Santos Okottah, the founder of Eziki. PHOTO | CORRESPONDENT
Summary
- The Maseno University graduate previously worked as a web designer at Insyder magazine before he joined NMG.
- Apart from live streaming events, Eziki allows users to listen to some radio stations via the Internet as if they were listening to it from their own radios at home.
- To make money, Mr Okottah explains that Clients pay per event.
In 2009, the fibre optic cable arrived
at the port of Mombasa. For Santos Okottah, this event would mark a new
direction in his career.
At the time, the programmer
was working at the Nation Media Group’s (NMG) digital division building
micro sites, online ads and updating websites.
To Mr Okottah, the arrival of fibre meant that the capacity supplied would facilitate video streaming.
“I
knew that the fibre optic cable meant that most Kenyans would get
access to Internet and that cost of data would go down, making it
affordable,” says Mr Okottah.
Less than a year later, he went on to found Eziki Limited, a company that offers video on demand and live streaming services.
DigitalBusiness
meet him at the company’s office in Parklands, Nairobi. Mr Okottah
talks slow and in bits; it seems he is processing his own words before
he carries on with what he is saying.
The Maseno
University graduate previously worked as a web designer at Insyder
magazine before he joined NMG. Mr Okottah quit his programming job in
2010 to get into business fulltime. “It was a good job with several
perks” he says chuckling. “My parents thought I was crazy when I quit!
But I had seen a business opportunity I wanted to pursue,” Mr Okottah
adds.
“When I was at Nation, I would see artistes coming to
the building to try to get someone to promote their albums. My business
idea was to make these artiste’s music available online for download. I
got into a contract with some recording houses, like Calif Records, and
put up some content.”
OPPORTUNITY
He
explains how the firm would make money: “I would charge for adverts on
the site and later by subscriptions. But the truth is, I never made any
money from the site.”
One of his clients was AITEC, an
IT exhibition organiser. Through networking with AITEC and by word of
mouth, Mr Okottah saw the opportunity to offer clients a new service in
video streaming.
“I started my business with Sh60,000,”
Mr Okottah says quickly adding, “but I cannot tell you where that money
went. I only remember buying a laptop.”
“You do not
need cash to start a business and you do not need to go to school to
learn how to be an entrepreneur. Technical skills are your capital. You
learn how to be an entrepreneur by being an entrepreneur.”
Eziki
offers two core services. There is video on demand and the live
streaming. With video on demand, the content a client wants – video or
music – has already been recorded and stored somewhere for them to
access and replay whenever they want. They can also download it.
The
second service is live streaming. Consider this: an event is happening
right now, in any part of the world, and one cannot be there to catch
it. Mr Okottah and his team use cameras, drones and other equipment to
record the event and allow a client to watch it live on the Internet;
from a phone, laptop or other device. The client has already paid for
the service so it’s free his (client’s) target audience to view it.
Apart
from live streaming events, Eziki allows users to listen to some radio
stations via the Internet as if they were listening to it from their own
radios at home. “We don’t generate our own content. Our focus is on
making it available online at high quality,” says Mr Okottah.
Some
of the notable clients Eziki has worked with are World Trade
Organisation, UN Women, Exuviance (a Swedish firm in the beauty and
skincare industry), Canal France International, MTV Shuga, Blankets and
Wine, CITAM (Christ is the Answer Ministries), State House, Ministry of
Land, among others.
MAIN CHALLENGES
When
it comes to overheads and other costs, “The cameras and drones, we
bought upgradeable equipment to give our clients high quality content
and a 360-degree experience. Software and licences fees, those are a
must with most renewable on an annual basis. We also pay for security,
broadband and the cloud server,” says Mr Okottah.
“Eziki has cloud servers all around the world to make sure that the downlink doesn’t buffer. It’s one of our biggest expenses.”
‘‘The
business has grown organically. “I have never taken a bank loan to
finance the business’s growth. I have been ploughing back all our
profits. Getting the working capital was one of the main challenges when
we started. I had a seed investor who pulled out after releasing half
the investment he had put his word into. It was Sh1.6 million.
‘‘Repaying
that cash was one of the most trying times for me in the business. I
got a friend on board who settled the advance in exchange for equity in
the company. He’s now a profit-sharing partner.”
To make money, Mr Okottah
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