Start-up failure not end of the road, says millionaire MP

I sold my music system for Sh7,000 to start my multi-million-shilling company at the Coast,” says Johnson Naicca as we sit down for the interview.

Mr Naicca, the Mumias West MP and businessman in the clearing and forwarding sector, says his desire to embrace self-employment and self-empowerment pushed him out of Government after working for 15 years.

After his resignation, he teamed up with his uncle to start Blue Cat Hotel in Busia.

However, the business failed miserably and they closed it down after a few months. His investment of Sh200,000 was all lost with the closure.

“Later, I realised the venture was already on a downward trend. I found myself with no money or hope in life. It was hard to sustain myself and family.”

Johnson Naicca addresses women and youth groups at the Mumias West CDF office grounds this month. He had several false starts before taking off and making it big in business.

(PHOTO: BENJAMIN SAKWA/STANDARD)

Having hit a brick wall, he decided to travel to Nairobi to search for a job opportunity. There were no vacancies. Then a friend casually informed him about a short contract at the Coast. At that point, he did not even have fare.

He sold his only asset, a music system, to raise the fare. He wanted his nephew to buy it at Sh20,000 but he bought it at Sh7,000.

Luckily, he was recruited as a clearing and forwarding agent for Shell Kenya Limited.

After finding his way around, he saw an opportunity to sell empty drums to Arabs living at the Coast and within one year he had made so much money that he bought his first car.

Clearing and forwarding

“Everything worked in my favour as within one year I had made impressive profit to keep me going in the business sector,” he says.

He was confident enough to try his hand at business once more.

So he started Blue Cat Ports Services to manage clearing and forwarding services at the port of Mombasa.

“My company works for two firms. It offers clearing and forwarding services to a Japanese firm and supplies labour on contract to other companies at the port. I have more than 1,000 workers on contract who are paid weekly and 50 permanent workers,” says Naicca.

He gets more than Sh60 million yearly as net profit and pays at least Sh10 million annually as tax to Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

He advises, “One does not need to have a lot of money to start a business, the little you have can make a difference in your life. Whatever you get ensure it works for you, start small and grow big. I am not rich but I have a comfortable life.”

For those who will not dare leave employment for business or entrepreneurship he has this to say: “You do not need a white collar job to survive in this country. Youths should use the limited resources they have at their disposal to change their lives because depending or waiting for white collar jobs will make them languish in poverty.”

Public resources

Naicca, who is currently studying for his first degree at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology affirms that depending on an MP salary alone can lead one to theft of public resources.

He says this is because there are so many economic problems in the constituencies. Sometimes, says he, he has to use his personal savings to help his people access better education and also reduce poverty.

His advice is that everyone should exploit the great potential in this country to venture into business, create jobs and hence participate in poverty reduction.

“Do not just depend on your salaries only; instead think out of the box and venture into business to succeed in life.”