Your name and what do you do
….smiles then proceeded…..My name is FATMA MAZRUI and I am the founder and owner of NITUME ONLINE COMPANY.
Tell us about Nitume online
Nitume Online is our local Online Messenger Service Company based in Mombasa. Basically our aim is to help people manage their time well. What we actually do is we run people’s errands giving them more time and space to concentrate on what’s really important in their day to day life.
What inspired you to do it?
……uummmh…..I used to have an 8 to 5 job and what I noticed was, I would procrastinate and put things off till the weekend. The weekend on the other hand was a tricky business to manage my errands putting in mind that most offices operate half day or don’t open up at all. So rushing up and down all over town trying to keep up was proving to be futile and come Monday am still left with pending issues.
Based on that cycle, it gave me a push and drive to start thinking of a way to come out of this mess, and that’s where NITUME ONLINE was born.
Do you face any obstacle in Mombasa?
Well, there is no business that’s a walk in the park. Obstacles are there especially if the idea is foreign to the targeted customers. Having people contemplating paying someone to run their errands is not an easy task. So there is the trust issue coming up and again a vast of people don’t even want to inquire much about the service since they assume it’s meant to be for the high end users or its too expensive while that’s not really the case.
How do you balance between family and running a start up?
Basically it’s all about prioritizing and having a well laid out plan that eventually makes me strike a balance. So yeah, anything is possible if you manage your time well.
Do you think there are enough female entrepreneurs in Mombasa?
I don’t think if I should say there are enough, what I believe is there are a lot of women with potential but are just afraid to take the chance and start a business. Moving around whilst doing marketing for my business I’ve seen more and more female entrepreneurs who inspire me with their experiences and journey. So the number is growing.
Did you utilize any resources to help you start your business?
I had a laptop and savings. Can friends be referred to as a resource? Hahaha I identified a few of my friends to assist me with technical expertise and they did not disappoint.
How can women in Mombasa support each other?
Through networking and mentorship. What women need to understand and embrace is that the more they can invest in other people, the more successful they are going to be. People who have been most successful in business have a network and have leveraged groups of people to specific achievements.
Where do you see your company 10 years from now?
Having a footprint all over the coastal strip and Major towns in Kenya.
Parting shot
Dreams don’t work unless you do. You just don’t dream of owning or building a boat while you are doing nothing to achieve or make that dream come true. There are only two options: make excuse or make progress.
