Why this man is called Mr Rabbit

After high school in Ukambani, Moses couldn’t proceed to university because of lack of money. So he opted to be a watchman with Wells Fargo Security in the city, a job he held for five years as he pursued a diploma course in sales and marketing in a small, nondescript college. Then things happened. Fast.

Now he sits at the head of the table of Rabbit Republic Ltd, whose turnover is about Sh10 million. His company has a slaughtering and cold storage firm in Ongata Rongai and a 2-hectare farm he is developing in Kamulu on Kangundo Road that will breed about 30,000 rabbits.

He’s opening up Rabbit Inn Ltd (conceptualised along the Kenchic model) in Adam’s Arcade and in Nakuru to serve chips and rabbit meat. He delivers to major hotels and selected eateries. Export is on top of his list now, once he has built capacity. Everything is looking up.

We meet in his office along Argwings Kodhek Road in Hurlingham. A stately red carpet leads you upstairs to his office where he sits behind a large desk.

-----------------------------------

Why rabbits?

I tried greenhouse farming, fish farming, organic farming, but settled on rabbits because in terms of space utilisation, time and profit margins, rabbits are unbeatable. Rabbit answered all my questions seven years ago.

They are the most lucrative domesticated animals in the world. Why? Because they give birth six times a year to an average litter of six. A rabbit gives you more than a cow in terms of space, labour, and food requirements.

The resource you use on one cow is equivalent to what you’d use on 40 rabbits, which translates to about Sh40,000 a month. Which cow will earn you that amount per month?

What happened to you after Wells Fargo?

I landed a small job at a pet shop selling aqua products; aquariums, ornamental fish and pet food. Then one time I was sponsored to go for training in Sagana where I saw a farmer selling fish, gold fish, at Sh1,000 apiece! I said we need to go agri. I quit not long after, registered my company and decided to do fish farming which didn’t work, and so I switched to rabbit farming.

A one-man show?

Yes. I started with six rabbits. You know, everything I learnt about rabbit farming I learnt from Google. I learnt how to build the rabbit houses and what to feed them on from Google.

When my rabbits would fall sick, I would Google the symptoms, get recommendations of treatments, which I would use and mostly it worked! CNBC recently interviewed me as a beneficiary of the Internet.

The information is out there if you look for it. But I was everything for the business; the driver, the farmer, the vet, the receptionist, the accountant. But when we grew (now we are in Tanzania and Uganda) things changed.

What challenges do you face?

Capacity. We just can’t keep up with the demand. Our slaughterhouse can only manage one tonne a month. We slaughter about 300kg every week. My primary target is to export but the minimum order for that is about five tonnes a day!

Who is your competition, apart from everybody selling chicken?

I started this journey alone; I’m the biggest campaigner. The government is also doing this but I see them more as collaborators.

Most people who are in this business are my former employees or partners we have worked together with. Anybody trying to do the same would be promoting me because I’m the largest market.

Your life seems to have changed so much…

Of course. I’m a rich man now. (Laughs). But, yes, so far so good. I believe that you can’t be doomed to failure just because you didn’t go to school. Who said only rich men went to school? I, with my limited education, now employ 15 degree holders and some Masters. I have five in-house vets with degrees, but I still show them stuff I learnt from Google that they weren’t taught in school.

Recently, we cured our rabbits which had a viral disease called Head Tilt using human medicine after we just couldn’t find conventional treatment!

What’s the most important lesson you have learnt doing this?

I now meet the high and mighty – governors and ministers. I don’t like to create a picture that I’m different, and I dislike anybody who does that.

I always tell these fellows who care to listen that everybody has an inbuilt potential to be someone in life. We all have a bigger destiny; we have something inside us that doesn’t consider education, tribe, gender or age.

Because you built this company from nothing, do you find that now that you have people running the business you need to micromanage to feel involved?

The challenge is imparting what you learnt to an employee especially when they come thinking they are smart, that they know. The people who have worked with me I have mentored, but at the end of the day, they will imagine they need more because they don’t see it as a journey.

So they start shady deals and eventually I let them go so they start their own thing and try their hand. Most only end up duplicating my business. (Smiles ruefully).

Married? Kids?

Yes. Married to one Beatrice Wambugu from Nyeri. Two boys; Kevin and Derrick, nine and six years respectively.

And what lessons do you want to teach these boys?

Responsibility. When you get to a certain level, it’s easy to spoil your kids by not letting them understand that it was not always like that. That there was a time we didn’t have anything. I have to teach them how to live between having and not having. Because those moments can come in life.

What do you think is your weakness as an entrepreneur?

I went back to school to study entrepreneurship and business management and I’m now speaking in workshops. I have the know-how learnt from hard work, now I need the academic know-how and I’m lucky that I can afford to pay for the best education there is.

Do your friends give you nicknames related to rabbits?

(Laughs) Most of the friends I play golf with at the club or the ones I belong with in groups call me Rabbit. Or Bunny. (Laughs). I don’t mind it. Up the road at Steak and Ale Restaurant and Bar, where I love to shoot pool, I’m only known as Rabbit.

Who inspires you?

The Bible. I’m called Moses. (Laughs) My name was prophetic. I’m a motivational speaker in church but I also preach. Christianity is my biggest motivation. I have also written a book called Rabbit Bliss.