Stepping Out Of Comfort Zone; How Stephen Njoroge is a Thriving Businessman in Tech

Stephen Njoroge is a Software Developer with over 9 years in active Software Development who has been lucky to work for giants such as Airtel, Unilever, and top betting companies.

Stephen narrates how before he picked up an interest in pursuing entrepreneurship, he was comfortable at his well-paying job. He recalls being poached by some investors from Somalia who came promising a heavy salary and benefits and to sweeten the deal, company ownership. He even mentions being paid upfront.

However, the deal did not take off despite the investors showing serious interest. They instead asked Stephen for the money they had paid him back, rendering him not only struggling but jobless.

Regardless of the new fate that had befallen him, Stephen decided to start a consulting firm, an ambition he always had. He started by employing one developer and two salespersons at his startup and recalls going three months without clients reaching out.

He does add that when the clients finally did reach out for his service, they were overwhelmed, and by the fifth month, they had been working on a month’s waiting list. Stephen’s consulting firm has created solutions for the US, Israel, South Sudan, Zambia, and Kenya most of whom he adds that he has never met.

When asked what top skills were needed for a person to be highly effective, Stephen leans on character. He says being a good person for instance by extending grace and sympathy to clients, employees, and friends is very vital in building any relationship be it a business relationship or personal relationship.

Stephen talks passionately about the two apps he developed and what inspired him to name them the way he did. He gives a sigh of relief before responding to Enterprise’s Patrick Kimani.

He goes ahead to mention that he and his team have developed over 34 products in use by Savings and Credit Co-Operative Societies (Saccos), top beer companies, a battery maker, a top higher purchase provider with over 63 set up shops in Kenya and a taxi-hailing app in Israel.

Stephen and his team developed a church app that can be white labeled for any church, branding it Kanisa App, the demo app having over 9800 downloads with zero marketing and as for the ChezaKamaWewe platform, his lead developer branded it like so as not only was the whole team on board with the name but also it was an available domain.

Asked whether he has had any failures and whether he has learnt any lessons from the same, Stephen points out not having a lawyer at the beginning of his startup. He had clients losing a lot of money which in turn burdened them with expenses.

He adds that he felt that his company saw a quick and great growth that happened all too fast. This saw him over hire employees leading them to waste finances as some employees had no work to attend to.

Stephen adds that sometimes clients may abandon their chosen product and after asking them for consent, he and his team take the denied product to market which helps them easily generate new ideas for his business. This helps them craft their many solutions with love, “sometimes rejection is redirection,” he says.

Kanisa App has been able to help churches automate engagements with their members and expand church business beyond its four walls. They provide app users with local bibles translated in Kikuyu, Dholuo (Luo), Meru, and Swahili among other languages.

The app users can also enjoy live-streamed church services, tithe with ease, and make prayer requests from the comfort of their homes, workplaces, and many other locations.

In as much as Stephen opted for entrepreneurship, he prefers to be employed instead. He cites that being employed is less stressful in terms of fewer working hours, better pay, and benefits whereas entrepreneurship come with a lot of stress but regardless, it gives one the opportunity to craft something new that can benefit and make the world a better place.