While employed at a weighing equipment suppliers company, Habil Amwayi noted a gap his employer was yet to fill. Companies needed weighing equipment that gave accurate measurements, recorded and stored data over time.
“As a business person, you want to track and monitor your scale remotely, and that’s the concern and gap I noticed that prompted me to set up Scales Technology Solutions,” he says.
He now manufactures and supplies industrial and retail weighing solutions.
“I came up with scales that users can monitor remotely using a mobile phone app and get reports real-time,” the 36-year-old mechanical engineering graduate from the National Youth Service says.
His products range from weighbridges, axle-weighers, and weighing scales that can do quality checks, packaging, and grading for medical institutions and fitness centres to monitoring BMI (body mass index) and automation for produce collection from farms.
Taking the plunge
Setting up and running a successful business, he says, has many impediments ranging from regulatory hurdles, and raising money to get markets.
“I had fears when leaving the comfort zone of employment to start this business because I had not done any business before. But my seven years experience in this industry gave me surety,” says the entrepreneur.
Is there one secret he can pinpoint that propelled his business?
“Entrepreneurship journey requires a lot of patience and hard work, especially when you’re new in the market because not many companies will have confidence in you.
Every time you have an opportunity to offer solutions, do it professionally, be thorough,” he says.
One happy client, he says, is the best growth strategy. Some of his clients have stuck with him for five years now.
He says he has yet to receive any external funding. He opted to grow organically, bootstrapping with his savings.
He began importing small quantities of weighing scales before shifting to manufacturing them in 2022.
“Whatever profit I made, I plowed it back into the business,” he says.
Having begun with four staff, it took him a while to build enough capacity to start manufacturing. The numbers have grown to 20 in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
“Now I have about 500 clients,” he says of his journey from a small to a medium-sized company.
Coping with challenges
Mr Amwayi says that, just like many entrepreneurs, his main challenge is financing.
“Sometimes you get an order but don’t have the financial muscle and stock, so you ask customers for a down payment,” he says.
There is a notion that you can quit your job and do what you love. But in reality, most entrepreneurs fail.
One of the reasons for failure is the lack of dedicated teams.
Mr Amwayi says from earlier on, he had learned what to do and what not to do from his employers.
“The most important lesson I picked is that many companies neglect their staff, yet they are very vital to the growth of an organisation.
As the head, listen to their views; they can see things you cannot see,” he says, adding, “I used to see many gaps when I was employed, but was not allowed to share and offer solutions.”
“Your staff is fundamental in helping you grow and build the company, so you must engage them as you move along. This will help you accelerate growth.”
The one weakness that has cost him in his entrepreneurship journey?
Trusting people easily.
“The same way you may have mischievous staff is the same way you can have mischievous clients who will frustrate you with non-payment,” he says.
