Retrenched banker reaps cash from snacks

Primavara Picknick Snacks owners Jenifer and George Wambugu at the plant in Kariobangi , Nairobi, last week. DIANA NGILA 

By OTIATO GUGUYU, dotiato@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• “Because of the smallness of the room, my clothes would get all kinds of odours; groundnuts, popcorn name it; so whenever I would go to the bank people would ask what kind of perfume I used,” he says, his deep-throated laughter booming across the room.

We often hear tales of woe by senior citizens who blew up their golden handshakes after the late 90’s retrenchments but so little about those who made a successful life out of it.

Meet George Wambugu who 16 years ago was laid off from CFC Stanbic Bank where he was an asset finance marketing section head.
Today Mr Wambugu runs Primavara Picknick Snacks with an annual turnover of over Sh50 million and a workforce of about 30.

Primavara’s snacks include peanuts (roasted, fried and skinned), corn curls, fryams, popcorn and chevda.

“A lot of people find themselves in problems when they leave work and are not prepared, some end up buying a matatu when they know nothing about the business and within six months their money is gone,” Mr Wambugu says.

Well-kempt and in white overalls when we meet him, Mr Wambugu thinks his success can be ascribed to two things; doing what he knows best and starting his venture for a noble reason.

Mr Wambugu says he started the business to enable his late mother retire to some income generating occupation.

In fact, his late mother Catharine Wambugu, a midwife whose photo hangs in his office next to a clock given to him by CFC Stanbic Bank upon retrenchment, served as his first business manger — selling icicles at schools and churches and earning Sh3,500 per month.

“Within about six months we had hit our target and were almost calling everyone to celebrate the fact that my mother was going to retire and become a manger of a blossoming business,” he says.

He admits that her work as a nurse was not the best training for a manger. Further, she was old and too firm on staff so the company kept losing workers. His exit from the bank came just in time and he took up the reins of the company and let the old lady rest.

He expanded the business, rented a go-down and diversified products. The business, which is situated in a go-down in Outering Road, Nairobi, started from a single room in Zimmerman estate.

Not a big deal

“Because of the smallness of the room, my clothes would get all kinds of odours; groundnuts, popcorn name it; so whenever I would go to the bank people would ask what kind of perfume I used,” he says, his deep-throated laughter booming across the room.

“I have a knack for food, I started cooking at around 10 and so getting into this business was not a big deal,” he says.

Mr Wambugu’s experience in the banking industry played a big role in the success of his venture. He turned to old contacts in retail stores such as Tuskys and Jack and Jill to bag business deals.

“I got those customers by virtue of the fact that I was in asset finance, so I used to sit down with them when they were buying stocks. I used to assist them with paperwork and so when I started my business I asked them whether they could buy my goods and they agreed,” he says.

His office has a white board scribbled with cash flow charts. His wife Jenifer Muigua complements his record keeping skills.

Mr Wambugu says that key factors in managing a business include identifying a bank which understands you and your business needs, getting a good relationship manager, keeping records and channelling your cash flow though a bank so it can understand your business better.

Barclays Bank, he says, has supported him through asset and trade financing to growth the business.

Mr Wambugu has also benefited from business seminars organised by venture clubs as well as the Wezesha Biashra na Barclays campaign. The bank provided him with Sh1.5 million for his first products distribution truck and also financed the purchase of machines from South Africa for making corn puffs.

The bank also helped him maintain cash flow at a time when retailers were holding up Sh7 million in supplies, a practice he says has pushed many small ventures out of business.

Jenifer, a former kindergarten teacher, is quite good at baking and could not have joined the family business at a better time.

Her solution to the late payments problem was to diversify into baking coconut cakes and maandazis, which have huge demand around the Eastlands area where the company is located.

Barclays Bank is financing the up scaling of this new venture from the current production capacity of 2,400 pieces of both coconut cakes and maandazis.

The couple expects to be on a roll in six months having ordered a Sh1 million oven from China which is expected to scale up production 100 fold.
dotiato@ke.nationmedia.com