Grit and resilience are the two crucial ingredients for an aspiring entrepreneur

Rakesh Shah

Company: Vitafoam Products
Setback: 2015, a fire burnt down a section of Vitafoam factory on Mombasa Road, Nairobi. It dealt a devastating blow to the business, with a loss estimated at about Sh 800 M

What he did: When the factory was destroyed, at first all I could think was, “Why us? Why? What happened? Who did this?” All that remained was to look forward. All I knew was that we had to start from somewhere.

 There was a lot of work to be done to ensure a new factory was up and running. As any other successful person will tell you, hard work is what makes all the difference even in such a situation, and that meant bracing ourselves for the hard work ahead. 
 

Also, watch your attitude. Stay positive and plan to do even better. It won’t be easy, but your attitude will make all the difference.

The road to recovery has been very tough, but we have put the fire behind us, we are confident that this company will grow in the near future and in five years, we expect to double our size through organic growth and acquisitions

 

I LEARNT MY LESSON FAST

RICHARD BRANSON, FOUNDER OF VIRGIN GROUP

Company: Virgin Group
Setback: A bad business idea
“We felt confident that we could beat the competition, but it turned out that we hadn’t thought things through,” Branson admits.

“We weren’t prepared for the size or ferocity of Coca-Cola’s response, which included a steep increase in their marketing budget and pressure on distributors not to work with us.” Virgin Cola couldn’t compete.
 

What he did: He let go of it and focused on other ventures. “Virgin only enters an industry when we think we can offer consumers something strikingly different that will disrupt the market, but there wasn’t really an opportunity to do that in the soft drinks market. People were already getting a product that they liked, at a price they were happy to pay. Virgin Cola just wasn’t different enough.”
The lesson that he picked from this was from a policy that they already had in place, but hadn’t followed while getting into this venture: If you’re getting into an already established market, offer something different.


KEEP MOVING AND WORK TIRELESSLY THROUGH YOUR FAILURE

DAVID OHANA, MD, KENOLKOBIL

Setback: This was not Ohana’s personal failure, but in 2012, he was handed a company that had a Sh6.3 billion debt.

The company didn’t have a great public image, with the public and investors having lost faith in its turn-around.
What he did: His first order of business as a Managing Director was to clean up the business.

 “I got heavy books and had to change many small things over time to get it right, clean the past and get my systems in complete compliance,” he says. His team acted very fast and was very detailed, studying the industry, studying the oil prices and it helped the company stay ready and react quickly. Those steps moved the company from the Sh6.3 billion debt to making a Sh2.4 billion profit margin post tax in 2016.
 

He also had to work on reestablishing public confidence. “Having a high sense of integrity is paramount. So we strive to never cheat anyone or break any law. That is what helped us sweep through that tough period of 2012/2014. There is nothing that stops me.

I like battling through things and making a point. My aim is that when I exit, I will leave the book as clean as possible –with great balance sheets, good cash and no toxic assets,” he says.

YOU MIGHT HAVE TO WORK FOR FREE

EMMANUEL JAMBO, PHOTOGRAPHER

Company: Emms Studio
Setback: Born in Sudan and spending a better part of his life in America, he decided to move to Kenya, a country he had never lived in before to set up a business. His challenge was setting up a business in a new unfamiliar environment. 
 

What he did: He worked tirelessly to establish a client base. “You might have to walk the extra mile every day in order to get to where you want to be. You might find yourself having to work for free in order to get your work out there at first, which is not easy.

 I did that, and it got my work out there where I wanted it. Even after you have made a name for yourself, some clients will ask for favours and you may have to comply. A lot of times this means giving extra time. Act with integrity and walk that