If you want to know the value of one minute, miss a train.
For the longest time, I thought this was just an old adage. I never imagined it would pass the litmus test until today.
I almost missed my train by a whisker.
Thank God I had a driver waiting for me today, unlike other times when I have had to wait hours before the boda arrived. This was not going to be a normal trip. I was VIP-esque!
Still, I had to gallop from the check-in point to the boarding platform with three bags and rolled-up banners strapped to me like a marksman heading out on deployment. Thanks to my recent gym routine, I survived it. Tom Cruise would have been proud.
I like to imagine I am a punctual person—other than the occasional, “Just five minutes, please, and I will be out.” Lol.
I mean, si you guys have seen how keen I am to state the time in all my posts? I do it so often that someone might mistake me for a postmaster.
It is 9:41am as I write this, in case you thought I had forgotten.
Let’s just say I am leaning back in a moving train, and the comfort and class—damn, boy. In a normal situation, I would be in the very last coach, squeezing the last coin and balancing my economics while ergonomics are left at the office.
As the train hums quietly past the amazing views of Tsavo, I cannot help but remember the first time I took this line a few years ago, when I set off for a new adventure in Mombasa. The memories are rushing back, and I am only now acknowledging what a journey it has been.
That first time, I was a graceful beginner. I had zero understanding of the terrain or the dynamics of what I was walking into. All I had was a little voice that kept telling me, “I will make it, no matter what happens.”
I had this crazy belief that I should follow my true north. My strategy was simple: work my ass off for two years, limit my personal spending—even the “black tax,” which my fellow Africans will understand—save as much as I could, and ultimately bootstrap my startup.
Was it easy, you might ask?
The truth is, if someone had handed me the map and shown me everything that would befall me along the way, my honest self thinks I might have paused for a bit. Possibly rethought my life options. Possibly drafted an exit plan.
Fast-forward to today, and I am returning to the capital from one of the most remote and overlooked regions of coastal Kenya.
Maximus Decimus Meridius returned to Rome as commander of the Armies of the North and General of the Felix Legions.
I return as Njuguna Hilary—entrepreneur, founder of Afrifama, builder from the Coast, survivor of the entrepreneurial battlefield, and loyal servant to a dream that refused to die.
Although I suspect the shorts, sandals and socks might have confused him. Lol.
Not because I have achieved tonnes of success or amassed some absurd amount of wealth. Far from it.
But we survived.
We weathered the wind and ultimately pivoted towards an even more impactful and rewarding journey.
Along the way, I met strangers from faraway lands who became family. They helped shoulder the weight of bootstrapping—a weight that would have slowed me down or, in the worst case, sunk me altogether.
For a startup entrepreneur, there is no more rewarding journey than going back home not as a failure, but as an optimistic builder with so much still to build and so much expected of him.
Which takes me back to that earlier question: would I still make the decision to head south?
I think I would.
Occasionally, I spot an ostrich, a gazelle, even the famous Tsavo elephants. Was that Mpole who just waved his massive trunk at me?
It is fascinating to see the wildlife ecosystem in harmony—at peace, free from human conflict and land encroachment. It is encouraging to watch animals thriving in a free world.
So where am I headed, before I bore you with the full monologue of my startup journey?
I am on a three-day trip to the capital, where WIDU.africa has extended its courtesy and support to help me and Afrifama get discovered on a bigger stage.
It is the KEPSA Annual SME Conference, Awards & Exhibition: a valuable opportunity to showcase our business, connect with potential partners and investors, and access new markets through one of Kenya’s key SME platforms.
As Afrifama continues to pivot and scale, this feels like the perfect moment to show what we are building and how impactful it can be for our communities.
To say I am excited would be an understatement. I am thrilled.
Not every day do you travel first class, take in the countryside from the cabin, and get to look like a real startup founder—casual, in shorts, sandals and socks—with a Mac… oh, sorry, an HP.
And to think someone else catered for the whole bill? It could not get better than that.
I am truly grateful to WIDU.africa and my amazing team for the support.
If I said the global entrepreneurship arena is next—Davos, Schwab, Skoll—would that be too big a dream?
It is adios from me, for now.
I think Mama will smile at this one.
Let’s see what the capital has in store for me.