Nairobi is a city of wonders. Everyone is trying to survive and striving to see the following day. This is why the city is known as “Shamba la mawe”.
There are those who buy cars for leisure and there are those who buy cars to make money. And I am not talking about Uber or Bolt.
Did you know that there are deals one can never be given in this city unless they “look like money” and this includes owning a car?
This trend is common in Kenyan commercial banks. For instance, most banks in Kenya will not give you a deal worth millions of shillings if you look like a pauper.
In Nairobi, you are literally what you dress and what you drive. If a potential big client asks you for a meeting, and you pull out walking like someone coming from an outside house, chances of walking out there with that deal will be been reduced by over 50 percent.
Next time a potential client asks you, “Would you like a place to park?” Never say no. Say yes. Then hire a good car if you do not have one. Then go for that meeting. Probably they will be sitting next to a window view to see how you enter.
No school will teach you this. The world of business in Nairobi is competitive and people have devised ways to survive. If you want to be the “only” genuine one by being organic, you will end up working for those driving cars that aren’t theirs but making tons of money from “deals”.
This, however, depends on your line of work. If you are a supplier, someone likely to be entrusted with deals worth millions by corporates, trust me, a car is necessary. Not just a car, but a good car. This goes against those preachers of buying a house first and then thinking of buying a car.
