headed by John Martin who was the country director, gave us a ten years business deal,” says Kinoti.
Kinoti is currently the founding director of De-Kelvins Auto Mobile Service Limited. His other clients include Radio Africa Group, Technology Today and International Livestock Research Institute.
“As you can see, we are the only garage along Westlands Waiyaki way dealing with body works and apart from good customer care to our clients, we provide better rates for both services and body works,” he says.
Kinoti’s advice to students wishing to pursue a career in mechanical engineering is to develop the core value, which is to give excellent service to his customers with honesty, total determination, devotion and more so provide cost effective services in the shortest time possible.
