How I set up thriving agro machinery firm

As a career agricultural engineer, Geoffrey Nyaberi always dreamt about the day he would start his own business.

But when that day eventually came in August 2010, the picture was not as rosy as he had imagined it. First, he did not have enough capital for the business he had chosen – selling agricultural equipment to farmers.

And to add to his challenges was the fact that when he walked into the offices of his company, Rhino Agrimac and Equipment at Kenbelt Industrial Park on Old Mombasa Road in Nairobi, he was the only employee.

"I started by importing one machine at a time," recalls Nyaberi. But that was then, now he imports up to 40 different types of farm machinery depending on the orders he has received from farmers across the country and from Uganda, Tanzania and sometimes beyond.

Sitting in his ornate office, furnished in leather sofa sets and light brown furniture with models of various farm equipment adorning the glass-topped coffee table, one would be hard-pressed to imagine Nyaberi's humble beginnings.

The business now has a turn-over running into millions of shillings annually and employs 15 people in its two branches; the other in Nakuru.

“I am hoping to open a third branch in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County,” he says.

His business enterprise is a first in many aspects. It is the only indigenously-owned farm equipment importer. His biggest competitors were either started by Europeans or Kenyans of Asian origin. It also has one of the widest range of farm products under the same roof. And, as he says, he can get his supplier, Kuhn in France, to manufacture equipment according to his customers’ specifications.

This ensures that his equipment is customised, which is not always the case in this line of business.

Born in Kisii County, Nyaberi, now in his mid-forties, was always passionate about agriculture and all its related fields. He studied agricultural engineering at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and got a job in a related field.

But he always yearned for self-employment, a plunge that he took eight years ago.

“I didn’t have much then, in terms of start-up capital,” he says.

BUILD TRUST WITH CUSTOMERS

Experts usually advise that a partnership in such instances would be the best option. Instead, Nyaberi, who says he comes from a humble family background, opted to borrow from friends whenever he had an order. And to get them to back him, he would offer them a portion of his profit in return.

"I also made sure I paid them on time as agreed."

When he could not borrow from friends, he would approach his bank for overdrafts. With time, he started venturing into other side hustles to keep his business afloat. That is how he got into flower exports.

"I am however not a flower farmer," he says. He gets buyers in Europe and then places their orders from local farms and makes a profit as a middleman.

Over time, he has learnt to build trust with his customers as well as suppliers. After securing a commitment from a farmer willing to buy his equipment, he places an order with his suppliers in France, US and Italy. The farmer pays a deposit and the rest after receiving the machinery. This has made him earn the trust of his supplier and customers and his credit period has became even more flexible.

Since he started, Rhino Agrimac and Equipment, has grown considerably, opening a warehouse next to the spacious office that Nyaberi shares with his wife Anne, also a director of the company.

Here, potential customers can view some of the equipment as workers assemble the parts before the completed machines are transported to farmers.

So what makes his enterprise stand out from others in the same business?

“Our machines and equipment are manufactured and supplied by among the biggest names in the farm machine manufacturing world, like Kuhn Group, Cicoria, Frigomilk FIC, Pichon Farm Machinery and MilkLine,” he says.

His enterprise deals in milking and processing equipment, milk cooling tanks of different sizes, feed mixers, forage harvesters, hay mowers, rakes and balers, feed mixers, ploughs, harrows, shredders, sprayers, planters, combine harvesters and other related farm equipment and machinery.

TREND IS FAST CATCHING UP IN THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR

Mechanisation is a trend that is fast catching up in the country’s agriculture sector, as more and more farmers; both large and small-scale, are embracing the change.

Nyaberi has taken advantage of this development and carved a niche market for himself. “For the smallholders, for instance, we have silage-making equipment, small milking machines, small milk-cooling tanks, balers and feed mixers for those who would wish to make their own feeds.”

Large-scale plantations invest more in specialised farming. Farmers in this case demand for equipment that guarantee precision while also saving on time.

“Large scale farmers are also more conscious about costs and the predictability of their harvest. Among the most popular implements for this group are precision planters, single-bar tillage equipment, specialised sprayers capable of calibrating and measuring precise inputs that the crops need.”

The entrepreneur says after studying the Kenyan farming scene, one realises that different regions focus on specific agricultural practices. For instance, while large-scale wheat farming is usually carried out in areas like Narok and Nakuru, dairy farming is big in Kiambu and Eldoret while maize is grown in areas around Trans Nzoia.

By learning these segments, and what farmers need to improve their productivity, one can determine which implements to market in specific regions. But this has not come without challenges.

Today, Mr Nyaberi's biggest challenge is getting workers who have just the right skills.

"This has not been easy," he says.

That could be because the salesmen also need the skills to offer after-sales services and it is difficult to find workers with both skills sets.

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Advice from the entrepreneur

For those who would wish to purchase equipment but lack enough cash, Mr Nyaberi advices that they form groups and purchase the equipment as a team.

“One hardly ever goes wrong when it comes to doing business as a team; provided you all have a similar vision and goal, and can trust each other.” He suggests each member buys a different equipment so that when put together, all the machinery can improve productivity and every investor remains vital for the success of the group.

Youths in particular could build their livelihoods, if they adopt this model as more of them venture into agri-business.