Teddy Njoroge is the co-founder of Repairnet. As a strategy professional, he has more than 10 years of experience in the field.
Due to his experience and skill, Teddy Njoroge has become a “highly pro-active and experienced strategy professional.” He has shown great results “across all stages of the business cycle—from pre-product release through scaled operations.”
Throughout his career, Teddy Njoroge has “built high performing teams and enabled companies to rapidly acquire their initial adopters, scale operations to support exponential growth, and achieve profitability in new markets.”
Teddy Njoroge came into the entrepreneurial field with a background in both computer science and business. He has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and an MBA in Business Administration.
Likewise, Teddy Njoroge learned “how to start businesses and scale them to big brands in the respective markets” from his experience working in multinational corporations in his career.
After this experience, Teddy Njoroge decided that he should try his hand at starting a business that would reach the public.
During brainstorming with a colleague, Teddy Njoroge hit on the idea of developing a next gen app “that would enhance the eco-system of maintaining vehicles in the country.”
Despite the possibility of failure, Teddy Njoroge never gave up until he found success.
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It has been a journey of almost losing hope trying to figure out if the market is ready for this but we always kept on going. Teddy Njoroge, Repairnet
Jerome Knyszewski: Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
Teddy Njoroge: Thank you so much for the opportunity to talk about our journey.
I have a background in both Computer science and business management having done a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and an MBA in Business Administration.
My goal was to have good knowledge of technology and how best to commercialize technology in the business world.
I have worked for Multinationals in my entire career and this gave me the exposure on how to start businesses and scale them to big brands in the respective markets.
I remember it was 3 years ago I thought to myself that I needed to take my experience to the next level by starting something that would eventually the mass.
Many ideas sprung up and it was at that point we conversed with my Colleague Owen and one thing came to our minds…Cars.
We love cars and thought, we should come up with a next gen app that would enhance the eco-system of maintaining vehicles in the country.
It was quite vivid at the time but we slowly conceptualized the idea to what we currently have.
It has been a journey of almost losing hope trying to figure out if the market is ready for this but we always kept on going.
Jerome Knyszewski: Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey? Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
Teddy Njoroge: There were several things that made us wonder if we were in the right direction.
Out of the research we did, all the automotive specialists discouraged us telling us the market is not ready for this technology.
In addition to that, the fact that we would be dealing with many fraudulent mechanics that charge exorbitant prices to clients to make their quick money will not be ok to have price controls from our app.
At some point we had to question ourselves on whether this is a venture we should put our efforts in.
We looked at other companies like UBER that tackled a field that was new and never knew how the uptake would be.
They eventually became a success which meant any market would easily pick up any advancements in technology as long as it’s providing a solution to a problem.
The Automotive industry is a tough area and there are a lot of inconveniences and uncertainties.
If we were to get this right especially in the Kenyan market then we would become a monopoly and easily go to other markets.
The fact that we could eventually be the first in the industry gave us the push to give our all.
Jerome Knyszewski: Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?
Teddy Njoroge: One huge mistake I believe we made was not documenting a road map to our journey and steps we needed to make to eventually having our company up and running.
We had so much info in our minds on what we wanted to do and we had not aligned to a dedicated plan.
This led to a lot of time wastage but this also taught us a good lesson as we got very well organized there after achieving key milestones in our journey.
The fact that we could eventually be the first in the industry gave us the push to give our all.
Jerome Knyszewski: Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things one should know in order to lead a company from Good to Great? Please share a story or an example for each.
Teddy Njoroge: Below is my take:
- Hire key team players that will take your business to the next level and that bring in value.
- Always plan ahead.
- Innovate at all times.
- Always take care of your customers as they are the engine to your business.
- Ensure your team is always learning new things that will benefit your business and themselves.
Jerome Knyszewski: Extensive research suggests that “purpose driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. Can you help articulate for our readers a few reasons why a business should consider becoming a purpose driven business, or consider having a social impact angle?
Teddy Njoroge: This is very true, you must have a purpose in whatever it is you do even in life.
If you never have a purpose then you will never achieve anything.
The key reason companies should be purpose driven business is simply to ensure that there is focus.
We all have visions as a company, how do you achieve it, what is the process? This creates the purpose of what you do.
You must have a purpose since a company will go through many ups and downs that can easily divert goals if the company does not have a focused team.
If you never have a purpose then you will never achieve anything.
Jerome Knyszewski: As you know, “conversion” means to convert a visit into a sale. In your experience what are the best strategies a business should use to increase conversion rates?
Teddy Njoroge: One key strategy is to clearly bring out the VALUE PROPOSITION. What is the value am providing and the problem am solving for you.
If you bring this out clearly then you easily win the sale.
Jerome Knyszewski: Of course, the main way to increase conversion rates is to create a trusted and beloved brand. Can you share a few ways that a business can earn a reputation as a trusted and beloved brand?
Teddy Njoroge: For a brand to be considered reputable then you must offer high quality and reliable solution.
Secondly, you need to provide premium support.
Customers need a god product and the reliability that if they have any queries they can easily get assisted.
The key reason companies should be purpose driven business is simply to ensure that there is focus. Teddy Njoroge
Jerome Knyszewski: How can our readers further follow you online?
Teddy Njoroge: Follow me on LinkedIn.
Jerome Knyszewski: This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this!
