Joan Osogo has big dreams for her 5 years old daughter and, like any parent the young mother would like her child to go further than she ever did.
Joan is the CEO and Founder of Jitahidi Group, and the enterprise being 6 months old, she’s still doing everything herself as she doesn’t have any employees yet.
Tell us about your journey in business. What inspired you to start?
My entrepreneurial journey started while I was attending the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. Every summer students go for internships and I wanted to do my internship in my home country of Kenya. When I inquired about it, I was told that they did not have corporate internships to Kenya. They instead encouraged me to apply for volunteer opportunities and fellowships in Kenya. I found this to be disappointing because I knew that there were a lot of American companies in Kenya. The idea to place business students as interns in Kenya then sprung up and when I inquired with my classmates, majority of them said they would love to intern in Kenya. The opportunity to intern at say Google Kenya during the week, and weekend safari to the Mara and Rift Valley was thrilling to them!
On my return to Kenya, I have tweaked the company quite a bit and realised that there is a huge gap in finding internship and career opportunities for the youth. I started offering free workshops on career development to the youth, specifically targeting our most vulnerable youth who live in the slums. I have been working mainly with the youth from Korogocho, and because I do not have any funding, I have since shifted my focus to connecting them with opportunities. In March we spent a weekend doing a drive to register as many Korogocho youth as we could to Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) and my goal is to be the go to resource for Kenyan youth looking for opportunities to develop themselves professionally.
What resources did you start with (people, money, premises, etc.) and how did you use them?
I started with just my savings and my team which is comprised of a former Professor and former classmates at the University of Southern California. I was lucky enough to be connected to the WECREATE Kenya Center by one of my team members and this center has been a great resource to growing my business and to building my network. At their Pitch-O-Rama competition last year, I was able to secure first place and got four months of free work space! This was a great boon as I was able to hold workshops at the center at no cost. I was also fortunate to be one of the seventeen female entrepreneurs to be selected for their Startup Academy Flight One, and I have made great networks with fellow Kenyan entrepreneurs!
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness of your business and getting new customers?
I am still working on getting the word out about my business. So far, my fellow entrepreneurs at the WECREATE Kenya Center have started inquiring about getting employees through my company and the aim is to be able to get referrals from them and other entrepreneurs.
What have been your biggest challenges so far with running your business and how do you overcome them?
My biggest challenge has been operating with practically no capital. I started the business from my savings and as such have had to be very frugal. I can’t afford to hire at the moment, but I am overwhelmed by looking for clients, looking for job placements for the youth, managing the social media accounts, organising events, getting the word out about the company and basically keeping the company running. My solution to this has been to be very picky on what engagements I pursue and say no to engagements that are not mutually beneficial.
My other challenge has been the reverse culture shock that I got after living outside Kenya for 15 years! I had not worked in Kenya prior to going abroad so my whole professional experience has been abroad. I am used to a certain level of professionalism and things working seamlessly. When I got back, it was quite a challenge dealing with clients who expect you to perform tasks for them but dodge you when it comes time to pay for services provided. I have had to be very strict with clients and have opted to ask for payment for services upfront before completing the task.
Tell us about your team.
I was also fortunate enough to meet Hellen Aoko, a resident of Korogocho slums who has been a great help in reaching out to marginalised youth and offering our services. Hellen has worked tirelessly, without pay, to inform the youth about our workshops, get a venue for us to meet, suggest topics of interest that would benefit the youth among many other things.My team is mainly composed of my former classmates and Professor. They are based in the US and they have been a huge support system, giving advice and direction. I have been blessed to have them; they gently nudged me forward whenever I was scared to take the leap.
What do you love most about running your own business?
I love the freedom that comes with running my own business. I can work tirelessly on some days, and decide to take a breather on other days. I love that I can schedule my meetings, events and workshops around my child’s schedule and don’t have to ask for permission to participate in something that is beneficial to my development.
How do you keep motivated through difficult times?
I have made the conscious decision to only surround myself with likeminded people. So when I am going through difficult times, I can reach out to them and don’t have to pretend that everything is all right; we have become our own support system. The best decision I made was to get rid of toxic people in my life. Their aim was to compete and show off; and being an entrepreneur, I just could not afford to be around such people in the early stages of my business.
The entrepreneurial journey is a very lonely one, and when I have difficult times, I just switch everything off and either watch a movie series or surf the net for TED Talks or anything inspirational. Lastly, I have found that living in the future helps a lot! I don’t look at my present condition but instead look at the bigger picture and motivate myself to just keep at it.
What’s the biggest lesson you have ever learned?
To be frugal. I learnt this lesson at a very young age and have upheld it for most of my life. I grew up poor and watched my mother struggle, so I decided to open a bank – it was just a plastic can where I put my money because in my young mind, a bank was somewhere where you put money away. I named it East Africa Building Society (I believe there was a bank that went by such a name in the 80’s) and started saving money that I got from relatives and family friends for doing well in school. I was such a good saver that my mum would borrow from me from time to time. As an entrepreneur, being frugal has been of great benefit as I hardly ever spend and always look for opportunities that are complimentary.
How has entrepreneurship changed you?
Entrepreneurship has made me more focused. I have targets that I set out to hit and will do everything in my power to hit them. That said, entrepreneurship has also made me more of a loner! I have shed off a huge percentage of my friends and tend not to be open to inviting people into my life, unless they have the same goals as I do.
If you could go back in time, what would you do differently?
I would have started on the entrepreneurial journey sooner. I wasted my youth working for other people and to think how much I would have accomplished had I used my youthful exuberance for my own benefit…
How has your life changed since you got into business?
Life has become tougher! I can no longer depend on a paycheck so I have to cut costs, think of clever ways to create diverse streams of income while growing my business. That said, I have found the freedom that I always yearned for and it feels great to know that I am building something that I can pass down to my daughter.
Where do you see your business five years from now?
I see Jitahidi Group as the premier provider of internships, jobs and career development center for the youth in Kenya. Our goal is to create opportunities for the youth based on their skills, leadership and volunteer experience. We believe that every young person should have the opportunity to professionally develop themselves based on their skill set.
How do you keep a good work/life balance?
I don’t have a work/life balance. I don’t believe it is possible for an entrepreneur to have a work life balance. However, I try to do the bulk of my work when my daughter is at school so that I can spend some time with her once she gets home.
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?
Spend your money very frugally! To be an entrepreneur means a lot of sacrifices; the last thing you want to do is be around people who are always spending their money. If you follow them, you will not last long as an entrepreneur. Choose your tribe well. I only hang around people who will either challenge me to be better or from whom I can learn a lot. Network, network, network! Your network really is your net worth! Always maintain professionalism even when the other party is trying to take advantage of you. To avoid headaches, request to be paid prior to performing a task or delivering a product. Unfortunately, there are more con men than one would want to deal with, so protect yourself by asking for payment upfront. Lastly, fail forward! Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, you are better off making them at the onset and learning from them rather than down the road.
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