It’s our joy to see aspiring entrepreneurs get inspired, especially when we share stories of successful entrepreneurs. We receive numerous emails from Kenyans who are keen to share their experiences, particularly to individuals who are seeking information regarding unique business ideas. Here is a story of Jared who started a web hosting company with just Ksh 30,000.
“I am Jared from Turbo but I reside in Nairobi. In 2006 I joined Kenyatta University for a degree in Computer Engineering. I did the program until 2011 when I graduated with a Second Class Upper Division.
Like any other graduate, I hit the streets of Nairobi in search of employment. I was so optimistic that I would get employment almost immediately I graduated. I had read somewhere that computer engineering graduates were hot cakes. First month went, second month went …six month went and I was here without any job. My parent was the one paying my rent and giving me upkeep money. After the sixth month, he started becoming impatient. I remember one morning he called and told me this, I can’t forger, “Jared, your friend Keter here did Education and he is already employed by TSC,Victor is flying abroad while you are in Nairobi doing nothing, can you come here we talk to Mr Langat to give you a job in his school as a teacher?“ In my entire life I hadn’t dreamt of becoming a teacher. That statement irritated me for real but I never responded in harsh words-I knew if I did my only source of income could be terminated- I simply said, “give me one more month I see whether God can open the way”.
I continued searching for employment, dropped my CV in almost every IT office I came across in Nairobi. I could wake up at 5.30am, walk from Kayole to Donholm Roundabout where I would board Forward Travellers to town for Ksh10.It became a routine until all the matatu touts knew me.I really struggled, sometimes begging HR to give me even messenger job, but it seems they didn’t like me.By year one, my shoes had started developing holes that anyone next to me would notice I was not doing well.I had even started losing balance because I survived on one meal.
Then one morning as I was scrolling through my Facebook timeline, a thought came to my mind, that I am computer literate, in fact more knowledgeable than most graduates. Why can I look for something to keep busy. That was when a thought of designing websites lingered in my mind. But I didn’t know how to market the idea.
Being a tech savvy, I decided to market my skills on Facebook. Most of my friends knew me as a gifted and honest Kenyan, so anything I said was gospel truth. My first update read, “I do website design, I charge Ksh 5,000”.What happened next shocked me: within 30 minutes I found one of my college friends contacting me in my inbox saying he could like to engage me in designing a professional website. I agreed to do for him at the cost I stated above and within a week the website was ready. But what delayed me was hosting and website theme. I did my research and found Bluehost being the cheapest, I also bought a WordPress Theme from WPion which I used to design other website that followed after my first job. I delivered the website to my friend.
When I received the Ksh 5, 000, I swear I felt a heavy log had been removed from my heart. I felt I had become light. The first thing I did(I had skipped several lunches, so I wanted to treat myself) I went to Mama Moha and bought Nyama Choma and Cocacola.It was a nice feeling.
In business your first customer matters a lot.My friend got excited and referred two of his friends to me.From there, I started getting business, most of them from referrals.
What I realized from my first few months of doing website design is that I struggled to pay for hosting for my clients. I decided to buy shared hosting plan from Bluehost at $300.This plan was Go Pro ,which allowed me to host several websites without any problem. This decision made my work easier. Anytime I got a client, I would host them in my shared hosting plan—I charged Ksh5, 000 in hosting and Ksh10,000 for website design services.
After 1 year 7 months of doing website design for my customers, I saved Ksh200,000.This is the money I used to open a hosting company in Nairobi in 2017.The company is few months old and I am happy for what God has done to me.
