You have seen this man hype up some of Kenya’s prominent events and engage a crowd with his smooth and inspired words. Amani Maranga is a renowned Master of Ceremony and Public Speaker who calls himself a communicator with purpose. He is a man with no regrets and a whole lot of wisdom. I had an honest and inspiring conversation on his personal & professional struggles and rewards as an upcoming entrepreneur.
The Early Amani
I got to know a bit of Amani’s educational and professional history. He completed his O-levels at Moi Forces Academy before joining Daystar University to study Communications. Unfortunately, he had to end his studies prematurely after the second year due to lack of school fees. However, he is determined to go back and complete his degree in the near future. Depressed due to his change of circumstances, he had almost given up save for insight from Ephy Hunja who told him that a gift is up to you to make or break. It was at this point he began to understand his talent and gift as a communicator.
Soon after leaving school, in 2002, he was employed by a company known as EYL for a year where he was earning about 5000 a month. To him, this was a significant amount: the first salary he ever earned. At around the same time, he and a friend decided to join the growing mobile technology industry and became among the first simu ya jamii (community phones) retailers in the country. He cites this as the point at which the first seeds of entrepreneurship were planted in him.
His next venture was as the Recreation and Entertainment manager at the Village Market and later at Club Galileo’s in a similar capacity. These two positions consolidated his intent on venturing into the communication industry as an entrepreneur. He knew he was grounded in communication and from his marketing successes in these posts he began to view himself as a brand. A turning point for him was being fired in 2005 albeit for no reason. It made him realize that there truly is no security in employment. Two years later in 2007 he took the plunge and quit the two plum positions he held at Galileo’s and Scanad to take up a more fulfilling role and leave the fast paced world he lived in behind.
He took up a job at Mavuno Church as an intern working in his chosen field saw the church membership rise from a thousand to almost 2400. It was a year of foundation for him, helping him gain the values and grounding for the next stage in his life. He also decided get more actively involved in events and partnerships such as with established MC Big Ted since he had been freelancing as an MC. Some of the notable events he has MC-ed at are the Groove 2010 Awards among others. These career moves helped him hone his marketing and sales skills that have been the background of 360 Degrees his agency . He later joined Linksoft in 2008 but eventually left to run his company full time.
360 Degrees
360 degrees is a strategic communications agency which Amani founded with a friend in 2007 as a side hustle, but only joined its operations full time at the beginning of 2010. The company offers communication solutions and team building packages to big companies and well as SMEs.
Starting out
He started out unsure of constant business. Without capital at hand, he hired equipment for his first job on credit and part of the profits realized on the job was used to pay back the debt incurred. Due to minimal overhead costs there was no need for major funding from investors but all the capital requirements were catered for by the sale of their products and services. 360 degrees would find need in terms of communications and strategy which it would then solve and people pay. Their unique products are based on opportunity in the market.
The company partners with established businesses to roll out their products, especially the team building packages.
Cash flow is the life blood of a business and in the first year of venture it was quite irregular. Currently, 360 degrees is in a transition, they are redesigning its product and service path in line with their vision for the company.
Running the business
Amani hires his associates based on four major aspects, which he believes are vital to the success of his venture. These are skill, personality, passion and values. All these have to be aligned to recreate a value-based partnership necessary for the success of the business.
The Future of the communications industry
It is one of the fastest growing industries in Kenya and East Africa. Kenya is currently a market leader in this industry and what with strides being made in the ICT sector, advertising and social events; there are numerous opportunities to take advantage of.
Amani is of the opinion that there are not enough mentors in an entrepreneurial capacity. This has resulted in a knowledge gap on the street smarts of business. He sees a need for homegrown mentors due to the unique aspect of the Kenyan market.
He also believes there is no better time to be an entrepreneur than now, especially in the wider East African market especially in countries such as Sudan.
Personal Life
Family
In terms of priorities, Amani’s family comes before his business. Married with two children, he ensures he spends most of his time off work with his family as they are the most important people in his life.
Personal finances
Amani is of the opinion that it is nearly impossible for a new entrepreneur to plan their personal finances, due to the fact that income is not fixed. One is often forced to go into survival mode. However, entrepreneurship exposes one’s strengths and weaknesses. He for one is a terrible money manager and has had to outsource his financial management.
Amani communication business is well on its way to become his life. There is no separation between who he is and his role as a communicator. Should his company hire a reliable board with a CEO or he is bought out, he will cash in and leave. Regardless, this will not affect his role as a communicator.
What I wish I knew as I set out
On mistakes and what he wished he knew as he was starting his business, Amani reiterates that he does not really regret what he has done but wishes he knew better about money and relationships.
“I wish I had spent it (money) more wisely, being the bottom line of any business venture”.
He is sorry for those relationships he didn’t maintain and networks lost along the way.
“Business is founded on these two principles, money and relationships…”
Success Criteria
Amani bases his success on fluidity, the ability to run a profitable business with a good cash flow. Amani’s purpose in business is to impact lives deeply and in large numbers, if he is able to fulfill this purpose, he will have considered himself successful.
Amani Maranga doesn’t believe capital should be a hindrance when one is setting out. He further, advices young entrepreneurs to capitalize on their strengths and get the right people and systems to cover them on their weak spots.
According to Amani, the company one keeps is vital to the success of one’s ventures.
“Keep good company that will build you and support you. No one should venture into business for the sake of it or money but because one is good at what they do, full of passion and conviction in their abilities.”
He recalls an incident in his life, “I once ventured into construction and real estate but failed miserably in that venture, as it was not in line with anything I was remotely interested in.”
Amani’s parting words of advice to upcoming entrepreneurs:
“Keep doing it, don’t quit! Believe in yourself as we have the ability to be the new old money.
Watch your money and learn about managing it seeing as business needs a good cash flow to survive.”
You can read more about him on his blog .You can also follow him on twitter .
Article by Leo Mutuku
Leo Mutuku is a final year Actuarial Science student at University of Nairobi with a bias towards quantitative research, enterprise risk management and investments. She is working towards being qualified as a Certified Enterprise Risk Analyst.She is also crazy about sports (hockey, soccer, motorsports and swimming), fashion and the culinary arts. She blogs at uncreditedpolymath.wordpress.com and tweets via@C_Leo_patra.