Born and brought up in a rural area in the Great Rift Valley Province of Kenya, I schooled in both primary and secondary school in Kilimani, Turbo. I used to walk for about forty five minutes to get to school in the morning and going back home in the afternoon. The school did not provide lunch which meant students going home for lunch. This used to be a good exercising opportunity as the break used to be for one hour and fifteen minutes (Between 1245Hrs and 1400Hrs) so I had to run from school to my home, have lunch in ten to fifteen minutes then run back to school.

During school holiday my parents used to allocate tasks to me which would take up not less than half a day after which I was allowed to join my age-mates in the playing grounds. Some of the tasks included cultivating land, maize harvesting, herding just but to mention. With vast parcels of land, this meant there was always going to be different tasks for every day but on the brighter side this availed enough play grounds.

After my secondary school education I moved to Nairobi for college education after which I secured myself a job in the hotel industry as a waiter. The pay could not cater for all my bills but it was better for me than being back in the village. After several months at the job I had sent application letters to other organizations managing to secure myself several interviews where I realized that the salaries were more or less the same. At this point it was clear that I needed to supplement my salary. I tried getting part time jobs in the catering organization but the time requirements from this companies used to clash with my main job and at some point I had to stop it. I got into small businesses where I finally settled in the dairy business since it was easy for me to grasp the pros and cons of the business having been brought up in the farm.

My core business is selling fresh, pasteurized milk. I also make yoghurt and Mala. Eggs have also proved to be a value adding commodity in my business. Currently, I have a supplier who delivers once a day. I get a litre of milk at Kes 55.00 and I sell the same at Kes 70.00

Milk is a commodity that is used in every homestead on a daily basis. I also get young people buying yogurt during the day and mala normally bought in the evenings. I open the shop as early as 0530Hrs and close as late as 2100Hrs. I take a break between 1000Hrs and 1300Hrs as I rarely get clients during this time.

Having been brought up in the village, cows were an integral part of every home stead. I used to milk the cows at least three times a week while at my parents home. With plenty of milk we were taught how to prepare mala and yoghurt.

I started the business as a supplementary income generating activity. After a couple of months in the business, I realized that it had a high potential if well managed. I left my employment and started running the business on a full time basis.

Being my main source of income, it caters for a majority of my bills. I also make weekly savings hoping to save enough money to buy a vehicle which will enable me to get milk directly from the farmers to my shop which will translate to more profits and even get to supply some of the people in the same business. Currently I am making Kes 15.00 per litre but if I get the milk directly from the farmers I will be making between Kes 25.00 to kes 30.00 per litre. With more than 100Litres one would make enough to cater for all the bills incurred.

I intend to start stocking parking papers as it is currently a challenge. The packing papers being sold around are on low quality and which leak when liquids is put in them. This forces one to use at least two papers which is also not guaranteed. I wish to stock up better quality papers. This will save on the number of papers I use and also the amount of milk poured due to poor quality papers. I also intent to inform the business people around my shop who pack liquids in such papers once I stock up and sell the papers bundles at Kes 53.00 (USD 0.53)

Currently a bundle of packing papers is being sold at Kes 50.00 (USD0.50) at retail price. We buy the papers from from suppliers who are go round supplying. If one runs out of papers, they have to wait till the following day when the suppliers arrive. Good quality papers are slightly more expensive and hard to get.

One is required to buy at least two hundred bundles of packing papers to qualify for a wholesale discount which will workout to Kes 48.00(USD0.48) per bundle. The total cost of buying two hundred bundle is Kes 9,600.00 (USD 96.00)