Venturing into entrepreneurship was an idea that occurred to Stephen Mwai after it became difficult for him to continue with his studies.
Mwai was forced to drop out of school and abandon his secondary education as his peasant parents could not afford to pay his school fees.The 32-year-old says he decided to venture into selling movies because he had no other option but to pursue his childhood hobby which is now earning him a living.The third born in a family of five started the business in 2015 with a capital of Sh1,500 which he used to purchase a few movies.Mwai said he started seeing returns one year down the line when his business began gradually picking up.The movie vendor says his customers are his biggest motivation as he makes new customers on a daily basis, despite the new inventions that enable internet users to download movies for free.“I sell a single DVD which contains a collection of movies at Sh100 and in a day I can sell up to 20 copies. My earnings range from Sh2, 000 in a day to Sh12,000 in a week and Sh48,000 in a month. However, I get little profit after deducting the business expenses,” said Mwai.To boost his income, Mwai also sells power extension cables at the movie shop located at Oginga Odinga Street in Eldoret. The cables go for Sh700 each, allowing him to make a Sh100 profit from each purchase.
Mwai at his movie shop. [Photo/ Prince Charlton]
“As much as I make profit from my business, there are other expenditures I incur because I have to pay a Sh12,000 annual fee for my business permit. I’m also required to pay Sh20,000 as copyright levy,” he said.
Mwai, however, faces a few challenges as he is sometimes forced to deal with difficult clients who insist on buying the movies at half price.
“There are a lot of challenges I face with some customers because of the type of movies they want to buy. Some want to buy the DVDs at Sh50 and refuse to understand that a single copy contains a collection of movies,” added Mwai.
Mwai notes that he has benefited a lot from his business because it enables him to pay his rent and cater for his family’s needs.
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