As she was standing on Rhapta Road at 8.30pm with two babies in tow, a girl aged six and a boy four, Maliha had no idea where to go. She had just walked out of her 9-year-old marriage. She felt happy that she “could breathe again”. Much as she wasn’t afraid, standing on Rhapta Road at night wasn’t safe in 2002, especially for a young woman. Then her hairdresser happened to pass by and offered her shelter for the night. The following day as she was hitchhiking to work, the headmaster of the school where she was teaching gave her a ride. That same day by noon she had the keys to an apartment provided to her by the school. What Maliha wasn’t aware of was that she had just taken the turn that, 14 years later, would give birth to MyFinda.
Maliha was born in Pakistan to Kenyan parents in a family of six daughters. Her father was a businessman and she is the only one of his children who followed in his footsteps. When she turned 16, Maliha travelled to Kenya for the first time to get married. She started her career as a kindergarten teacher and later moved to a primary school for a few years before branching off into business development and customer service.
Maliha is a calm and composed woman. She listens intently to questions and chooses her words carefully. Therefore it comes as a surprise when she describes herself as “quite hyper”. Once her father told her that, “Before you address an issue of a serious matter, give it at least 36 hours. Sleep over it.” When she grasped the full meaning of the statement, Maliha stopped reacting and learnt to take control of her emotions.
When she became a single mother, Maliha faced the challenge of finding credible service providers online. Available search engines would bring up lots of information with nothing to guarantee its credibility. She wanted a search engine that would provide her with genuine, registered businesses. Initially she thought of setting up an online directory for businesses only. After she remarried the idea stayed with her. From 2009 she started putting the concept on paper, and five years later when it was time to start development, Maliha shifted to a solution that would bring the information on fingertips. Besides, she wanted to give more mileage to the businesses, especially small and medium sized enterprises, so that they can promote their services without breaking the bank.
The 40 years old mother of two, a 21-year-old daughter and a son who is turning 20, is not what you would call a computer geek. She acknowledges that her background in IT is basic. When she was teaching in kindergarten, she was tasked to set-up an IT Lab for the school. She drafted and taught the IT Curriculum for the whole institution for a year and half, having learnt some ICT packages and done a course for ICT instructors herself. In 2003 she left the teaching fraternity for a profession that allowed her to afford the lifestyle she wanted for her children and herself.
Finda Mobile Application Limited conceptualisation took time as Maliha didn’t think of it as a business initially. When it became clear that funds were required, her husband Sevany Mohamood Murtaza provided the capital by taking a 25% shareholding in the company. It’s a loan that needs to be honoured. The couple makes a clear distinction between their business and personal relationships. During the interview, Mr. Sevany who was with his wife declined to make any comment because he didn’t want to take over “her moment”.
Maliha champions a slow and steady business growth that the entrepreneur is able to handle, as speed increases the risk of failure. “Forming a company doesn’t mean that you are in business,” she affirms. “You need to have a clear vision for the business and know where you want to take it.” MyFinda was discreetly introduced to the market, and feedback from customers helped to enhance the product. The process allowed the company to offer a product they knew was going to work. “You need to be open to drive the business in a manner that you weren’t thinking of initially,” she says. So far more than 500 businesses have registered to MyFinda.
The marketing strategy for MyFinda is highly personalised. MyFinda team visits businesses by appointment, responds to inquiries and communicates regularly, through mass marketing, to a database of over 100,000 businesses. They also get referrals from happy clients. MyFinda offers a range of products including email marketing, social media marketing, logo design, etc. to their clients, majority of whom are small businesses. Free registration gives a business visibility, but accessibility is only for paid up entities. Once a business is listed, the company sees whether the new client has the right exposure and tools; then advises them on the best course of action.
When it comes to sourcing for funds, Maliha’s opinion is that, much as a dream is needed because we can’t succeed without a vision, it’s important to live within our means and never overcommit. She believes in taking calculated risks and having a fall back plan. She opted to stay in employment because she is new in business, she has commitments, the new company cannot afford to pay her and it would be unwise to borrow more in order for her company to afford her salary.
Like most employers, Maliha finds getting the right employees a huge challenge. Her wish is to always offer a personalised service even when Finda Mobile Application Limited will have grown into a big business. Therefore dealing with people who look at MyFinda strictly from a commercial angle disturbs her. She would like to find people who are as passionate about their work as she is about MyFinda, deliver on their promises, have strong work ethics and understand that when you take over responsibility, you need to deliver as agreed. She hopes that the hiring process she has settled on will lead to selecting the working partners she will stick with. Given that she has a soft spot for single mums and gets easily carried away by emotions, Maliha entrusts the hiring aspect to someone else. Maliha considers employees and customers as the most valuable assets for a business since it can’t exist without them. Therefore investing the profits in people to ensure they are happy is, for her, the best use of those resources.
As an employee running her business in her spare time – she works from 8am to 5.30pm – Maliha acknowledges that she gets overwhelmed at times. Fortunately she can rely on her team of young people who are passionate about MyFinda. They are well aware of their reporting time and their duties. Given that MyFinda fees are too small to earn any significant commission, the staff is on fixed salaries She gives them what they asked for so that they can deliver. Maliha’s ability to sleep three hours only per night gives her ample spare time to carry out managerial duties in the evening. “The quality of time you put in is more important than the quantity,” she quips. “You just need to be a good manager to ensure that everything is attended to.” She is quick to point that she doesn’t mind the extra work as she enjoys what she is doing; and to underscore the importance to “keep one’s feet firmly on the ground.”
Her eyes focused on the prize, Maliha is not worrying about what other platforms are doing and trying to work on their negatives. She is instead working on improving what MyFinda can offer. In fact she is so happy with how the business is doing that she gives MyFinda a score of 11/10; and strongly believes that nothing stands in the way of the app since it’s designed for the masses. He vision is that MyFinda will become such a reference in East Africa that anyone coming in this region will easily find the business they will be looking for on the platform.
Have confidence in yourself is the biggest lesson Maliha has ever learned. “Sometimes we don’t even know what we are capable of, but once you have the confidence you can do anything,” she quips. “You need to be a fighter. You shouldn’t get scared because God only gives you what you can handle.” She is convinced that women can do anything since they are able to multitask. She regrets that in some professions like IT, people still don’t expect to see women, as opposed to the teaching or nursing professions. She calls for a change of mentality. The confidence her children, her husband and her family place in her sustains and challenges her. Knowing that she is a creation of God and that everything that happens is done by him keeps her grounded.
Though she considers blowing one’s own horn inappropriate, Maliha thinks that being a superhero in other people’s eyes is beneficial, especially that they may not be aware of what you have gone through to get to that level. She cautions against sharing your problems and successes with all and sundry since everyone is not a well-wisher – someone may take your idea and implement it before you. But at the same time she sees no reason to be scared because when it’s your own idea, you will execute it better than anyone who heard it and may have the money but not the passion for it.
Despite her extremely busy life, Maliha finds time to watch a specific TV program for half an hour. She only reads newspapers and online she keeps up with technology trends. Most important for her is the time she seats and talks with her family. Her role models are those who contributed to her life: her husband who taught her the discipline to do what she can afford, her father from whom she learnt unconditional love, her son who taught her patience, her daughter who inspires her ambition and her mother whom she looks up to.
For Maliha who never gives up in life, having faith and taking the first step is all you need. Quitting is not failure; but being unable to pick yourself up is. “If it hasn’t worked today it doesn’t mean it won’t work tomorrow,” she quips. “When you are in the right direction God paves the way.” Her advice to entrepreneurs is to be disciplined. “Don’t be scared. Dream big but keep your feet on the ground. The first step is the hardest; once you are there don’t take no for an answer.”
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