King Kaka: The life of an entrepreneur

NAIROBI, KENYA: The quickest way to win as an entrepreneur is to master implementation.

I am a certified accountant. One of the people most disappointed by the path I chose was my mother when she noticed that I had a greater love for music than the accounts she took me to school for.

I have talked about her enough times in this column, so you may have an idea about how I had to navigate this situation. I had to be smart about revealing to her that I wanted to be a musician.

I had just completed college, but you know how it is with the employment process – they either want experience or for you to ‘work on probation’, with your position never guaranteed.

My uncle knew someone at an accounting firm, and just like that, I became an intern at this agency. Day 1, I was so excited, reported very early and finished my tasks. Day 2 and 3, there was more of the same. And then I got bored.

What it would take

This was the time Facebook was the most important thing on social media, so at least I had some distractions.

And because I had the time to think about it, I asked about what the boss was making monthly. I didn’t get a definite figure, but the rough estimate was enough to get me thinking about what it would take for me to be the boss and leader.

So after one week, I did a crazy thing that I have never regretted. I quit. Note, I wouldn’t advise anyone to quit his or her current job; but if you absolutely must, then have a plan when you exit. I, however, didn’t have one.

I knew that if I said I’d quit, there would be a flurry of phone calls and scoldings. So every morning, I got up, dressed up and left as if I were going to the office.

The good thing is that I had been a painter and pencil artiste since I was a child, so I used this time to extend my art to digital designs.

How this digital discovery came about was quite by chance.

There was a day I went to visit one of my uncles who used to print T-shirts in his backyard in Nairobi’s BuruBuru estate. When he opened his computer and launched a graphic design software called CorelDRAW to show me his work, I fell in love.

After I left his house, I went straight to a cyber café along Moi Avenue in Nairobi; I was a frequent visitor there. I asked one of the attendants if there was a computer with CorelDRAW. There wasn’t, but because I’d asked about it, they got it and installed it in one of the computers.

Months after I quit the agency, that cyber café, Benan, became my new office. Computer 33 was my work station.

I started out making business cards, menus and my Kaka Klothing designs. I made the kind of money that meant I could meet expectations and give my alibi more credibility. I shopped for the house, the rent was paid, the lights never went off because the bill was paid. And I continued to wake up really early to go to ‘work’.

Looking ahead

Deep down, I had a need to fuel my vision and Computer 33 was just a temporary stop on the way to my dream.

I built a network of clients and made sure the designs I did were outstanding. This meant more work, which meant more money.

I eventually managed to get an office at River Road and opened my first Kaka Klothing shop at Imenti House, basement shop 18.

This meant I had a source of income and time on my hands, and that’s when I started scouting for a studio so that I could record most of what I had been writing for months.

I looked beyond myself. And if you’re a fan of my music, you’ll have noticed that in my early songs, I would product-place ‘Kaka Empire’ before the video started.

Many people would ask me what it was, and I would say it’s the name of the business empire I was building.

I understood my vision and I wanted to create that illusion from day one.

Several months later, I came home with a bag of shopping and my mother started laughing. My secret was out.

Apparently, my new song was a hit and that evening it played, and Mom happened to catch it. I had to come clean that I had quit my job a year ago and had been recording music.

She was disappointed at first, but she understood what made me happy, and I finally revealed what I was doing to keep the family going.

Then I signed Femi One. Most people laughed and at some point I doubted myself, but I had to keep the fire burning. Years later, we have worked with Avril, Tanzania’s Rich Mavoko, Timmy Tdat, our new signee, Arrow Bwoy, set up a unit of deejays, a clothing line and many more.

Kaka Empire is growing every day – but one of the toughest lessons I have learnt is that when you are the boss/leader, you put the interests of others first because when everyone wins, then your empire wins.

The writer is an award-winning artiste and entrepreneur.