HUSTLE MAG MARCH 2020 FINAL

SUCCESS STORIES
Former driver tastes success in
meat business
Guka, as he’s fondly known,
uses loans from Jawabu Biashara
to grow his business
By Amos Wachira
Seven years ago, John Chege
could have chosen to stay in
his job as a taxi driver. But he
could barely make ends meet.
Cut throat competition and low
business volumes were slowly edging
him out of business. Many were the days
he could go home empty-handed. With a
young family to feed, he knew he had to
act fast.
“I was thinking of any business idea
that could allow me to use my car for
profit, without necessarily having to haul
passengers. That’s when I stumbled on
the meat business,” he says.
Armed with a business idea and a will
to succeed, he set up Vision Butchery in
Gitothua, Ruiru subcounty.
Today, the butchery is his bread and
butter. It has been his preoccupation for
the last seven years. It has steadily helped
him realize his vision as a business person.
From a struggling taxi driver, Chege
is now living his best life as a business
person.
As you approach his butchery near the
ACK Stage in Gitothua, Guka, as he’s fondly
known by locals is busy serving customers,
weighing and packing raw meat for
them. On one side of the establishment,
tens of his customers are enjoying boiled
meat and ugali. Clad in a white dust coat,
Chege cuts the mien of a hardworking
and ambitious man.
On a daily basis, he wakes up at 4 am
to look for meat. Using his small car which
carries a fabricated meat box, he shuttles
between the slaughterhouses of Njiru
and Kiamaiko.
Once he gets his hands on the juiciest
chunks of meat, he leaves for his butchery,
where he heartily serves his customers.
Going by the number of customers
streaming into his butchery, it’s not hard
to see that he has a thriving business. But
John Chege,
businessman
His answer to his
financial challenges
came in the form of
a loan from Jawabu
Biashara, a credit
only microfinance
institution.
things have not always been like this. With
no experience in the food industry, starting
a meat business was a steep learning
curve for him. There was a list of licenses
to be complied with.
He was also operating from a small
room which was barely enough for a meat
display. As meat is a perishable product,
he also needed a deep freezer to preserve
this commodity. When word spread about
his quality products, demand for meat
went through the roof, and his business
needed a capital injection to cope.
His answer to his financial challenges
came in the form of a loan
from Jawabu Biashara, a credit only
microfinance institution.
When he met a representative of
Jawabu Biashara two years ago, he
was skeptical about getting a loan.
Francis, a business relationship officer
from Jawabu Biashara explained to him
how the loan could boost his business.
“That’s when I decided to try their services,”
he says.
Using loans from Jawabu Biashara,
Chege has markedly pumped more life
into his business. From a single room, he
has expanded his business to occupy two
rooms.
One room hosts a huge deep freezer
where he stores meat, while the front
room has a meat display and a weighing
machine. Adjacent to the beef butchery
is an empty room where he plans to start
another butchery selling pork and pork
products. “The loans have also helped me
to renovate the butchery, and to carry out
repairs on my car when the need arises.”
With business growth comes job creation.
Chege’s butchery has so far created jobs
for five people.
He also plans to buy a meat mincing
machine using financial boost from
Jawabu Biashara, an institution he fondly
describes as ‘reliable and dependable.’
“Business relationship officers from
Jawabu Biashara visit to see how I am
fairing in business. Whenever there is
a challenge, they are always at hand to
advise.”
As he primes his business, his cordial
relationship with Jawabu Biashara gives
him the confidence to scale and thrive.
HUSTLE EAST AFRICA
25