 Welcome back to why in the morning and is usual if it's Tuesday it's entrepreneurship Tuesday the hashtag to use is hashtag entrepreneurship Tuesday at Y254 channel so you can find us across all our social media handles at michelleashira is where you can find me across all my social bring you interactive interviews that are going to educate you and also inspire you to start off on an idea a business idea that you've always wanted to you know throwing the ball and just get going since today I'm joined with Austin Jay Okot who is the CEO and managing director at Maraba stores we'll be looking at shopping online and how shopping online has made has been made easier so if you're still skeptical about doing a shopping online we'll be looking Austin will be taking us through ways to make sure that it's secure that you you are comfortable forget the hustle and bustles of you know you have to dress up and go out to do your shopping carry your finances you know on cash that it is so let's make things easier and that's why Austin Jay Okot is here in studio with us to just have this conversation on how to make sure that when you're shopping online it's all matters pertaining security that you're secured you're comfortable and that is so our topic of discussion is how shopping online has been made easier karibusana thank you so much you look dashi thank you so for anyone who is meeting you for the first time right and for what I have mentioned if it is anything I've left this is your opportunity to include anything Austin does that I haven't mentioned all right thank you so much if you're meeting me for the first time my name is Austin Jay Okot as she has mentioned I am I am an auditor by profession but a businessman by passion just what she has mentioned is more of enough I have only added being an auditor by profession okay say enough but what people don't know is that prior you have started six businesses that failed sure take us through the story all right uh when when I was when I was born I found my dad doing a lot of businesses my dad had uh rentals in given places and so he could do anything in those rentals like there is one that was at one point a hardware uh hardware running for three months turned to a bookshop turned to a college for computer turned to plastic sales and so I I saw him doing a lot of businesses and I started getting an interest to do business so when I joined the university I I said I also want to start doing businesses so the first thing I did was to do chapatis at the streets of Madahare North and uh I was passionate about it I wanted to to make it a big thing I believed in humble beginnings so I did chapatis sold them to people who passed by uh for quite some time for like six months when it was picking the the area I was operating I was told uh it's being contracted constructed I mean the the highway was to be constructed along at that place and so I had to look for somewhere else it was my first year in Nairobi I had no connections so I I I had to post a bit and look for somewhere else I looked for somewhere else which I did not find and so I I got to start something else I just went to uh Kamukunji got a trolley for eggs started selling it stabilized uh did a lot with it and then later I found it was tiresome because I was also in school so I post again after posting now I started selling soaps uh I registered my business I started producing soaps at home with my friend who did industrial chemistry we did the business quite well we sold uh in most of the platforms got adopted in some supermarkets to sell there and then later when now uh things came I found I found it was becoming tiresome and then I handed it over to my friend to manage who later got employed because his passion was in employment uh and I had to now take it back taking it back after two months of silence was a problem I did not understand the miles he had gone so I did it and then later left it just left it I did not register it I just left it pending oh yeah so in summary like how many businesses have you gotten into like just by naming the six of them ah okay uh chapati uh eggs uh the the soaps I have done cleaning and I have also done laundry I work to yeah laundry services I work to people give me something I clean for you I take the tasks hand over to my guys they go do the laundry I receive the money pay them and pocket the profit all right from your journey of six uh field uh enterprises what have you learned I have learned that resilience is very key okay and passion plays a big role uh for those businesses I had nobody to to hold my hand and work with me tell me what to do so I was doing it whole by myself and then later I realized there is need to get somebody to mentor me and to guide me so I went for a short consultation but then what the person I went to told me is that I am not going to work with you throughout the journey all I can tell you is after starting be resilient and keep going don't mind about losses don't mind about uh about problems that will come in business okay sorry for kati you said all right it's uh Austin when you're transitioning from one business to the other as a young person what were you looking for when it comes to for instance you transitioned from making chapatis to getting into the sub business what were you what first of all what's sort of like on your way to transition what were you looking for in order for you to actually decide like right now I can you know start off on sub business and not cleaning business or any other what what was driving my transition was uh mostly providing a solution yeah because if you look at what I what was making me to start even the previous businesses I was seeing a gap somewhere that there is a need to provide this to these people yeah so when I see uh there is a gap people are experiencing a problem I feel like solving it and that is what was driving me to solve uh to provide a solution all right now let's go to Maraba stores yes when did it start and what kind of services do you guys provide all right Maraba stores uh trades has Maraba Kenya it started in 2020 uh over when when covid was still fresh people were locked out uh from accessing the towns the shopping centers and then now I was among them and I had a feeling of people want to get things done they want to do their shopping and uh they they have a habit of doubting how authentic yes credibility credibility yeah so I wanted I really thought about how I can make them have confidence in online shopping so I I thought of creating just a simple store uh when I was Maraba just precedes my cleaning business so when I go to clients they are telling me that can you help me purchase this so they became too many and then now I wanted to create somewhere that you go place orders I will be bringing after giving me your location so Maraba deals with uh all products that somebody would want to buy and especially authentic product and uh original products no fake products uh somebody goes places the order we deliver the products to them also we allow people who are verified registered companies in Kenya uh located within Nairobi to sell their products on our store yes when you talk about products what sort of products have gone through the the platform uh so far what I've seen is electronics what else do you guys provide we have electronics we have household items we have fashion somebody can go buy shoes buy nice dresses like yours you can go get your office furniture and office fittings they are available and basically just product what you want to buy what can take you to a supermarket get it from Maraba and we will deliver it all right and when you get into this sort of business when you come to online platform most people go into online especially after the pandemic and so the importance of the online presence so for you guys what is your niche in the market what are you guys doing doing differently in this particular platform and let's start from there before you go ahead all right what we do differently is that we partner with the original manufacturers we don't focus on the the the people who register the shop while they don't have the products in store so we talk to for example if you want to buy techno phones we partner with techno so every phone we sell and deliver to you comes from techno if it's furniture from Ramtons we get it directly from Ramtons so we make sure that what we provide is satisfaction and confidence in our customers by making the products available always we make sure that products are authentic that is original and we also make sure that their prices are affordable because we get them from the first source we don't get them from the fourth source where prices and costs will have increased that is what makes us different okay so for people who want to work with you probably I sell shoes right yes how do I approach you guys and what are the requirements the requirement for selling your products on Maraba is simply be a registered business within operating physical shop now when you have that physical shop we will send one of our representatives after we see your registration which can be done online once you visit www.maraba.co.ke you can get a button to apply and then when you apply we will send somebody to visit your shop after visiting your shop and verifying that your products are available we allow you to now start selling you list them and then we approve them okay for one who wants to start and run an online platform like this one what laws and regulations should they be aware of when you you want to run an online business you must first of all be in line with the the constitution of Kenya which has it all and you must learn with the you must work with the government closely to make sure that what you sell online is a is a product that is not going against any regulation yes okay uh from where from your end uh let's look at the monetary aspect of it so how does the company make money out of this the company makes money uh just like every other supermarket uh because when we talk to the manufacturers the products are listed and uh we we charge a commission of nine percent for every product sold so if you sell a product we pay you and we take a commission of nine percent so when you listing your products you add that commission or you list it at your price and we get the nine percent commission that is how we earn alright so far looking back would you say it's a profitable uh a venture and uh how are the first earlier months when starting off the first earlier months were were not so good just like every other business the earlier months like four months we had to tell people we exist then we had to tell people what we do four months we used just to get confidence in customers we didn't make any sales but i would tell somebody who wants to to start this that no business is easy it only requires you to think creatively solving a problem every now and then and uh it it can be profitable i can't really assure somebody that starting it uh is a guarantee for uh profitability yeah but just being creative like now we have uh seven like seven projects underway that are going to be launched in series that we are going to use to make sure that convenience is achieved and every need of customers uh are met so it's about being creativity it's not about profitability uh being creative and uh and uh providing a solution yeah okay for the sake of the person who is watching this conversation let's talk about the for one person of course he was watching this conversation and they would like to get into this sort of uh line of business austin tell us how important is branding and what stood out for you guys when it comes to just putting your name out there in the market space uh what is very important about branding is being consistent yeah you you first of all have to be consistent your voice must be heard you don't have to get into the voice of the crowd you have to be unique and you have to be very organized what make us stand out is we have a very beautifully designed website and uh we are keen at what we give the customers so if you thinking of joining online shopping market uh make sure your brand is known for a given thing don't just join the crowd and be known for what the crowd is known for and from where you're seated what would you say the impact of e-commerce is sad in our society currently and also the issue of credibility because they feel that people who are still like sure not not sure they'd like to shop online so what would you say the impact has been so far i think people are people are getting online that is very sure because even we have a lot of people from our end we can see people who have just visited the sites we see this person visited the site clicked here went back clicked here went to this place we see a lot of people just coming to check prices and then go back uh believe it or not people are getting online and the impact is that we are simplifying we are making the world become a small village because if I can see somebody in Kishi buying a product that is sold in Nairobi and we deliver and they give uh a nice feedback it means that Nairobi and Kishi has become somewhere I can walk in and shop and go home so the impact is is the the simplicity of living you are at work you want to buy something in the evening you just need to order it from Maraba we deliver it to your office when you go back hope you go with it so it has simplified life for a lot of people speaking about simplifying life there's also the aspect of scammers yeah scammers the whole story what would be your tips for someone who wants to shop online that they should look out in order to know that these people are real uh because we have people who uh who even shop on Instagram and they end up uh sending on their stories of how this particular page they all come so what are the tips you will tell uh someone who is watching this other they can look out for just to ensure that whenever they shop online they are they should be safe okay uh I can give three tips if you allow me yes the first one is make sure the people you're so you're shopping with you know their physical location at least one because for example we have delivery centers uh around Nairobi um also within CBD and the areas nearer so make sure you have seen uh a physical location or if you haven't seen that make sure there is a contact a contact number there are people who say they say that online shop only on their on their page yeah those people who say online shop if you call them they tell you know you don't have to visit us yeah we are operating online yeah how do you delay that uh when you get such people get look for somebody else look for somebody else look for the product you want elsewhere get somebody who when you call they can tell you welcome to our shop to view that product welcome to our office we discussed that uh that brings the the second tip make sure you are shopping with somebody you can visit like for us you can visit us always uh in Katani road Tani business park and we are building uh we are constructing a warehouse where we are going to make sure we have all the products in store you come interact with that product and then uh buy what you have interacted with so buy don't don't go to people more so there there are contacts that I see I hear cannot be tracked make sure the the provider is a provider that if somebody gets lost with your money you can track and later get your money back yeah all right and let's look at the marketing strategy that you guys use what is your good to marketing space that uh as a company that you opted for uh our main marketing strategy is using the youths and uh I hope y254 is a good channel for the youths we allow youths to shop and uh what we do is to pay them when they invite a friend to shop or when they help somebody shop from us for example if I have bought uh something from Maraba that is maybe a phone I tell my friend that this is the process you need to take to buy this thing so when you when you do that there is a special link uh for affiliate uh partner for Maraba that you that you you create and then we see from our end that this person shopped from person B who was our previous customer yeah so that is our main strategy the others uh are just the normal ones uh social media advertising and we also do one on one marketing with everybody we interact with yes okay what's a couple of challenges that you faced in this line of industry um the challenges number one is uh uh the challenge number one is having somebody to trust you is uh is not an easy thing and just seeing somebody buying something uh has not been an easy thing so we have worked so hard uh with my co-director his ben uh to make sure that we are very credible so that somebody can have confidence in us but uh confidence does not come once the other challenge is about delivery maybe somebody places an order he is in an area that is not accessible uh they want the product to be delivered to their homes we have to struggle to find ways in the bushes and then get to their places uh we also face a challenge of uh competition as usual uh you see when you get to an industry they are those fathers of the industry those mothers of the industry but we are working so much to make sure that the competition uh or the competitors fear because we are solving a problem they did not manage to solve for a very long time yeah if you if you check what we do we we make sure and actually for over 500 uh deliver is done we have not had a single complain of or even a single return every product has been delivered and every customer has been satisfied you guys allow returns yeah we allow returns if you get that the product is faulty because we sell them from the original manufacturers we just tell them that this is what you delivered it's faulty check it give us another piece or correct the problems we deliver we allow returns within seven days all right yeah in the space of winding up someone who want to get in this space space of business or will be your advice when it comes to the getting to the eco mass uh industry and uh what are the tools that they need to have the requirements just to get in this particular space uh if you want to get to this space uh you need to first of all be a registered business it's good to operate legally when you are in a nation and then secondly you need to have a website uh cleanly designed by professionals don't just go get uh funny websites because somebody will visit and then the first visit sends them away make sure it's very clean actually as clean as possible and also get a physical location if you can get somebody who can host you or if you can get a rental make sure you available for your customers to visit you and talk to you i think uh the three tools are enough for them they are businessmen and now they'll think for one they'll think for one yeah i don't give them everything i don't give them everything all right i'll say if there's anything that i've left uh left out uh probably new projects coming up uh okay a new project we have uh we are having the warehouse that i had mentioned yes yes you mentioned that so that we have the product and we make sure that once the warehouse is done we give same day delivery uh everywhere in Nairobi for every order uh we also have uh we also are working on an affiliate partnership with uh bloggers uh and uh as a form of marketing so that these people do not only use their social media platforms and followership for likes and comments but they can also earn from them we also are working on a partnership with countries abroad because we understand there are people who want to buy given products from abroad and get them delivered to the country we don't just want to do it uh manually by allowing anybody to sell from abroad but we want to do official partnerships uh from abroad so that when you want a product from abroad uh we just have to get it from that company tell you the exact days you don't have to uh to try like the others you can find they are telling you for 14 days that means the seller from abroad is still looking for that product they need to organize shipping but when we get it from the original producer abroad it gets in the shortest time possible all right the other projects i will mention them if they follow me uh if they follow us absolutely you can give up your social media handle Facebook Instagram we are Maraba Kenya yes all right so what's the future looking like uh for you in the eco mass industry i don't want to give a time frame but uh you tell us the future looks beautiful uh because i am happy that we are solving a problem okay and for sure uh it's it's a real solution uh not an attempted solution so the future looks beautiful because the youths are our major shoppers and the youths are the future oh yeah yeah and the online space is most definitely the future yeah thank you very much Austin for creating time to be with us talking about uh ways to making uh online shopping way easier and uh safe thank you so much all right looking forward to have this conversation again yeah i'll come again and again to make sure youths enjoy online shopping so what's so what so that is uh Austin Jay Okaath who is the CEO and Managing Director for Maraba Stores Limited we were talking about uh a topic of conversation was online shop that shopping online made easier so we ensure that you you know shop till you drop remember follow us across all our social media handles that is at y254 channel at michela shirezo you can find me across all my social at rameguko so we'll be right back with so much right here on why in the morning and Tuesday as usually the hashtag entrepreneurship Tuesday make sure you stay tuned we have so much coming your way