Peter Gikungu Chege was unable to continue his education after high school due to a lack of school expenses, so he turned to other sources of revenue.
He began selling undergarments and quickly moved into other clothing goods.
“So I started hawking female and male undergarments. This business was hard because I had no specific premises and had to make do with whatever the weather was,” he said
Chege saved enough money to open a store in Dagoretti market and outfit it with electronic appliances.
“A friend sold me his music shop in Dagoretti market. I was to pay him Ksh 25,000 for the shop, but I couldn’t afford to pay for his stock. At the time, I had saved up Ksh 75,000 and after paying him, I was left with Ksh 50,000 for the rent, deposit and my own stock
“I ended up having challenges paying rent consistently and keeping the shop well-stocked. At one point, the landlord served me with a notice to vacate. Eventually, the shop stabilised three years later,” he said.
It was at this point that a friend casually recommended he create an M-PESA agency because the lone shop in the market had long lines.
“I visited Safaricom for information on how to become an agent, but ended up frustrated after learning I’d have to own a registered company and have bank statements going back six months,” he said.
Chege discussed the concept with his wife, and after two rejections, he was eventually accepted as an M-PESA agent with five lines.
However, starting off was difficult since he had to pay rent for five locations he had rented for his M-PESA business.
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The M-PESA business was making Ksh 18,000 per month, forcing him to utilize money from his electronic shop to pay rent and other expenses.
Chege went back to the drawing board and decided to hire sub-agents, which would allow him to earn 20% of revenue without endangering his capital.
When his proposal proved successful, he hired more sub-agents, bringing the total to over 200 by 2018.
Along with this, he had five head office tills and super-agents who assisted sub-agents in meeting consumer requests, including the float.
“I realised that sub-agents play a huge role in my expansion plan, so I’m always appreciative of their efforts and make them feel like part of a unit
”One of Gipps’ most attractive aspects is our customer service, something which is also attractive to sub-agents. For instance, we have four lines to provide 24/7 customer service,” he said.
Chege mentioned that fraud, robbery, and rogue sub-agents are among the primary obstacles in his firm.
He said that some sub-agents have a habit of pocketing clients’ money when it is incorrectly withdrawn.
