S.Mutaga III wrote: By the look of things, it seems everyone here fears the matatu business...perhaps from experience or being an eye witness of bad business in that industry. Other views are welcome.
Someni vijana, muongese bidii... mwisho wa kusoma...I like calling it an educational as well as a Kenyan middle class mentality thing.
The matatu industry, basic commercial farming and other such potentially lucrative business ventures are frowned upon in social avenues like middle-income forums such as The Virtual Republic of Wazua.
One measly tomato and one onion is each going for Kshs. 5 each in my local estate yet at my home in Mwea, right on the Meru-Mwea-Nairobi highway, it would take 50 cents to grow each tomato or onion and transport each to Nairoberry.
Yet I would rather come to Nairoberry and rent an expensive apartment and work on a computer writing "articles" than exploit free water from the irrigation canal passing 200 meters from our home to grow tomatoes or onions on my father's freely available land.
Your Friend's Kshs. 800,000 would have been enough to renovate the vehicle, to grow and transport the tomatoes or onions to those highly populated but educated estates such as Royal Suburb (Roysambu) and give a return on investments of double your initial investment every season.
This would be by adding a small generator powered cooler and selling the vegetables for Kshs. 4 each from the renovated vehicle every evening between 4 and 10 pm when most employees leave their offices and head home.
My standard seven "drop out" cousin has accomplished just that this "off season" and I am blue with envy. He does this every year in the hot dry season between November and March and the damned bugger owns the apartment block I rent.
Your friend has an interesting business dilemma in deed if you come to think of it. Question is, does he have the educated elite or middle income mentality?