The government has its focus on promoting Youth Entrepreneurship. 23-old-year Jonathan Baudelet, the proprietor of Kigali Errand and Personal Services Rwanda (KEPS) Rwanda, a service delivery company caught up with Sunday Magazine’s Solomon Asaba & Samantha Teta for an insight into running errand and personal services

Tell us what exactly you do

I run a small local company called Kigali Errand and Personal Services (KEPS Rwanda). It provides services such as Courier, Shopping, delivery, paying bills and arranging households. So basically we provide services basing on our clientele requests. In summary we provide convenience by going where our customers are unable to go. Besides this, we even provide housekeeping services for those who need them.

How did you come up with such an idea?

Surprisingly, I have a diploma in Electricity and worked in hotels before. I got the business idea from my experience working in a hotel.  This is because when I met people from different countries, they needed these services and I used to provide them. I would go shopping souvenirs for them but ensured that after they left I stayed in touch with them. That is how I got the idea to make a career out of this.

How do you feel being an electrician and totally ending up in service delivery?

Yes people are often puzzled by choice of my career path considering that I studied to be an electrical engineer but we have seen most people not actually pursuing careers in what they majored in while at school. I believe if you have an opportunity to do something else you are passionate about, you should take it up.

You talk about hotel business, how long have u worked in that sector?

After Studying Electronic Engineering back in Bujumbura, I went for a short training in a hotel and thereafter was employed for 7 months and after leaving my first job I worked also for another hotel.

What is the biggest challenge you are facing in this kind of business?

The main challenge I face is explaining the kind of services that I offer to the current market. It’s a new venture people are not acquainted with so it takes a lot of effort to explain to them that we are here to do almost any service they want us to.

What is the kind of feedback do you get from your customers?

Actually I get positive feedback from my customers and they are pleased with the kind of work that we do. They tell me they love the concept of my business and that it really helps very busy people who don’t even find time to pay their bills so we do that on their behalf.

As a young and upcoming entrepreneur what advice do you have for other people in your age bracket?

I want them to stay resilient and never give up. They should stand tall because it’s not absence of money that makes people poor but absence of ideas. If you have no money but you have ideas I am very sure that you can progress because people buy ideas not money.

What message do you want to send to your potential customers?

I am aware that so many chores and errands may encroach on people’s time with their families and I want to tell them that we are here for them. They can pursue their leisure and hire us to run all the errands and extend all our other services to them.

Where do you see yourself in the next five years?

In the next five years I want this business to be known. Judging from the progress Rwanda is currently undergoing I am sure that in the next five years the country will be twice as developed, so I want to be servicing majority of the people in this city. Also, I have a vision of expanding my business to service even other East African countries.