 All righty, fantastic. You are still watching Hashtag Hawaii in the morning right here with me, Brian Sarko. Remember, the segment is all about entrepreneurs and Hashtag Entrepreneurship Tuesday. And we bring you a lot of great conversations and insights on young and upcoming businessmen who have managed to be in the field and gathered some few lessons here and there to help you back at home. The person who has a vision of starting yourself a business for yourself, that is, you will find all the hacks and all the tips right here. Well, away from that, you can find us on our social media platforms. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter is at Hawaii254Channel. Remember, on Instagram, there's an underscore and Minds. Why do I keep on saying Minds? Anyways, I'll find another term. Minds is at Brian Sarko 101. And joining me right now on set is a very powerful gentleman. I always say powerful, okay? An incredibly powerful gentleman from AISTO who will share with us the journey and the times of why did they venture into AISTO and literally why literally upper products. And without much further ado, I'm going to let him introduce himself. Good morning. Thank you so much for coming through, bro. Good morning. You're welcome. How are you? My name is Jeff. I'm a representative of AISTO. AISTO, we started in 2019. Okay. So, AISTO meaning it's Apple products. Yeah, we deal only with Apple products. Okay. So, you mentioned you're a representative, not the owner. No, no, no. I'm on behalf of AISTO team, the whole team. Okay. So, meaning it's a big team. It's a whole team. Okay. Why Apple products? Apple products, first of all, Apple products are, it's a global product. Okay. Yeah. And in terms of markets, the prices for Apple products are dictated globally. So, sorry, sorry, sorry. They're prices are dictated globally. Okay. So, they're not dictated by the local market. So, it cuts across all types of, all our target customers. Okay. Yeah. There's no inflation or, yeah. Okay. When you speak of Apple, it's one of like the major brands as compared to like Samsung. A lot of people would want to associate to themselves with Apple products. Even from the iPads to what are they called, to the MacBooks, to the mobile cell phones. And right now, if you check out the market, it's quite a competitive market from even the advancements from the fast, fast, fast, fast Apple products. What were the fast Apple products, by the way, from your experience? Because you are handling the brand. Do you have like maybe a license? Did they issue with your license to maybe sell their products? Yeah, we started as taken. Okay. And then we majorly focused on the Apple products. Now, we were branded to iStore. Okay. Which was early last year, around early last year. So, yeah, now we were branded as authorized resellers of Apple products across, let's say globally. Okay. Because we've got across East Africa, countrywide, yeah. Okay. If somebody back at home maybe who's watching and they want to venture into Apple products, for example, the issue of license, because I understand it's a very stringent and competitive market. How do they go about it? It's a simple process. Just go to the website and with the right documents and back up your documents with what you do. Just be genuine and it's easy. Okay. Yeah. Okay. I've seen on your profile, you've mentioned about tradins. Yeah. What does that mean for a person who's watching and they are interested to know like, your business allows people to maybe do that kind of a business away from like your normal business. Yeah. Tradin is basically a concept where you bring the phone you're using to get the phone you want. Okay. So you bring your phone, we check it via our softwares, then we value your phone depending on your condition. Yeah. Of course, with authenticity because there's a form you have to fill and you have to produce your eligible documents, identity documents, either passport or national identity card. Okay. So then after valuing your phone, the phone you want to purchase, they value it, you balance with the value of your phone, then you top up the amount remaining. Wow, interesting. Yeah. So at your plus, do you have like people coming in? But you've mentioned it's only Apple products. Yeah. So it means if somebody wants to trade in with you, they must come up with, they must bring an Apple. Yeah. It's an Apple product for an Apple product. Okay. Yeah. All right. Interesting. Now, let's talk about the competition because I understand in Kenya right now, there's a lot of companies including Techno, some of the biggest brands. Samsung, there's even, is it called, a company is a product of Techno. There's one it is keeping me though. There's so many including Nokia, which was, it's still a Windows one before. How is the competition in the market, especially for, if you compare Apple, Samsung and the rest of the brands? Of course, this core, new phones are coming out every day. With new technologies, but for Apple, the products in terms of software and hardware, they are designed to meet the present needs. It's more of like we lead the full, I'm just saying. Then if you look at the watches, the earpods, then also the genuity of the products. Yeah. Interesting. And we can't do this without talking about COVID-19 because I remember when the pandemic struck, there are so many businesses that were rendered still, or they came to a standstill because of the pandemic. How did the pandemic affect your business? Just like most businesses, people could not operate normally because there was no physical interaction with clients at that time because of the lockdown. So we had to find a way of marketing better. So that's why we put much energy into social media. That's when we decided to make reels and sponsor them, which actually worked because we realized we have potential on social media and it's such a powerful platform for our products to sell, which we use up to date. Do you have maybe some of the biggest brands, not even brands, some of the influencers because you mentioned about sponsors. For somebody who is watching back at home and maybe they want to sponsor their ad online, how can they do it so that they attract maybe clients or customers like you mentioned for you? For example, on Instagram, there's usually an option. If you have a business account, there's an option of sponsoring your ad and there are different packages depending on the duration of time. You mentioned that your market has captured across East Africa. For example, somebody from Tanzania, they want to arrive at your shop. How do you do that? How do you deliver products to them? Because I believe this should be a very secure business that actually delivers products to people. If it's cutting across all the countries like you mentioned in South Africa, then I'm sure there's a way that you guys conduct your business. People outside of the country, we communicate with them, they send their details, they confirm the product first, then we package the product, then we send them through agencies like Wells Fargo, which they still warranty in case the product does not get to them. Or in case of damage, there's warranty on both sides from the transportation agency from our side. So that means you guys will be able to cater for that cost. And if the person who's doing the delivery gets an accident, how does that happen? Now that we have to come into terms with the transportation agency. Interesting. Now let's come back to Nairobi. I want to basically now come down to the customers who go for Apple products because you realize actually anybody who has an Apple product, they want to show it off. It's usually like a symbol of stability in life. I don't know, there's just something about people who have iPhones. They like holding it, they like showing it off. Why is that, by the way? Having an Apple product, the way Apple products are designed, first of all from the marketing, it's based on simplicity. Then there's the differentiation strategy. Apple products are so different from the other products and they distinguish themselves. Now talk about maybe a feature, because I understand you've got one for yourself. What makes it more compatible for you, maybe for somebody who's back at home and they're wondering if I want to have an Apple product, what is the advantage of having one? Apple products come with so many features. First of all, they seamlessly products work together from the earpods to the Apple watches to the phones to the MacBooks. The one you've got is an Apple watch? Yeah, it's an Apple watch. Okay, nice. So it's just a watch, because I've seen those that even have a feature where you're able to pick a phone call. Yeah, you can communicate with the watch. How does that happen? You just connect the watch to your phone and if you can't reach your phone, let's say you're in a meeting or you're driving, you just pick it from the watch and it will just communicate easily. In case you have earpods, you just click the earpods like this. I'll show you. Sure, sure, sure. You're wearing one in this case. So when it rings, it rings from the phone to the watch and it announces to the earpods. So you just tap, communicate, then you tap to... That's like a Bluetooth connection. Yeah, that's a Bluetooth connection. Okay, interesting. Some of the technological advancements from it may be because you guys, you deal with the product just to maybe tell our viewer about it. What are some of the advancements that have come with that? Especially because you said you deal with all the products. Which one mainly for you as a retailer? I'll say Macbooks and phones. Yeah. Macbooks and mobile phones. And iPads. Mostly. Yeah. What are some of the features that make it compatible for use? Do you have even friendly users for people who are disabled? Because I believe there's people who are blind and they want to have an Apple product. Are there user-friendly apps or software that make them available? For Apple, for example, for Apple, for the Apple music you have the Apple family. Okay. Where you can create a group of not only family but friends. You can create a group. And let's say I'm paying, I'll pay for the subscription, which you can be able to access all of you. So in terms of family, you can also share the family groups. Also photos, you can share the family. Yeah. Okay. Now, who are some of the buyers mostly for this product? Because, like I mentioned before, everybody who has such a brand, they always want to show it off. Is it a product cut for specific people with a specific amount of money or something? No, not really. We cut across all types of customers. Yeah. Okay. We don't have a target like, we don't say high end, middle, low. No. Yeah. We do business with all types of clients. Yeah, depending on their budgets, that is. Okay. Yeah. In trade-ins, for example, I want to trade a different product. Maybe product take a time, but I don't know if we still, if you guys still have an archive of maybe the first, first products that came on the market. If maybe somebody wants to trade in a very old product, because right now you mentioned there's even the latest, which is the latest development of the one you've got? The one you've got is on? The latest is on, this is an 11 Pro. Okay. The latest one is on 30 Pro Max. Yeah. And I heard the manufacturing of 14 on. Yeah, there's a release date on September, around 14th. Okay. Yeah. Then it will be available in the market from, say, September or October. Okay. All right. For any young person who is watching back at home and they want to venture into this business of selling your product or your kind of brand, is it cost-friendly for them? Yes. Uh-huh. It just starts from the way you market yourself, the way you market your products, how you want to come into the market, your target market, because you just can come like, you want to access all types of clients. Uh-huh. You have to start from somewhere. Okay. Yeah. Now, from your experience working with the, you mentioned its eyes too. Yeah. How is the experience working with people and how many people do you got at your organization? Uh-huh. We have a team of like 10. Okay. 10 people. Uh-huh. It's good because everyone has their strengths. Okay. Uh-huh. We do, we work as a team generally. Uh-huh. Is that maybe a selection or criterion that you guys used to have people come on board as professionals, even for companies? Because I understand even for, even for a media company before they hire you as a reporter, you must have some certain level of CV or a work experience that resonates with the company, like for your company and your representative. Like how did you even get to work with them, which is literally a high-end company, yeah? Yeah. I just saw them online. Okay. Then I personally approached them. Then I was told this is expected of you. If you're willing to start, give us the date you're willing to start then. Okay. Yeah. There's no really a certain criteria as long as you're willing to learn. Okay. And you've done your research as well and you know about funds, all Apple products, how they work, how they sell. Okay. Yeah. Now, for a person who is job-hunting, maybe they want to come to work with you. Do you guys accept CVs? Yeah, we do. Because there's also an HR. Okay. Yeah. If there's a vacancy, because people come, people leave, if there's a vacancy, we advertise on our social media pages. Okay. Yeah. There's usually a certain pressure for young people. I'd say young, let me not say a certain age, to have that brand of gadgets, including even the iMarx and the iPods that you mentioned, and even some of the latest brand. And before that, I'd like to maybe even know, how much, like, which is the most expensive and which is the most affordable one for, maybe a person who wants to maybe get one for themselves? It really depends on how much you're willing to spend. Wow. Okay. Yeah. So which is the most expensive from, you said you've got an 11 Pro. Yeah. How much does that cost? This costs around 75,000. Yeah. So it comes with the space, storage, user-friendly features. It's basically just camera and... Different processors, storage as well, different types of cameras, different features as well, for every series of phones, because there's a 12 series, 13 series, 11 series. Okay. Yeah. Interesting. Describe your relationship with your clients, because I believe in every market, every business, and US is a business as well, you have that rapport, that grounded rapport with your clients. There's those that come constantly, there's those that come and disappear, they come after years for you, in that market, in that business. How is your relationship with your client, if you can describe it? Our relationship is so nice, because first of all, we sell genuine products. Okay. And if there's any case of warranty from a phone, we always communicate, we always available, all of us, we always available, such as if a client wants to reach you, they'll always find you. And if they can't find you, there are numbers on our seats, which are always on. So, we build trust with them. But how do you build even trust with a client? Because there's those people who are very harsh, businesses that are very harsh to their clients, and you know customer service, like you mentioned, you're a retailer, you must be humble to some certain level that you invite everyone, you accept everyone. For your brand, are you the rudest guys? Not really. Because your brand is like, we are the biggest brand, so you can't tell us anything. No, for me to sell your new clients, for me to sell to you, I have to convince you. I have to take you through the features. I have to show you, you're getting something that is worth your money. And if you confirm the product is genuine, you'll give us referrals. That's how it works. We build trust, you get, you create a circle, circle, create a circle, they tell the other groups, other groups come, come, come, and all. I'm being totally wind up, we are outside. But what is the biggest lesson that you guys have learned from your business and managing such kind of a business? Because I believe this is one of the most rooted out for business even in their tech world. What is one of the biggest lessons that you guys have learned that you love to pass across to anybody who's watching back at home from a personal level as a brand and also from you as a company as well? I'll say consistency. Consistency really works. Wake up every day, keep pushing your products, keep pushing your products, you'll find clients. You won't struggle finding the clients. Okay. Yeah. Alrighty. If maybe somebody wants to access you and get to know your market, where you located at? We're located at B Hit Hours. Along May Avenue. Okay. First floor room 4, B Hit Hours, first floor room 4. Okay. Yeah. So if somebody wants to send a CV or maybe reach you or call, there's a number. Yeah, there's a number, there's a number on the bio. Do you mind saying it, Amma, you're good? 0704-839-296. There's also 0707-879-446. There's also 0706-60843. Okay. Yeah. So your final shots before we close it up. Any lesson you've learned personally? Yeah. No, I'll just quote Steve Jobs. The team. Stay hungry, stay foolish. Okay. Yeah. Who's the current founder of your company? Because I remember it started with Steve Jobs. Then Steve, is it Steve Jobs or Steve Jacobs? Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs. And then it went to Tim Cook, right? Yeah. Is he still the CEO or founder of Apple? Yeah, he still is. Okay. Yeah. So that's all. I've been told our time is out. And we have been speaking to Jeff Marier. He's a representative from iSTOO. And he's just trying to share insights on the influence of the business to them themselves as an individual and even as a brand. And you're back at home. If you want to venture into that business, I'm sure you've gotten a few hugs here and there on how to go about that. And right about now, we are heading on a short commercial break. Really commercial? Why am I just a break? When we come back, we'll be winding up. All right. I'm being told that we have finished the show. So we're not coming back with drum. So continue chatting with us on our social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at Y254Channel. Remember, on Instagram, as I always say, there's an underscore there. My social media platforms is at BrianSaco101. Remember to keep the conversation going through the hashtag why in the morning today being entrepreneurship Tuesday. Thank you so much for watching. Like I always say, we love you for watching. And see you next time right here on Y254Channel.