The county of Nairobi is a vast landscape, with differing sceneries and dynamic densities because of its place as the beating heart of Kenya. Due to its importance as the capital, Nairobi has morphed into an extremely populated place in every sense of the word. When this constantly changing city is combined with the ballooning human population, a person can go a large portion of their lives without ever catching a glance of every bit of it.

This lack of perspective and information was like an eaglet perched on my shoulder as I made the journey to the interesting corner of the county that is Ruai. Surrounded by Kiambu to the north and Machakos to the east, Ruai is mostly known for the sewage plant that processes Nairobi’s effluence and one of the Kenya Army Barracks. I didn’t know what to expect when following the Google pin to meet my interviewee James Karumba, apart from a certainty that warm weather and dusty plains were assured.

Meeting James at his lubricant distribution warehouse had me expecting to find the place in the midst of a morning rush of trucks being filled and flagged off but much to my surprise, I just found utter silence. I was ushered into James’ office, where I found him sitting down at a clean desk surrounded by walls bereft of pictures after concluding his morning staff meeting. His disposition was one of tranquility and assuredness. This peaked my interest and launched the spark for our conversation.

 How did all of this begin?

I used to work in the oil industry for about 12 years, and while I was there I gained a passion and interest in distributing lubricants. I attained the position of the nationwide head of distribution at Total Kenya after they took over from Caltex Kenya, where I had joined as a Sales Engineer. After I left Total, I started my distributorship with Mobil Oil, eventually adding Total Kenya as well as OLA Energy products.

So you simultaneously run a liquor distributorship as well as a lubricant distributorship?

Yes. However, I co-run both businesses with different family members. I run the oil distributorship with my wife and the liquor distributorship with my sibling.

Oh really? And how long have you had both companies going?

Well, the petroleum distribution has been up and running since 2001, while the liquor distributorship came soon after in 2005.

How far does your company reach? 

We cover a large area spanning across Nairobi, Mount Kenya, Embu and even Kitui.

Do you feel like you enjoy it after all this time?

It has been a very good business I must admit, and the technical aspect does match my interests. The margins have also been good, but in the recent past the business landscape has changed and really affected our turnover by a factor of 50% because of the Covid period followed by the Kenyan national elections in August 2022. Meanwhile many of our costs either remained the same or increased due to taxation.

Perhaps we should switch gears before we dive too deep into the government and economy.

(He laughs)

Yes, perhaps we should.

How do you juggle two businesses at the same time?

Well, I schedule my time with both of my co-directors across the separate entities, which is key. Having quality employees and a solid structure in the management is also highly important to us to ensure that the business runs without my presence.

So, you would call it a combination of trust and delegation?

Yes absolutely! We rely on our employees to ensure a smooth operation continues with or without our input, especially when lower-level decisions need to be undertaken.  

 You’re not one of those managing directors who has their phone ringing off the hook when they are not present?

No, not at all.

Would you say that delegation is a skill acquired overtime, or you have been blessed?

I must admit I acquired it over time. In the very beginning we would report to the businesses every day. I was handling all the finances and sales, but after some time we progressed past the start period. We managed to hire professionals to sit in the various departments and help us drive the business forward.

After all this time in business, what do you foresee for the future?

Well the liquor distributorship is a much larger business and is doing very well. In the future we do see ourselves passing it on to the next generation. However we are content with running the business with the employees for now. We do see ourselves as needing an advisory board to help us take the business forward and help it grow more. This is a direct result of attending the Founderitis program run by your firm. At the oil distributorship however, I see it as imperative to involve my children as soon as possible, and constituting a board that involves them would be my preference. My children are working professionals in other fields and sitting on an advisory board would help build their basic understanding of the business.

Looking back, what do you wish you would have done differently?

I wish that we had reached out for outside input from experienced professionals at an earlier stage. Another thing I wish I’d have done differently is not being afraid of making big decisions as an individual since I did not have a sounding board to advise me or share their experiences and opinions. Finally, I should have delegated tasks and roles a lot more. Having come from a corporate background, I have found myself using a gentler approach when dealing with the staff especially around target setting. So I do think bringing in an outside hire may have been a good choice at a point early in the business.

 With that insight, we folded our laptops and headed back to the bright lights of Nairobi armed with the knowledge that our Founderitis program had planted an informative seed in James Karumba. If this is not enough to convince you to sign up for the next edition of Founderitis, may be the next article will?