The Boy Next Door

I came to Bungoma roughly eight years ago, the intriguing bit being the fact that I only knew my friend from Campus, host and now business partner to date.

Slight recap, I did pretty well with the 8-4-4 system till I got to the last four of the system. I couldn’t take it anymore. Kept wondering if reading about this sh*t sucked like this, how about a career out of it!! (Sorry Finance guys, it’s not you, the problem is obviously me).

I was barely in class during my 4th year. Got a job as an accountant, got fired barely a year down the line, because as a receivables accountant and night shift supervisor I refused to sign forms that would deduct my colleague’s  salaries because of some unreasonable things management wanted of them. It was either me or them, I bailed. Tried a 3 months stint in an insurance brokerage firm and barely three months in, I was doooone! My then boss referred me to a contract gig at Jubilee insurance, One month in the accounts department was it for me. KSh. 20k was not bad cash especially at that time, but my pal from campus was whispering intriguing ideas in my ear. A chance to skip the capital and run a business. Had never really done it full time but for some reason I couldn’t stop romanticizing the idea.

Now as per my pals arbitrary research, there was minimal competition in the line we were going to venture( hahaha there was, he just did not cover every bit of the town) and that was good! My projections were of at least Ksh. 1,000 per day! On a really terrible day ey! Ahahaha! If you ever find me stuck up or stingy as some of you like to call me, it is because of the formative days of setting up shop. On my first day of doing business, I sold 250 bob. By the 3rd day It started to dawn on me that running a business might be harder than I had imagined. This memorable Sunday or was it Saturday, I made sales of Ksh. 150, had had no lunch, can’t remember if I had done breakfast either. I was so hungry, we then lived near IGC church on your way to Kanduyi. I was walking home, as I thought it would be extravagant to spend Ksh. 20 on a town service out of the 150. Now while near Shariff center, I caught a whiff of french fries being prepared. My intestines twisted and growled and I knew I was not winning this war. With only 150 in my pockets, I found myself right by the counter. I would have loved a sausage to go with but I think a plate was going for KSh. 120, I gobbled like a famished pig, Soda was 50, scrapped my pocket for an extra coin that was to be my fair back home and bought me a cold soda. Gulped that one too in one go! Just like post nut clarity in gentlemen,it hit me that I had just literally smashed through a whole day’s worth of work in one sitting.

On my walk to the house, my mind was in overdrive. I was exploring options, my chosen path was proving harder than I had envisaged. The prospects of getting a job, harder and harder. Same career path I had talked ill of, I was thinking of going back to and boy did I make attempts (read several applications) with no success. Dull as the work is, it was not easy to come by. Thankfully, despite the paltry take home, my pal was there to cover rent and meals whenever I fell short, which was most times anyway.

Now this was not even a post about my entrepreneurial journey, it’s juicy for sure and I cover bits and pieces of it whenever I can ( Flash Cabs – The Bumpy ride so far.) & (Entrepreneurship/Business = Chewing glass) , this bit of my past was to give premise to today’s post. I overcame the difficulties and my business picked up, had many failings along the way, a lot was learnt from the failures and a solid  business emerged after countless iterations.

I came to Bungoma a stranger, literally no one knew me before 2012, I cannot call it luck as I worked hard at involving my business with the community.  Youthful activities, parties, charity events and even sporting activities. I would help organize, sponsor or help with the publicity. I do not want to get  ahead of myself, but I became a bit of a household name. My name became synonymous with hustle and by the 3rd year of business most people would call me Flash, Niaje Flash, vipi Flash, Flash ako wapi (and yet they are talking to me haha), especially after the 2014 DC Comics Tv series The Flash starring Grant Gustin as Barry Allen. I rolled with it, I even changed my username on all social media handles to “Joel Flash ” must admit it had and still has a nice ring to it hahaha.

Eight years down the line, different people associate me with different things, Movies, Events, Taxi, branding and most recently IT solutions via my little known company www.flashbyte.co.ke

I no longer do most of the things listed,  but my brand still has equity in them. From a total stranger to the familiarity of a boy next door. Remember how a neighbor would send you to the shop growing up without worrying whether you will steal from them? I believe that is the evolution my brand has undergone especially for the Bungoma market. This blog post is inspired by a call I recently received. Hey.. is this Joel? I was like Yeah….( speaking) Who is asking? Can’t remember the name the caller gave, but she needed Taxi services and that she was new in town. Whoever gave her my number intimated that while we have a Taxi application I was central to it all and that I would expedite her travels. 

In that particular moment I pictured Garrett Camp’s reaction if he ever received such a phone call. 

Garret and Travis Kalanick founded Uber and set the premise for the clutter of online Taxi hailing applications you now have across the world including Buber 🙂 Haha do not misconstrue my juxtaposition, the calls bring business and they are highly appreciated, however as founders of the company our primary idea was to bring a big city product to our local town. What we did not anticipate was the massive challenges that would come with. Smartphone penetration and access, data bundles being a luxury, the very concept of taxi being a super luxury and associated only with the affluent in the society.

Ideally we very much would have liked our product to be consumed as dispatched( customers requesting for taxi services via the app and getting served autonomously with very little human input). I however tend to feel or rather think that our unique market and my overly familiar face and name are getting in the way of progress. Some, even close friends will call me to get them  a taxi, even with a dedicated customer care line ( 0726 636 100) I fail them most of the time because my line will either be engaged or I am in some sort of meeting or even off to bed. Our platform Buber (Flash Cabs) is not 100% , none of these platforms in the market are. Our biggest challenge and main focus of our attention is to get customers to stop calling my line and use the application, which is available on PlayStore. All manner of excuses are given, some legit some …. well not so legitimate. The only lot with a case with us are folks with IPhones, which the technical team is working over time to get done by the end of January 2021.

Being the boy next door has its vast amount of advantages, everyone trusts you and  feels cozy with you. On the flip-side, getting the same lot to outgrow you and to getting them to also trust the processes/people you put in place to help scale your vision can be a really uphill task. Self awareness is a very key ingredient to one’s success, I fully understand my strengths and my Achilles heel. That said, my team and I have embarked on a customer education exercise, where we are using all manner of incentives to make our customers use the application. It’s not going to be easy as the boy next door syndrome is deeply ingrained. Success at this will be my greatest achievement ever! That will mean I have successfully transitioned my clients alongside their families and friends into trusting a process I set in place. I do not have one track mind, the storms I have had to weather along the way have toughened  my exterior and should I not manage to do this I will Iterate several times before throwing in the towel. 

I started with a personal narration of how I grew to achieve the status of the boy next door especially when I am not a native. Perspective is important especially when you want to put across such a thorny vent. To the few Buber customers who will get to read this, you have a challenge from yours truly. Share a screen grab of your most recent trip via WhatsApp on 0726 636 100 for a chance to win merchandise from Flash cabs or discounts on your next trip.

See you in the next episode, er…… I mean post 😉