By Prudence Minayo
The idea of starting a mobile restroom company in Kenya by Moses Nderitu was sparked and crystallised in South Africa where he had gone to shoot an advert. The entrepreneur saw the toilet facilities being brought on location with trailers and he thought to himself that he will buy one for his production company but ended up buying four as you will read elsewhere in this article. Back in the 90s and early 2000s, Nderitu produced TV commercials.
Here is the story of Moses Nderitu, the founder of Excloosive Limited, as told by WoK.
Early Life
The enterprising Nderitu was born in 1973. He was raised in Buruburu and attended Westlands Primary School followed by Highrise Secondary. Nderitu enrolled for a computer packages course and was hired as a tutor three weeks later. He went on to study CIM at the School of Professional Studies.
The Excloosive Limited founder joined the Kenya National Theatre (KNT) as an actor.
ProductioN
Nderitu started out as a production assistant and gradually climbed the ladder to become a producer and later the boss at First Forward Productions (FFWD). His production house was behind Omo Pick a Box among others. His most memorable commercial was Moto Mart. He sustained injuries in the middle of production after the car he was on blew up. The gas canisters behind the car exploded after one of his friends lit a cigarette.
Also Read: The Businessmen Raking In Millions From Nairobi Public Toilets
In 1996, FFWD went under and he became jobless. Together with his colleagues, they founded Blue Sky Films and continued producing Omo Pick a Box. He quit the company after discovering he was not a shareholder as per the original agreement. He then freelanced for a number of companies including BBC, WTN, ITN, and CNN. All this time, he was still producing Omo Pick A Box. The serial entrepreneur went on to found Level 1 productions in 2000-that was involved in a number of TV adverts and Game shows including a Kenya Airways commercial, Eveready batteries, and Blueband.
In 2007, he sold the majority shares of the company which then became Level 1 Communications.
Excloosive: Mobile toilet
Excloosive was founded in 2004 by chance. The idea to begin a mobile toilet business in Kenya began after he visited South Africa and saw a prototype. He decided he would begin one in Kenya.
Moses Nderitu began with only four mobile toilets and in a span of about six years had approximately 80 of them. Perhaps there were mobile toilets before he started Excloosive, but they were not as common. He made this business popular and a necessity in outdoor events. This was a very challenging business to begin and for the first six months, they hired the toilets for free.
Also Read: Michael Muthiga: How Faiba Ad Creator Started A Multi-Million Business From His Bedroom
“It was quite hard…..I remember going to functions and asking people: ‘Would you like to hire a toilet?’ and they all looked at me like I was crazy,” he told BBC.
It took about a year for people to see the idea made sense. Many times along the way, he wanted to give up but kept on moving.
Today, the company has mobile toilets, hand wash facilities, and support vehicles. The flagship facility, Excloosive Trailer Unit, has been used at a number of presidential functions. It is a luxury self contained unit that can accommodate up to 1,000 uses in a 10-hour function.
His toilets have been used at a number of outdoor functions like weddings and events like Safaricom 7s rugby tournament, Stanchart marathons among others. Today, they provide toilet and shower facilities in all sorts of events.
