4 things business mogul Chris Kirubi considers before investing in a venture

He is the chairman of multi-million worth Haco tiger brands, Coca-Cola Nairobi Bottlers, DHL worldwide express, Capital Media group and Smart applications international to name but just a few.

Aside from his businesses, Dr. Kirubi has been involved extensively with several African governments. He currently serves as honorary consult for Mauritius in Kenya and he previously served on the national economic and social council which was responsible for crafting Kenya’s current blue print for growth, vision 2030.

In 2016, President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed him as the chairperson of brand Kenya.

He recently opened up to Business Insider on what he considers before investing in an venture.

Also read: INSIDE KIRUBI'S STATE OF THE ART JET WORTH $33 MILLION

Find a unique niche in the market and exploit it

Apart from making sure he will recoup his money, Dr. Kirubi invest his time in identifying an area yet to be fully exploited and then works towards owing it.

“You look at an area where you think you have competence to perform and in cases where you don’t, make sure you have the right people with the right skills working with you or working for you”

Know what you’re getting yourself into

Before investing in a sector, Dr. Kirubi does his homework well and fully understands how a certain market operates before investing his time, sweat and hard-earned money.

“You must also understand the sector you are going into, you must understand the players in that sector so that you are not catching an opportunity by the end of the tail but rather driving change itself”

This is especially true in tech sectors where technology changes every day and one cannot afford to be lazy.

“Make sure you are not going there with old technology but new ideas and creativity to add value”

Also read: 5 AFRICAN FEMALE FOUNDERS WHO ARE CALLING THE SHOTS IN THE AFRICAN TECH SPACE

Think outside the box

A lot of Kenyans have been accused of this vice of ‘monkey see this monkey do that’, rather than take their time to create an original concept which can stand the test of time most resort to shortcuts of simply copy pasting what they see on the market.

Kirubi says this is a big mistake.

“There are a lot of us who try to do something because someone else is doing it, the danger in this is you don’t know what to anticipate, what stage your business rivals are in, you find yourself not succeeding because the other guy raises the game and beats you to it, like today there a lot of people who imitate what I do, but you see I have more than 10 years’ experience in that field, I am also not there because the market love me but I am there because I can add value to something and deliver, while they are still figuring what to do I am so much ahead” he said.

Have cash and plenty of it

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After figuring out what sets you apart from the crowd and finding a unique niche in the market to exploit make sure you have enough paper to actualize your dreams.

“By the way you must have cash; cash is king, never run short of cash while planning to invest in any sector”

While many entrepreneurs’ have tales of how they started their companies on shoestring budgets, that does not mean money is not important, once your business takes off you need enough liquidity to handle day to day running of your business, you need money to meet clients demands, you need money to grow and expand, you need money to be the big boss you have always dreamt about otherwise you will forever remain a big fish in a small pond.

Once you have figured out a niche in the market you need also to move fast and capitalize on it before other ‘vultures’ figure it out and came for your loot, in other words your window of opportunity is ticking fast and you need money to secure it, seal it and lock it down.