Paul Kihiko: My chicken wings firm got Sh7.5m investment

Wing IT Nairobi Founder Paul Kihiko, 29.

Paul Kihiko, 29, is the founder of Wing It Nairobi, a fast-food restaurant that largely sells chicken wings.

The business started in 2012 with seed capital of Sh5 million. Paul got Sh4 million from his father, and the rest from his savings. This year, the business, which has an outlet at The Hub in Karen, is expecting to hit Sh10 million in turnover.

Wing It Nairobi last week got funding on the Lions’ Den show, which airs on KTN on Tuesdays.

Paul went into the den looking to cede 25 per cent of his business for Sh7.5 million. Investors Kris Senanu and Wandia Gichuru, however, countered this to strike a deal for 33 per cent in return for Sh7.5 million.

Paul shares what it took to build a bankable business that caught investors’ interest.

1. Have a good product or brand

Do your research and know what is in the market – and then come up with something unique. How you execute your idea is what matters. Have something that you believe in; don’t just do anything. The gap I saw was that there was no chicken wings business in Kenya. My idea was inspired by the US, where chicken wings are a billion-dollar industry. In Africa, there are only three businesses that specialise in wings – Wing It Nairobi, and two other firms in South Africa. Without a good idea, you won’t go very far. Make sure it’s something people actually want. Ask your friends and family.

2. Hire the right people early

Don’t be afraid to hire key people like accountants, human resource officers or cashiers early, saying you’ll do it when the business stabilises. You don’t have to hire them on a full-time basis – they can report to work once a week or so. Having them, though, will give you time to think about how to expand and to talk to your customers as you’re not busy handling all aspects of the business.

3. Embrace failure

Accept failure, and be ready to fail. Don’t think everything will go well all the time. Look at failure as an opportunity to do better. For example, the closure of our Galleria outlet was partly a result of theft by staff. We’ve now learned how to tackle theft, so we’re unlikely to fall due to it.

4. Reinvent your product often

Always check on your product and ask yourself how you can improve it. This keeps customers excited about the brand. People get bored with one thing after some time. For us, we keep changing our menu in terms of flavours. We can do Japanese, Chinese, West African and Kenyan flavours, giving our customers variety.

We plan to open more outlets now that we have got funding. We also want to do franchising, we want to have a central kitchen where we will do the cooking and supply wings to our franchisees. This is expected to have cost benefits and will also ensure the quality of the product. We are looking at building a brand we can export.

5. Always be professional

Be professional in everything you do, including sending and replying emails, talking on the phone and texting. And be punctual. If you do these things, people will take you seriously.

6. Network

Take advantage of business gatherings to interact with people and exchange contacts. Some of those people may become your financiers, customers or suppliers tomorrow. Talk to people about your business – you may get some good advice.

7. Specialise

You’d rather specialise on one product rather than do many and do them poorly. If you do many things, you’re likely to become confused down the road and end up compromising on what you give your customer.