19th Oct, 2016
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man how to fish and you feed him for life, says the Chinese adage.
And Kenyatta University student, Samuel Mburiri trading as Samir believes he knows how to fish and has identified his ocean. He just needs a fishing rod and within a short time, he will enter the millionaires club.
Samuel is one of the entrepreneurs that featured on the first episode of Lion’s Den https://bankika.co.ke/lionsden/videos/kcb-lions-den-ep-1/ desirous of finding a business partner – but walked away with nothing.
His concept, which he says he has tried, is very simple.
People working in offices do not necessarily go out of their way to eat fruits. So, his plan is to get fruits to as many office desks as he can around the city.
He was willing to offer a 25 per cent stake of his business to the Lions for Sh200,000, thereby valuing his business at Sh800,000. The money was to help him finish registering his company, buy a motorcycle and set up a distribution center to get his business off the ground. They didn’t buy it.
“I realized that the Lions were looking not for concepts, but ideas that are already up and operational,” Samuel said afterwards.
But just how did he expect to sell fruits in a market where there’s a vendor on every corner?
Isn’t it a saturated opportunity? Well, Samuel does not think so.
“Look, the reason why I mark out my idea as unique is because I’m ready, able and willing to knock on office doors and ask them to buy my fruits,” he said in a post-show interview. “I’m a Second Year student studying Bachelor of Economics and Finance at Kenyatta University. I believe in figures.”
He faced stumbling blocks from the word go.
He knocked on office doors at the university where he’s getting an education and drew up a list of an initial 125 customers who agreed to buy fruits from him every working day. But there was the little matter of getting approvals from the university administration.
He wrote letters seeking clearance to launch his business but the reply was curt: “As an institution, our task is to give you an education.”
Samuel still believes where there is a will there is a way …
Undeterred, he took his idea to KICC. He approached people in offices there and again identified a market of willing buyers, including officers at the police station within the building. Yet again, he had no way of financing his dream.
Born in Gikuni Village in Kiambu County, Samuel says he grew up in farmlands which was really the inspiration for his idea.
“People who eat fruits have healthier lives, and I’m willing to take my fruits to any corporate office. People want quality well-packed fruits and that’s exactly what I want to give them,” said Samuel. “I’m determined now more than before I went to the Lions’ Den and I’m sure I’ll find a partner to support me.”
