Pujan Malu was attracted to cars from an early age. Engine revs, interior design, speed, and luxury all gave him an adrenaline rush.
He wanted to one day run his own car business. After graduating from his school, Mal got a job as a car salesman in his hometown of Eldoret.
Even though he had to work seven days a week at this job, he continued to work for seven months because the money he earned from this job allowed him to start his own business.
“It took me three months to sell my first car. As I remember well, it was a Probox, and I sold it to a farmer and received Sh5,000 as commission. This was the most I had ever earned in my life. It was the best Sh5,000 ever,” Malu said in an interview with Powering SMEs.
However, the money she was making from this job was not enough to reach her goals, so she moved to Nairobi in 2019 to look for another job. It was better that way, as it gave him vassals and even a commission on everything he sold.
“These two jobs taught me a lot about patience. Every day, you only have one or two customers at your car lot, but in some cases, even those customers don’t necessarily want to buy from you. In some cases, it may not be the case,” says Mull.
In 2022, after acquiring enough knowledge about car sales and sourcing, he decided it was time to start his own adventure. He used his savings to set up a company called Chief Imports Kenya Ltd.
This business will be engaged in the importation of motor vehicles on behalf of individual customers and corporate organizations. First, he sought to grow the business by leveraging the networks he had built during his tenure.
“While working at an auto yard, I realized that dealers sell customers what they have in their showrooms, but often they may not have what the buyer wants. You may want a white car, but after searching all over the place, all you find is a white car,” says Mull.
Therefore, importing a vehicle on behalf of a customer will ensure that the customer gets exactly what they want, but the waiting time for the car to be delivered will be longer.
Like many other newly founded ventures, it wasn’t easy for Maru. He launched the business in June 2022, just as elections were about to take place. At this time, most people were holding on to their money, not knowing what would happen in the next few days.
So we had to get creative to onboard customers. He decided to charge customers an import service fee of about 2 percent. This is lower than his standard 10-15 percent import service fee charged by most dealers.
“Delivery takes time, so we didn’t want to overcharge the person buying the car as a way to make up for lost time. If the car was readily available in Japan, where it was imported, it would take 45 to 60 days. “It’s possible, but we think it could take up to 90 days if it’s not ready,” Maru said.
The company will also partner with CFC Stanbic Bank to attract customers by providing after-sales services, engine and gearbox warranties, and import financing.
“Historically, financing has been a huge challenge in the import business. We had to make sure we had 100 per cent funding before the car arrived in Mombasa, but with the partnership we were able to put down 20 per cent. Banks will finance 80 percent,” Maru said.
A year later, the business has grown from serving individual customers to serving corporate organizations as well. Mr. Maru says he wants to further expand his business, but heavy taxes are making it difficult.
The entrepreneur called on the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to make paying taxes more prudent, saying most people don’t care about paying taxes, but the only problem is the tax framework. He pointed out that this is unclear and is constantly changing.
“As a country, we import over 10,000 cars a month, so imposing just a small amount of duty can generate significant revenue for the government. Now, due to the increase in customs duties, the cost of a car is close to Sh800,000. These are the same cars that support a lot of people in the taxi industry,” said Maru.
He advises anyone looking to get into the auto business to approach it with the end goal of satisfying the client. Because these are the same people who recommend the car business to other customers in their circles.
“You can’t go into this business trying to get rich quick and expect to succeed. You have to put in time and effort, but most importantly, focus on the customer,” said Maru. Ta.