Boniface Munyao (left) receives his certificate from Ken Njoroge (right). In the middle is the course coordinator, Pauline Kuria. Boniface runs a shoe making business in Kibera

During the course's graduation ceremony held on Friday, 16th November 2007, Mr Ken Njoroge, founder and CEO of Cellulant Group emphasized the importance of soft skills in order to succeed in business. "Entrepreneurs need to be confident. This is shown by the way they talk about their ideas. They always talk about their ideas which they are very passionate about," Mr Njoroge who is an alumnus of the University said.

"Entrepreneurs dream their ideas. They wake up in the middle of the night to take notes. But like dreams, these ideas are difficult to share. So the pursuance of the ideas is a lonely affair," he added.

"After dreaming, entrepreneurs get moving. They start business planning. Then comes the implementation. It is at implementation that the business starts biting because you have to spend money. More often, you also have to work at inconvenient hours," Mr Njoroge said.

"Once you are rolling, competition comes in. People who laughed at your idea now start copying it. To beat them, you have to differentiate your business from theirs. The best way of doing this is by paying attention to your customers. And this means providing exceptional services," he said.

"At this point in business, you will have realized there is no quick money. What keeps you going is your motivation. If your motivation was making quick money, then you will most likely give up," the 32 year old entrepreneur observed.

Mr Njoroge said entrepreneurs also have to make smart decisions on cashflow for example. "If at end of the month, you don't have enough money to pay salaries and rent, it makes business sense to first pay your employees before paying your landlord. Why? When you pay your employees, they continue working which means you generate revenue to pay the landlord later," he said.

"Successful enterprises should grow. You either grow a business or it dies. Growth means you increase your customers or your services," Mr Njoroge said.

Mr Njoroge concluded by observing that the entrepreneurial process is cyclic. "You always go back to your motivation for guidance. You also review your previous steps.  Entrepreneurs should learn from the mistakes they make," he said.
Mr Marcos Migeri, the University's Director of Relations said Mr Njoroge was a very appropriate speaker for the event. Mr Njoroge is an established entrepreneur having co-founded 3mice interactive media, a leading web development firm in East Africa.

In 2000, 3mice was acquired by Africa Online for KShs 40M. Cellulant, the company he founded after the sale of 3mice,  is now a leader in the provision of content and commerce experiences on mobile phones in Africa. It has operations in Kenya, Nigeria and the UK and clients in Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, South Africa and Botswana.