This archive story follows Nelson Rotich, a 33-year-old milk vendor from Bureti constituency in Kericho County, whose daily milk run to Kisumu County has grown into a steady business.
Rotich says he transports at least 300 litres of milk every day. He buys a litre from Siongiroi in Bomet County at Sh30 and sells it for between Sh55 and Sh60, leaving him with an average profit of about Sh4,000 after expenses.
He says the costs include Sh2,000 for transport to hire a probox to move the milk to Kisumu. From the profit, he saves half and uses the rest on himself and his family, which includes his wife and two children.
Rotich says he started out as a milk broker before deciding to go into the trade on his own in December the previous year. At that point, he was moving 150 litres of milk to customers in Kisumu County.
His business expanded in February after he won Sh50,000 from Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) through the Wakilisha Hustle na Kenya Cane campaign, which was meant to recognise Kenyan entrepreneurship.
The campaign asked participants to pitch their business plans, achievements and reasons they needed support to take their enterprises further. KBL’s AnnJoy Muhoro said the promotion was designed to celebrate consumers’ daily successes and help them reach their goals with assets they could use immediately.
She also praised Rotich’s win and said Kenya has a strong entrepreneurial spirit. “Majority of our citizens seek to be self-sufficient and we want to recognize these efforts. It is not easy but the fruits are worth every effort” she said.
Rotich says he used Sh38,000 of the prize money to buy a cow because his long-term aim is to supply his own milk to customers instead of buying from small-scale dairy farmers.
The article also carried a promotional note inviting readers to subscribe to the farmers TV SMS service and another line asking whether people wanted to be published on Standard Media websites.
