Somewhere in Saku Business Park in Embakasi is little known Super First Forwarders Limited, a logistics company whose focus is, ‘To provide an all-in solution for the client.’ Shaffi Mithwani is the executive director at Super First Forwarders Limited. Suppose you import and sell merchandise, his desire for you is to take up all your logistical hassles thus allowing you to only focus on selling your product. He’d like to be that plug for your business.  

Shaffi is a gracious soul. Before we started our conversation, he told me that he deliberately booked our interview at 12 noon just so I could have lunch with him and the team at the office.

What led to the decision to opt out of university?

During the second semester in my second year at the University of Nairobi, there was a lecturer’s strike that forced the university to close indefinitely. By luck, I came across a business opportunity which hit off well and I chose to continue the  business rather than wait for the university to reopen. I started an advertising business.

How did this turn out?

The business did well and grew so fast solely by word of mouth. I had corporates like Bayer East Africa, Nation Media Group, BOC Gases and Standard Chartered Bank as my clients. I put school on hold.

Suppose entrepreneurship was a type of food, how would you define its flavor?

It’s pungent!

It’s not everyone’s cup of tea. There are some who will adjust to the taste and there are those who can’t tolerate it. People like me have gotten used to it.

What exactly do you mean by pungent?

You have staff issues, forex issues, you have the government to deal with and so much more. You need to have some form of patience or else you will have sleepless nights. That’s why it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.

(At the time of the interview, negative press on a certain financial institution had forced Shaffi to find alternatives for some of his cheques that were not going through despite having funds deposited with said institution)

But how do you deal though? I’m sure it requires more than patience…

I think it comes with experience. Ten years ago, I would be all over the place! But with experience and time, you tend to somehow just take things in stride. You know that it’s not the end of the world. I am more composed today than I was 10 or 15 years ago.

Your customer-centered approach seems to be the default mode of doing business and which perhaps explains the growth of your advertising business through word of mouth. Would you term this approach as the ‘art of doing business’ or is the approach to doing business subjective?

I would look at it more as a subjective way of doing business. I draw similarities to the responsibility I have of bringing up my children and giving them the best of everything: education, clothing…. Similarly, when a client gives me their business, I see it as a responsibility that I have to fulfill in the best way I know how. Our objective is to satisfy the customer.

While customer focus seems to be an obvious thought, we see many businesses getting bashed on social media for their ‘lack of customer satisfaction’ so to speak. Where, in your opinion, is the breakdown in the relationship between the business and the customer?

I feel that the disconnection is between the top management and the employees. It starts with how I treat my employees because they will act in the same way to the customer.

There are times when the customer is wrong and the business is right. This happens a lot particularly in our kind of business. Perhaps the customer wants us to use a certain tax code which attracts low duty. When this happens and there is a disagreement between ourselves and the customer, I must protect the organization and my staff and explain to the customer why we are in business. This way, the staff feel valued and understand what we stand for. So, as I mentioned before, it starts with the relationship you have with your staff.

I get the perspective that there is not much difference in your approach to business and family related matters. Is that the case?

That is correct.

I am grateful because our staff turnover is not high and perhaps that is with the grace of God. The oldest member of staff is as old as me since we started Super First Forwarders. One can no longer be in business just to make money. You have to create value not only for the customer but for your staff as well. You see, every individual has aspirations and your staff have to grow at a personal level. If I want my staff to interact better with customers, they need to have that extra knowledge. They need to be privy to information that would allow them to make appropriate decisions not just in employment but in their lives. They need to know how much the business is making and that for us is an open secret.

You later transitioned from advertising into logistics. What opportunity did you foresee in the logistics business that inspired this transition?

To be honest with you, I never looked at it in monetary terms. I was running my advertising business alone and my father was running a logistics business by himself as well. For me, it would have been an opportunity to rest if my father joined my business as there would be an extra hand to run the business.

I asked my father to join me in the advertising business because we had blue chip companies working with us and I could foresee many more opportunities. My dad said to me, “Shaffi if I join your business, I’d be a lost man. I’d be a waste. I don’t know computers and I don’t know graphics. That is your world.”

Since none of us could afford to take a break from running our businesses, I decided to join my father in the logistics business just so we could have that flexibility. It was a bitter pill to swallow because I knew nothing about the clearing and forwarding business.

What is it that you do at Super First Forwarders Limited?

The company started as a clearing and forwarding company. We do air shipments and sea freight shipments.

During the early part of our growth years, our transporters were a major handicap to the business. We would commit to deliver goods to a customer within a specified period of time but when the container was ready for loading, the transporter was not available. We decided to start our own transportation business to complement the other businesses.

We have also recently ventured into warehousing and arranging freight for the client.

While most entrepreneurs act with the gut, there are positives to setting up systems to guide your decision making. How do you find balance between the two?

That’s a very difficult question to answer.

I thought it might be…

I go with the gut feeling but I consult a lot especially with the team. If I have a thought or an idea, I share it with the team and we either do it or we don’t.

What is your father’s involvement in the business?

Well, of course he’s the senior in the business. He ran it before me. There is a rapport he has with clients and he therefore still engages in customer relations. Before COVID, he would come to the office almost every day of the week. He’s however pulled back and left me to run the show. He still comes to the office occasionally. That’s his space. (Points to a desk adjacent to his)

I don’t want him to retire from the business just yet. He’s remained young by keeping his mind busy and I would wish for that to continue.

The two of you (your father and yourself) are the owners of the vision of the business. How have you set up yourselves for sustainable operations, such that there is continuity of the business even in your absence? 

I journal quite often and just a few days ago, I noted down that I needed an advisory board. It’s something that is at the back of my mind. I took the Family Business Programme at Stathmore Business School and that is where the idea of governance and a family constitution was played out to me.

I have discussed this with my dad and I feel that I need an advisory board or else I will become lazy. I need someone to push me to the next level. I know my strengths and weaknesses and I think that an advisory board can fill in for my weaknesses.

Do you have any fears of ceding control in your decision making especially to outsiders?

I think every entrepreneur has that fear. But I am not indispensable and neither do I know everything. You need outsiders to guide you, whether it be your clients or your friends. I am seriously considering setting up an advisory board.

I also need a family constitution because I have kids who are in the university and who want to join the business, but they cannot just come here and sit pretty. They are my kids but they cannot start at the top and I have made this clear to them.

I would like for them have an experience in a logistics environment for a minimum of three years. Secondly, each one of them must come with a revenue stream. They cannot continue doing what their father and grandfather have done. With a revenue stream, you will earn the respect of your team members. Without a revenue stream, you risk dragging the business.

What has been your biggest ‘flex’ so far this year?

For one, I have gone back to school and second, I have taken bigger risks in warehousing. It is capital intensive and we are not getting the returns we anticipated. But I am hopeful for the future.

What do you look forward to in the next five years of the new government?

Every 10 years the Kenyan economy changes in tandem with the policies of the current regime. I foresee high competition and lowering of prices in our industry. I also foresee heavy investment in technology. These are some challenges I am preparing for.

(Besides lunch, I walked out of Shaffi’s offices with a weekly planner overview for the office and a brown notebook with a leather feel for my client meetings.)

 Here is the Inquisitors take: With your consistency in reading these pieces, you’ve probably already noted a theme: the acknowledgement that one is not a jack of all trades. We all need external insights on the world we operate in and Shaffi thinks that an advisory board would make up for some of the knowledge areas that he is lacking. Perhaps the other insight of note particularly for family businesses is how to get around the perception of ‘entitlement’ from family members wanting to join the business. You need to introduce something fresh to the business to ensure that the business remains viable for the future generation.

The Inquisitor