The company provides a range of services tailored to make SMEs and corporate companies to communicate efficiently
By Amos Wachira
When Nyaruai Muhoro worked as a salesperson in corporate Kenya, she saw a gap in the bulk SMS industry and decided to pounce on it. Having interacted with many players in the bulk SMS industry, she realized that it was still hard to get quality services, despite the many players. As a salesperson working with one of the leading telcos in the country, she saw an opportunity to provide the highest quality bulk SMS services. This is what motivated her to found InfinityTech in 2015, with the sole goal of providing bespoke services to her customers. With a business plan, her first stop was the Communications Authority offices, the industry regulator, where she applied for the ASP license.
They say that the secret to building a thriving enterprise is by taking baby steps, and Nyaruai took this to heart. “I started with the few contacts that I had gathered when working as a salesperson,” she says. Her strategy to start small bore fruits, as her business was on a growth pedestal right from day one. She continued acquiring more customers and before she knew it, her business was steadily growing into a reliable and trusted brand.
Her biggest break came in 2017. “Most politicians were vying for various political seats and needed the SMS services. We stepped in to provide high quality services that enabled our business to grow tremendously,” she says. At the same time, she attended a series of e-commerce conferences; a move that she says opened her eyes to a world of opportunities.
With a viable product that the customers needed, there was nothing to stop her company from growing into a household name. But before that, she felt the need to take her services beyond borders. In 2018, she expanded to the Tanzanian, Ugandan and Malawian markets as her clients base kept on growing. Today, she runs the show with an able team of professionals, offering more than just bulk SMS. Her product range includes; bulk SMs, USSD services, customer satisfaction surveys, SMS to Email Services, customized messages and data analytics.
“We aim to provide services that help our customers to become more efficient at communicating with their target audience,” she says.
Despite the fact that her company has grown over the years to become one of the leading service providers, she says growing it to what it is today hasn’t been a walk in the park.
“The main challenge has been cut throat competition and price undercutting. ”The other key challenge has been apathy on the part of customers. She says that some players use mass SMSes that they send to many people, creating the impression that bulk SMS service is a bothersome one.
But her company has thrived despite all these challenges. “The quality of service sets us apart,” she says, adding that her company takes customer feedback seriously. “That’s how we have been able to build our services to match the needs of our customers.” Her company also boasts of an incredible uptime as its services are hosted on the cloud. The B.A in economics graduate says that the secret to building a thriving enterprise is to innovate continuously. “You have to constantly get feedback from your customers and learn how to use it to innovate.” As a woman leader in the tech industry that’s dominated by men, she says there are myriad of challenges that women leaders face. For instance, she says that some people may see women leaders as too feminist. “For me, I take all the challenges in my stride,” she says. As a seasoned business leader at the helm of her enterprise, she’s learnt a few business lessons along the way.
“I have learnt that people are one of my greatest resources. You have to know how to interact with people.” She also advises aspiring businessmen and women to always settle for an industry that needs the service they are offering. On matters capital, Nyaruai says that inadequate capital should never stop anyone from pursuing their dreams, as they can ‘start with what they have.” Her dream is to build a strong platform that enables SMEs to communicate efficiently with their customers.
“We intend to provide bespoke services across Africa,” she concludes.
