20 years seems like an awfully long time to invest in ones career only to quit for something else. Would you make such a daring career move?
Esther Muchemi made such a move when she quit her audit job in 2000 to start a venture that would later create more than 500 jobs. Today she is the CEO of Samchi Group which initially started as a shop selling airtime, mobile phones and SIM cards.
And what did people have to say about her ‘I quit move?’
“They were wondering why anyone would leave a well-paying and prestigious job to become a shopkeeper. Starting Samchi Telecom was literally opening a shop,” she once told How We Made It in Africa in an interview.
But why would she make such a daring move?
“There was also something unsettling in me. Accounting is good and it certainly helped me. But I wanted to achieve bigger. I could honestly see limitations in my profession because there was too much passion in me not being fulfilled by that environment.”
In an interview with Biashara Leo , she explains why such was move was in deed necessary.
“I wanted to do something that the whole family could participate in. This was further helped by the fact that my husband was an electronics engineer and being widely travelled, we had a feeling that mobile phones were the next big thing.”
The University of Nairobi accounting graduate opened a dealer-shop which was the first to roll out mobile money transfer service M-Pesa.
And efforts didn’t go unnoticed. The company has been ranked by Safaricom as the top M-Pesa agent and airtime dealer in the country, and Ms Muchemi was this year’s finalist in the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards’ Eastern Africa chapter
Why did she venture into IT and not any other industry?
“Telecommunication business was on the verge of exploding. I had an instinct that IT was going to be a big thing in Kenya,” she is quoted by How We Made It In Africa.
Today, the company has grown into a successful outfit which comprises of seven other businesses namely Samchi Telecom with each with distinct operations in various market segments.
Did her 20 year audit career help in any way?
“Having worked with Ernst and Young as an audit partner prepared me for life . I had also worked as a salaried partner at PKF, a global network of accounting firms before founding my own audit firm, where I faithfully worked for five years. That gave me the best exposure to succeed in business.”
“I always ask myself, ‘how would my life be if I never made that move?’. She adds, ” I am able to educate my children in the best universities wherever in the world. I am able to give back to society and I have created more than 500 jobs. I think not taking that step would have been a big regret in my life,”
And her efforts have not gone unnoticed. She has occasionally being honoured for the financial performance of her companies and her entrepreneurial spirit, leadership, community impact, innovation and personal integrity in running her business.
And IT is not just it, the seasoned entrepreneur has also diversified into real estate, hospitality, and microfinance as new income streams.
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