When Ernest Mburu Muinamu opened a small plumbing shop in Kikuyu town 10 years ago, all he wanted was to provide local builders with a source of plumbing products to plug a gap he had identified in the market. He did not foresee that the business would take off so rapidly and expand in all directions to make K. Pipes and Fittings Centre one of the largest plumbing materials distributors in the country in a few short years.
Fast forward to 2022 and K. Pipes & Fittings Limited boasts over 40 branches across Kenya and employs more than 500. The company, originally known as Kikuyu Pipes (and still known to many by this name) has outlets across Kenya – from Kilifi to Bungoma and Laikipia to Kisii. The company’s ubiquitous orange and blue delivery trucks can be seen everywhere dashing to deliver orders from customers all over the country. It is indeed a pipe-dream come true for the 34-year-old former plumber.
Mburu was born at Kahuho, a small village in Kiambu County not far from Kikuyu Town. “Kikuyu was the only town I knew as I grew up”, he says, revealing the reason he decided to set up his business there. His father was a plumber and would take his son along on his site visits during school holidays. Thus, Mburu learnt the trade early.
“By the time I completed Class 8 in 2006, I was already a contractor”, he laughs. He proceeded to secondary school and completed in 2010, after which he joined Kabete Polytechnic to refine his plumbing skills.
It was around this time that Mburu observed that there was no reliable supplier of plumbing materials in Kikuyu and one would move from shop to shop without finding the items required. At the same time, Mburu noted that the plumbing service sector had been inundated with artisans who were charging very low fees for their work. He made the decision to quit the service industry and instead open a plumbing shop where he could stock everything that a plumber would possibly need.
“On the first day I opened the shop”, I made sales of Ksh 40,000 which earned me a profit of Ksh 10,000”, he remembers. “On the second day, I sold items worth Ksh 100,000 and earned Ksh 30,000. I realized that plumbing hardware business was more lucrative than service business.”
Mburu soon opened another store in Kikuyu as the first shop was proving too small to cater for the high demand. He went on to open more branches, quickly moving to other towns.
K. Pipes & Fittings is now the go-to supplier of plumbing materials and fittings to homeowners, developers, contractors and other hardware businesses. They are both a retail and wholesale supplier. In recent years, they have expanded their product portfolio to include steel products, among others.
Mburu attributes the businesses’ success to the decision to specialize in plumbing as well as affordable pricing, great customer service and a strong relationship with his suppliers and branch network. His family has also been very supportive. He says those family members working in the business have made sacrifices to ensure customers are served effectively regardless of remuneration.
Why does he think many hardware shops fail to expand beyond a single outlet?
“The Kenyan way of doing business is to open a single business for the family”, says Mburu. “The whole family gets to work there. But for us, we decided to include outsiders and empower them through a franchise programme whereby when we open a branch, we allow the franchise holder to operate independently and grow through their efforts and with our support”.
Mburu says K. Pipes & Fittings Centre has come up with a unique program where they allow individuals to sell own products in K. Pipes & Fittings branches and only pay a commission to K. Pipes & Fittings. The individuals benefit in that they incur no overheads such as rent and also reap from the powerful K. Pipes branding.
Prospective hardware owners can also seek advice on where to open a store and what kind of fast-moving products to stock.
Mburu considers these initiatives as part of giving back to the society. Sales and Marketing Manager James Magua says the company is cognizant of corporate social responsibility. To this end, K. Pipes & Fittings has donated water tanks to needy schools and children’s homes and will continue to engage in similar programmes.
Every business comes with challenges and K. Pipes & Fittings Centre has not been an exemption. “We have been victims of fraud whereby we supplied goods but cheques were not honoured”, he says, declining to name the customers. “This business involves lots of logistics because of transport and is therefore expensive to run.”
Despite these challenges, Mburu sees only a bright future for his business. “In the next 10 years, we expect to have 200 branches”, he concludes.
