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It’s the rags-to-riches story which sometimes is a long winding and seemingly impossible journey.
Maria Namusoke’s story as a female entrepreneur building her multi-billion logistics empire – Markh Investments is no different. Her business acumen over the last 20 years epitomises resilience, determination, grit and the relentless pursuit of success.
For a female entrepreneur, it could turn into a lonely journey faced with obstacles and a lesser mortal can decide to simply give up. But Namusoke loves challenges and it’s what has fueled her success.
Her company- Markh Investments is now a big and bold brand on East Africa’s major highways and beyond. Perhaps, a frequent traveller cannot miss spotting branded Markh-branded Mercedes Benz and MAN trucks on the highways in the region⎯ carrying virtually anything and everything.
The company majors in transport, logistics and construction supplies with over 100 trucks. She also runs Markh Auto Mobile, a franchise holder for Honda Motors, Japan. She is also a dealer for forShll fuel
Namusoke has also become a formidable force in Uganda’s logistics space with vast experience after benchmarking in various countries such as Kenya, South Africa and the Netherlands.
How then did Namusoke build her business empire?
Reflecting on her 20-year journey in business, Namusoke was a key speaker at the recent Business Network International (BNI) gathering held in Kampala where she sought to inspire the next generation of business leaders.
The CEO Magazine chronicles Namusoke’s rise to the top.
The Genesis
Two decades ago when Namusoke’s coursemates set out to pursue careers in the corporate world after completing their studies; she had other ideas in mind. Her eyes were set on pursuing business if formal employment failed.
Indeed, the youthful naive lady fresh out of college who wasn’t patient enough to find a suitable white-collar job, three months after University, decided to take a bet at business. And the gamble paid off.
Six months later, life took a twist for Namusoke when she secured her first opportunity to supply food supplements as a major dealer with a South African company based in Uganda- a business that was not well known in Uganda by then, and worst of all, she lacked the necessary capital to kick start.
“I looked at the business and said, yes, this is a business I can manage and I can start but I had never owned UGX 100,000 as my money, but now the business required a security deposit of two million,” she recalls.
Being a fresh graduate, no one could lend her the money. “I had to scratch my brains and ask myself, what do I do? We were three people competing to secure this kind of business,” she says.
As Namusoke spent sleepless nights plotting for the capital. She decided to turn to only one trusted person she knew – her mother in Fort Portal City, which by then was a town.
“My mum used to lend money and she was a treasurer of a church-based Sacco. I used to see even my big sisters coming to get money from her,” she recounts.
The next morning she took a taxi to Fort Portal town and told her mother about her business plans, and the mother exclaimed, “What, two million, are you crazy?!”
Namusoke’s mother was not ready to bow to her daughter’s demands, unsure if she would ever refund such an amount of money which belonged to the church.
Disappointed, Namusoke left home the next morning to take a taxi back to Kampala. But before she could board the taxi, her mother called her back and yielded to her demands and she withdrew cash from the bank.
Her first deal
With cash secured, and the dealership granted. Namusoke discovered there was a lot of work ahead of her. It wasn’t just about the money, the product was not well known in the Ugandan market circles.
Fired with passion, she took her first step into the murky world of business.
“This is a product that no one knew and what I did next is to market my product, so I marketed my food supplements business and I became one of the best dealers in Uganda,” she explains
In six months, Namusoke had paid back her mother’s money with interest to her surprise.
However, two years into the business, the Ugandan office of the manufacturer of the goods that Namusake was selling closed due to financial mismanagement hence affecting all dealers in Uganda because there was no stock anymore.
“But by the time that happened, I had UGX 45 million in my bank account as savings. It wasn’t a threat to me because I now had money,” she says with a sigh of relief.
In the two years, Namusoke had also managed to secure a car at UGX 13 million from an Indian-owned car bond in Kampala. The old Indian businessman who owned the car bond later became an asset in building her business empire. A topic we shall return to later.
The Next Big Break
With UGX 45 million in cash as capital and experience secured. It was time to chart a new journey in business. Hard pressed on what to pursue next, Namusoke decided to walk on the streets of Fort Portal town to explore which businesses worked, and what she could venture into.
Fort Portal is a city in mid-western Uganda. The city springs to life because of its adventurous tourism offers. It is in this home city where Namusoke honed her business acumen.
She wrote down each business she visited in her notebook and at the end of her dipstick research, two sectors stood out for her; grocery business and hardware stores.
For the grocery business, she realised it required too much inventory or products to break even, and while for hardware, the product range was small but more profitable.
Eventually a decision had to be made, and she settled for the hardware business. Namusoke’s focus area was supplies, and she went on to discuss with hardware owners within Fort Portal town what challenges they encountered.
She discovered that most of the hardware dealers had an issue of unreliable cement supply – a weakness she would later exploit to her advantage.
One Saturday morning, she drove to the Hima Cement plant in Kasese District- a 45-kilometre drive south of Fort Portal town where she secured a deal to buy cement in bulk and supply it to most of Fort Portal’s hardware traders.
In two years after the exit of the South African supplements business, Namusoke had managed to land her first dealership with Hima Cement, earning her rights to supply cement across Fort Portal City.
Being new in the trade, she had to build confidence first and preferred being paid after the traders made their sales. Two months later, Namusoke started securing daily orders to supply cement in Fort Portal town.
Business was booming until a few months later when she hit an obstacle. “I would place an order, and the cement factory people would tell me that my order is in the queue because of limited trucks,” she recounts
“I couldn’t sleep because I had overwhelming orders but the truck only came once a week,” she says
Faced with pressure from her clients, she had to put her mental faculties to use and contacted the old Indian car dealer to secure a truck for her business. All the Indian man needed was a Memorandum of Understanding from the cement plant to have the deal sealed.
Eventually, Namusoke secured her first truck also known as Magulu Kumi in Luganda language at UGX 45 million using a post-dated cheque.
With that, she resumed serious business. “Using my truck, I was now able to service my customers and the clientele chain was growing because of the integrity and customer service I exhibited,” she says.
“In a few months, I had paid the money, and he gave me another truck worth UGX 101 million and he told me to pay for 12 months and like they say, the rest is history!”
Growing the multi-billion logistics business
Namusoke now runs a fleet of 100 trailer trucks- German-made Mercedes Benz and MAN trucks most of which are directly custom-made for her from the manufacturer.
In her early days in the logistics business, she first secured ten trucks from Nairobi city in Kenya for a big supply contract that needed quick execution and went on to secure more trucks over the years.
Namusoke’s transport and logistics company identified a supply gap in the market and has worked with Lafarge – proprietors of Hima Cement as a key client and the heavy public investment in infrastructure has provided opportunities for her company.
Hima Cement was recently acquired by the Sarai Group.
Her company has built a reputable brand as one of the most trusted private logistics companies and the most reliable company in construction material supplies. The company’s trucks are fitted with the latest tracking system, enabling constant monitoring from a central control room.
The fleet is a multi–carrier of general cargo consisting of high-sided trailers, closed-body trailers, container carriers, flatbeds, tipper trailers and bulker tanks with all the drivers undergoing defensive driving courses (DDCs) refreshed annually.
Namusoke has not faced many challenges in her business, and in an interview with the local media, she said how she made use of asset financing as a way of building her company which she describes, “as the cheapest financing option suitable for startups.”
Her company has also won several awards.
In February 2020, Markh Investments won the Global Fleet Champions Award for Sustainable Journeys in recognition of its outstanding commitment to reducing road risk and fuel emissions. The company was recognised for its transformative drive towards safety and sustainability, which included the introduction of a new journey management system to improve journey routing, minimise road risk and encourage sustainable driving behaviours.
Namusoke’s golden business tips in her words
Have a goal
A goal is bigger than yourself and it will drive you towards achieving it. Stick and focus on it each day to make sure it is realistic. Self-discipline is important and you have to be positive at all times. Negative thoughts will affect your business.
Understand how to manage your emotions and align them to the goal, because if emotions are crushing with the goal, then it will be difficult to achieve it.
The 3 Ps of success
The Product
The product has to be a solution from where you’re operating from. So if your business is solving solutions, then you will pull through.
You need to focus on the dream and ask yourself pertinent questions. How did the dream start? How did you choose to go into the business you’re in?
When you’re creating or starting a business, make sure there’s a need because business is about creating solutions to problems. Don’t go into it because you’re seeing another person is doing well.
The People
People can make or ruin your business. People are an asset that you shouldn’t overlook.
Don’t go for cheap labour or semi-skilled, or relatives and friends. It is possible to support your relatives or friends from outside the business but don’t bring them into the business. If they have to be part of the business, let them come on merit.
Don’t also go for cheap labour thinking you’re saving. You’re not saving anything! Get skilled people to manage the business.
The Process
You have set goals for your business and you want results. What then will deliver the goals in the process? The process is about the little positive things we do consistently and frequently in an organised manner that bring results.
Sometimes we want to make a lot of money, but is your process right? If the process is not right, even if you have the right product and people, you won’t deliver. For instance, how do you respond to a customer, or deliver your products?
Part of the process is to invest in yourself. The soul, the mind and the body need to be invested in, but most importantly it’s the mind. Is your mind open to new ideas? Learn, learn and learn!
How have I done it? I have benchmarked. I have done benchmarking because in our market there’s no one to look up to. First, I went to Kenya because the country is doing well in systems, benchmarked in South Africa and I went to the Netherlands. However, anything is possible in business if top management is into it. If top management is not into it, you’re wasting time.
Handling financial crisis and employee turnover
Integrity is key in business. Honour your word and honour your part of the bargain. Make sure you fulfil your end of the relationship. I started with Hima cement and I’m still with Hima. Stanbic Bank has held me as a baby. They have given me money without collateral because I tell them I have business, all I need is money.
Manage relationships with your suppliers, they will give you credit supply. There’s nothing as good as credit supply because it has no interest. Most of my suppliers have given me unsecured credit. We’re running a credit supply which is way over 10 billion from our suppliers. That is integrity. That’s another form of capitalising the business.
On employee turnover, consider the process. Sign contracts and let them know the code of conduct and terms of business with those you employ. You should have a performance management framework. A person should know when to expect what.
Other plans
Namusoke intends to write a book on her business journey and she’s an avid reader of the Blue Ocean Strategy- a book authored by two economists- Renée Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim – which explores creating new market spaces rather than competing in existing ones.
She has also perfected using a 50-30- 20 formula for budgeting which she uses in allocating her money to better use cases.
She emphasises that 50 per cent of the income should serve the needs or necessities; 30 per cent should cater for the wants and 20 per cent should go into saving. She believes it’s the business that pays the owner through a salary or a draw.
Namusoke is also working to retire in 5 years and is already planning her succession plan. She believes succession planning is important because life is not guaranteed.
She’s also a mother and wife right from when she started the business.
“I have time for children and it’s all about planning. In whatever aspect of life, planning is the trick,’ she says.
“My planning time takes 75 per cent of my time. If you take 75 per cent planning, then you’re only left with 25 per cent for execution. As simple as that,” she sums up.