Back in 1997, when a group of ambitious entrepreneurs started a small hardware store in Kariobangi, Nairobi, they didn’t imagine that 27 years later that business would transition into a major producer of paint, supplying products countrywide.

Then, the entrepreneurs would receive orders for various shades of paint from clients, which they would then produce by mixing together different components in a bucket using rods.

This old-fashioned way of doing things was quite tedious, but it was not an exercise in futility, as it taught the entrepreneurs everything that they needed to know about making and selling paint products.

“The business had a very humble beginning but has over the years grown to a point where we supply all the categories of paint needed to decorate homes,” said Stephen Moche, one of the directors of United Paints Limited.

As the business grew, production activity was moved from Kariobangi to a larger space in Njiru, where the entrepreneurs installed modern equipment and brought in more professionals to help take the business to the next level.

The company invested in point-of-sale tinting machines, for instance, that can produce over 10,000 different colour shades based on customer preference, allowing it to rub shoulders with some of the big players in the coating industry.

“Many of the clients we interacted with were telling us they couldn’t use certain paints because they perceived them to be for the high end. Meanwhile, the ‘high end’ who used these paints needed an alternative that was high quality but affordable,” posed Moche.

Following the launch of their premium product ‘Unicolour’, the company began to receive nationwide recognition, and in 2021, they were voted as ‘the most quality affordable paints brand in Kenya.’

From a workforce of one, the business, which currently employs more than 100 people, soon hopes to relocate to Kamulu, where they have set up another plant to expand on their production capacity.

“We have ambitious plans to grow further into serving the larger East African market, where we will be able to take advantage of the expanding construction industry,” posed Moche.

The business is mostly B2B, which means that they sell directly to hardware shops, whom they equip with tinting machines to be able to deliver whatever colour of paint a client would want, on the spot.

In order to effectively penetrate the market, the firm also works closely with painters, whom they engage on various forums whenever they launch new products or whenever new colour trends emerge.

They also train the painters on matters such as how to effectively use paints or how to match colours to create certain feelings, cognisant of the fact that their business can only grow if the painters are able to add value to their clients.

“Our industry is highly influenced by the painters; these are the people who have a lot of influence on the products that the developer will use for the housing, so we have to stay in touch with them,” remarked Moche.

Recently, they launched a campaign dubbed ‘changamkia unicolour, pata helaa’, aimed at winning over the painters. Once someone buys the paint and uses it, they find a token inside which they can scratch and send to a USSD code to redeem as cash.

The firm also leverages commonly used social media platforms, including TikTok, Facebook, and WhatsApp, to communicate with clients, transact business, and manage training.

“Marketing has completely changed, and it continues to do so every other day, so depending on the clientele that we are facing, we do both top-line and below-line marketing to engage with our customers,” said Moche.

Stephen says that over the last few years, the value chain has been facing significant challenges, which have affected their work as a company.

With many of their products being sold to some of the government institutions, the issue of pending bills has, for instance, affected their cash flows.

Similarly, as they import quite a number of their raw materials, the fluctuation of the Kenyan shilling against the dollar has also affected their operations.

“Just the other day, the dollar hit the Sh160 exchange rate and you still have to import products, so what happens then and you still want to sell your products at a competitive price? It is a very delicate balancing act,” explained Moche.

He says that more needs to be done to support local manufacturers, to be able to produce goods locally, sell some locally, and then export the rest because, as net importers, the country is spending a lot of money on importing products that can be manufactured locally.

“Titanium, which is a component used widely in the paints industry, is mined in large quantities in Kwale, but what are we doing to that raw titanium to be able to produce these other products? We need to start thinking about how to do value addition,” posed Moche.

As a way of giving back to the community, the business does a number of community outreach programs, including supporting a children’s home and mentoring youths to be able to do paintwork and fend for themselves.

United Paints Limited has also partnered up with institutions of higher learning, such as Embu University, who send their students for internships to learn about what it takes to run a business and how to put their knowledge into practice.

“Success comes down to how you apply your knowledge creatively. In fact, here we have employed a number of people on the basis of them having come up with brilliant solutions to a problem,” said Moche.

His advice to anyone wanting to run a business is for them to anchor their undertakings on integrity, because people talk, and if your reputation is damaged, it can be very difficult to recover.

“If you want to run a private entity, you have to make sure you are doing the right things otherwise you will not go far. Your word must mean something, don’t just give your word for the sake of it, when you say you are going to do something, make sure that you deliver,” posed Moche.