In summary
- Wasili Cabs was founded in Nakuru by two childhood friends when they were only 30 years old.
- At first, they only had 3 vehicles and sadly one got involved in an accident in the maiden days.
- But 6 months into the business, the taxi company had over 80 cars enlisted on their app. Currently, they have spread tentacles and have given their giant global competitors a run for their money.
In June, 2018 Mark Njagi and Tim Kamanga made a resolution to enter into the taxi business in the fast growing Nakuru City. The duo incepted Wasili cabs with the idea of offering affordable taxi services where their clientele could order for the cars online.
The idea was right; but there were unforeseen challenges that threatened to puncture the wheels of the small startup business. Just like any new venture, they didn’t have customers seeking their services.
“The first day was very challenging because we roamed in town but had zero requests. I remember even the downloads were barely 5,” recalls Mark Njagi.
His partner says that even despite the few downloads, most people were just ordering their vehicles and then quickly cancelling their requests. He thinks they were just testing the convenience of their online system. And even when the company was struggling to establish footing in Nakuru, one of their 3 vehicles was involved in an accident.
However, in their entrepreneurial spirit, the partners seemed to have their eyes focused on the final prize rather than the challenges.
Rapid Growth
Njagi recalls that he received the first client when he was seated in a restaurant and was waiting to get served. The excitement aroused in him forced the entrepreneur to prioritize picking the client.
By the end of 2018, Wasili had wooed car owners to enlist their vehicles with them as they were able to earn up to Ksh 9000 weekly. In an interview with Nation, the founders detailed that they had a fleet of 83 vehicles by the end of 6 months in business.
The firm acquired an office located in Section 58 in Nakuru. In 2019, they opened a second office in Eldoret. Over the years, Wasili has established itself as a giant taxi company with their presence other towns such as Kakamega, Kitale, Kisumu, Lodwar, Malindi and Kericho among others.
By the time of preparing this article, the Wasili Rider App had over 100k downloads on the Play Store and was rated 4.6 after 2k reviews.
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Factors for success
Wasili prides itself in offering quality affordable services. It also goes without say that people feel secure when traveling using their vehicles as opposed to boda boda rides.
The company also uses low fuel consumption vehicles which cuts on the operating costs. Additionally, the services of Wasili are not only confined in urban centres but they also travel to rural areas depending on the clients’ destination.
Another factor that people rarely notice is that the branding of the hundreds of vehicles is an automatic transit advertisement. The company therefore does not need to aggressively publicize their services.
Mark Njagi profile
Tim Kamanga
