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Фото автораНика Давыдова

Journey from boda boda to hearse operator

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Daniel Kamau has overcomes a myriad of challenges and proved to be a proverbial self-made man, starting off as a boda boda to a respected business magnate in Nyahururu town. [PHOTO: JOHN KARIUKI

In some businesses, operators frequently fail to take a hard look into the future or to put a timeframe for quitting or diversifying.

Often, many such operators are lured by a false comfort zone of assured daily cash. Take for example the boda boda industry. Many young people come, dazzle with their shiny machines, but fail to anticipate the seasonal nature of the business.

They melt back to whence they came from when their motorcycles break down.

But Daniel Kamau has overturned this jinx, proving to be a proverbial self-made man. While the going was still good, he ditched his motorcycle and took a gargantuan decision to venture into the hearse business. And he has never looked back.

Having done some odd menial jobs for several years, Kamau plunged into the bicycle boda boda industry in 2001. He would ferry people and goods between Nyahururu and Maina village, in the outskirts of the town at Sh10 per trip.

It was a donkey’s life and he would make Sh800 a day. His entrepreneurial side showed early and he bought a second bicycle, which he would rent out to other operators at Sh200 a day. A year later, he ditched this job and worked as a cook in a secondary school. “I would earn Sh3,500 a month,” he says.

He adds that he was able to save enough money to buy his first motorcycle in 2005 and put up a shop for his wife in Maina village where they live up to now.

“I had saved some Sh20,000 and the cheapest motorcycle was retailing at Sh65,000,” he says.

But a trader in Nyahururu guaranteed him for a bank loan to bridge the difference. “The bank staff did not think I could pay the loan,” says Kamau.

But luck was on his side. His motorcycle taxi was an instant hit with customers in Nyahururu.

“I would often make up to Sh3,000 a day and I repaid the bank loan within a year,” he says.

“In 2006, I sold this motorcycle and bought a new and more powerful one to cope with the changing customer taste,” he says.

With a rare gut feeling that the boda boda field would be crowded, Kamau made yet another bold move by purchasing a second hand van, which he converted into a hearse.

“I sold my motorcycle and with Sh200,000 savings, I approached a friend who was disposing of a Toyota Hiace van at Sh500, 000,” he says.

This seller agreed to extend credit to him and he would pay the balance with monthly installments until it was fully settled early this year, adds Kamau.

He has since sold the older van and acquired a much stronger 4WD van at Sh1.5 million. “I am still servicing the loan for this vehicle and I am confident I will fully own it soon,” he says proudly.

One-stop-shop

He operates the hearse services in Nyandarua and Laikipia counties. “My hearse packs a one stop shop with the coffin lowering gear, trolley for putting the coffin and a public address system,” he says.

In addition, he has a side business of selling coffins with showrooms in Nyahururu and Ol Kalou towns.

This soft spoken businessman says that the greatest lesson he has learnt in his long journey is to be open with people at all times.

“From the boda boda to where I am, people have been giving me invaluable business tips,” he says.

“I have learnt that the beginning of financial misery is when one earns, for example, Sh100 but spends Sh110 the same day,” he says.

This can lead to permanent debt. He has seen many boda boda operators fail to see this trap.

“And the cost of a motorcycle’s frequent wear and tear drives such operators out of job when they have no money even to change the shock absorbers or tyres,” he says.

One should save a little everyday regardless of what they earn, he adds.

He advises people to be content with whatever little they earn and learn to plan around it. This entrepreneur, who sat his KCPE in 1997, is a father of two.

And his stint at the hearse business has taught him to keep time.

“In this business, I deal with bereaved people and the last thing they want is the inconvenience of a hearse arriving late,” says Kamau.

One must understand some client’s impatience and tendency for making many demands, he adds.

Kamau charges each contract by its own merit.

“Often, the distance to where a burial is to held determines the actual charges, but I can say that Sh6,000 to Sh8,000 is a standard fee,” he says.

But he is quick to add that often, he takes into account his clients’ unique conditions.

Kamau adds that a hearse must always be neat and in good mechanical condition.

“It is bad for business to raise the price, like matatus, because it has rained or when the roads to a destination are impassable,” says Kamau.

“And the ultimate sin that a hearse operator can do is to break a contract because another more paying deal has come in late,” he says.

“Satisfied clients often recommend me to new customers and therefore there is no small or big contract in this business,” he adds.

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