Jagat Shah has a few things to say about money. “It is only a commodity.”
“Money buys experience; experience winds up with the money.” Money, he says, adds no real happiness to life. He should know. As the driving force behind Mitsumi Distribution, he has made plenty of it. “Enough for my children’s children not to run out of,” he says.
But he hopes his children choose differently. He knew only work. Nearly 200 days a year in the air. Living out of suitcases. Chasing growth across continents.
Has it been worth it? “It has,” he says, yet there are moments when he hears the bell tolling. He cannot stop. But he can spend more time with family.
He still lives with his brother, his right-hand man, Mitesh Shah, since their days back in a living room on Mutithi Road – a stone’s throw from where Mitsumi stands today.
The bill for success, he admits, is often paid at home. “My daughters say, ‘Dad, you have not been giving us time.’” This, he does not deny. He is not so much a guilty man in torment as an innocent man tormented by guilt.
Jagat, when I pop open the hood, what will I find?
I am an electronics engineer who came to Kenya in 1994 as one of the first Windows engineers in the country. I worked for a company for three years before starting my own repair shop, Mitsumi Computer Garage.
As we built relationships and repaired people’s computers, customers started giving us orders. Slowly, I moved into selling computers.
In 2007, we diversified into distribution. That gave us a chance to expand into East Africa, then West Africa and later the Middle East. We put up a team in Dubai and shifted the headquarters there. I built a strong management team that is now running the business, and that has worked very well for our expansion.
You started in a living room on Mutithi Road. What do you miss about that man now?
Oh, that man was freer. Today I am so tied up. I cannot give time to myself. I came here when I was 25 years old. Of course, life was different. You had less of everything, but there was much more me-time , which is not there anymore.
But I am really happy because we have more than 1,000 employees. Their families are growing. Their children are joining us. I am proud of what we have built.
What were you worried about then?
How I would succeed because there was no capital. I came to work for somebody else. My monthly pay started at about Sh8,000 and I was wondering how I would grow and meet my monthly expenses.
Opportunities came along the way, but I worked very hard and people appreciated the ethical way we did business. That is what brought repeat customers and success.
What are you still worried about now?
[Chuckles] Health. The way we keep travelling and running around without giving ourselves enough time. Health is one of the things I worry about.
How are you keeping healthy?
I am currently healthy, but I have some lifestyle diseases, such as high blood pressure. That comes with age, but it is also part of business. You need to spend time on yourself to maintain yourself.
Speaking of that, how do you spend time on yourself?
There are social moments with friends. I meet them once a week for Koroga.
As far as health is concerned, I do not get enough time. I try to go to the gym once or twice a week. Saturdays and Sundays are family time.
Most of my happy moments are spent with friends.
Do people ever tell you no?
Yeah. Even my team tells me no. We like people who tell you face-to-face and say, “No boss, this is wrong”. And then correct us. Because you do not know everything.
What can you tell me about success that only you can?
There is no shortcut to success. You need to work hard. Most importantly, you need to be ethical. As people grow and become bigger, they want to work with ethical companies and ethical people. There is no substitute for ethics.
Jagat Shah says money has become “a commodity”, arguing that family, friendship and time matter more once financial security is achieved.
Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group
We see the successes, what do we not see?
The failures. I started call centres, which failed. I started a shoe manufacturing company and a textile business, which failed. I started an internet company, which actually did well and we sold it to Zuku. We succeeded in distribution, but many other businesses failed.
What is your view of a good life?
The reason I left Dubai and came back to Kenya is that life there felt very artificial. It is first-world living. But the closeness I see among people here and the friendships we have built in Kenya are what I value most. That is why Mitesh and I stayed here, despite our management team being based in Dubai. I want to meet people, make friends and spend time with them. Life is not only about business and money.
What is the best thing a friend has done for you?
There are many so many down times a businessman faces, when you are stressed and need somebody to talk to. That is when your friends help, you know. My friends are very close to me. Whenever we are down, I say, “Okay, don’t worry.” Sometimes you need connections. Your friends may know somebody who knows somebody. It is not one thing. Friends do everything.
If I were to read only one chapter of your life, what would it be?
I was born in Uganda. My father was a school teacher. But when I came to Kenya, that is when my life really started – the struggles, the twists and turns of business and the growth that followed. And, of course, many friends helped along the way.
Your father was a teacher. What kind of father are you?
I am a businessman, but I spend a lot of time in the evenings with my children. I really love them. We are now training Mitesh’s son to take over.
What do you wish you had done differently as a father?
Give more time to my children. [Chuckles]
If you did that, you would not be here, right?
That is the balance we need to strike. When children have school activities, you are often stressed and distracted by work. I do not remember a single day when I dropped my children at school. I have never done that. I may have attended one or two school meetings, but it was mostly my wife who handled those responsibilities.
Is that a regret?
Of course.
What do you hope your children remember about you when they are your age?
I have given them a platform. They should balance their lives better than I did. Not like me, rushing and rushing. They should give more time to their own children.
Do you think you can stop?
No, stopping is not an option. Because I, Mitesh, or most businessmen, are not the type who would sit back and do nothing. I want to spend more time giving back to society. We have started many charitable initiatives and CSR programmes. I want to spend more time on those.
If I stripped away all your titles, what remains?
My identity is tied to my work. That is what my life has been about. Outside work, there is very little. In fact, when I am free at home, I still want to do something – whether it is charity, education or community work. So, if you take work away from me, there is very little left.
How has your meaning of life evolved?
What we could not do ourselves is what we want our children to do. Spend more time with people, friends and family. Have a balanced life.
Success is not only measured in business. It can be measured through community, society and giving. There are many ways to define success. When we did not have money, we did not understand that. Now that they do, I hope they understand it.
Were you always an ambitious child?
My father was a primary school teacher. We had a very thin budget. We were expelled from Uganda and left everything behind. The ambition to do something big was always there. Mitesh and I started our first business while we were still in school. He was in Year 10 and I was in Year 12. We bought and sold things. That early, we understood that you needed to earn.
How lonely is success?
My life is not lonely at all. I am always with my work, my family or myself.
When you look back at your 54 years, what feelings come to you?
Well, I am very happy with what I have done. I could not have done better. I have no regrets. In every phase of life, for myself, for society and for my children, I am proud of what I have achieved. The only thing missing is the time that was never given.
Jagat Shah built one of East Africa’s largest technology distribution businesses, but says the greatest cost of success was paid at home.
Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group
What life lessons do you swear by?
Have a balanced life. Give more time to your children. Show them the value of life, not only the value of money and business.
What have your children taught you about life?
It is this one thing: “Dad, you have not been giving me time.” One of my daughters got married a year and a half ago.
How does that make you feel?
You know, every time my daughter leaves, I do not like it. They have been with me all my life. Of course, I want to see them get married and settle down, but I still do not like it [chuckles]. In our Asian community, children do not really leave home. They stay with us.
You run this business with your brother. In most family businesses there is always infighting. How have you managed?
We still live together in one house. It is a big house in Kyuna. We still have one kitchen and one dining room. He has two daughters and a son. I have three daughters and a son. Everybody is one family.
Is this something you decided?
Yes. It comes from childhood. We have always been like that. Mitesh and I never fight. Of course, he respects me a lot. Sometimes we may disagree, but he takes it positively.
Sometimes we do not get time to meet during the day, but every evening, after dinner, we sit together, watch television and discuss work.
How has that been for both your families?
They love each other. They do not like being alone.
What matters less to you now?
Money. I cannot spend what I have in this lifetime. So I am not earning for myself anymore. Of course, I still have more than 1,000 families depending on the business, so I have to continue. But even if I retired, I think the next generation would do well.
What does money mean to you now?
It has become a commodity. It is no longer a need. I have come to understand that money comes and goes. It does not add any real happiness. Once you get it [chuckles], you realise that.
When we were struggling and starting out, money was the only thing that mattered. Today, I know it does not add even a single thing to your happiness.
What is a mistake you made about money, and what did you learn from it?
Well, I made many bad investments. I tried to make money very quickly and got conned. Somebody comes and tells you, “I will multiply your money.” You give it to them and they disappear [chuckles].
I have learned that only hard-earned money grows.
What do you have that money cannot buy?
Friendship, happiness and family time.
When money comes, family time goes. To manage money, you must give it time, and that time is usually taken from your family.
With all this money, how did you know who to trust?
That is a bit of a problem. Take a charity organisation, for example. If you want to donate, you are not always going to the ground to verify everything yourself. You look at the person running it. If you believe they are ethical and trustworthy, then you trust them and move forward.
But what if it is someone who wants to be a friend?
You know what? I think I am losing more and more friends as I become more successful. My circle keeps shrinking.
Why?
That is what success brings. People assume you are busy. They say, “Let us not call him.” So you end up having to look for your friends rather than the other way round.
How is that for you as a man?
My inner circle is made up of four or five very close friends. Those are the people I spend most of my time with now.
Of course, you know many people in the market. But when you are out, it is usually those same four or five faces you see every day.
Have you kept the promises you made to yourself as a young man?
When I was young, my only goal was to be successful. I did not have anything else in mind because I came from very humble beginnings. If you had asked me 15 years ago, I would still have said the same thing: work, work, work. Business, business, business. Money, money, money.
What has success not fixed?
Success does not fix many things.
It brings its own problems, your health, the lack of time and not being able to do what you actually want to do. If I wanted to play golf every day, I could not. I have the money, but I do not have the time.
Why is there no time? I imagine you can delegate.
It is always like that, but my mind keeps asking: “What is new? What is next?”
It has become a habit. You cannot just sit and do nothing.
What tips do you have for surviving adulthood?
You need to be very focused on what you want to do.
Life gives you many opportunities, some good and some bad. The choices you make in your 20s define who you become.
I have seen many friends choose different paths. Mitesh and I chose work, work, work. I think that decision created a huge difference between where they are and where we are today.
Decide what you want from life.
What is something most people misunderstand about leadership?
Haha! People often think that if you are sitting at the top, you must be arrogant. They assume all you think about is money and that success automatically makes you arrogant.
What is the most important question someone has asked you?
“When are you retiring?”
Haha! I do not think I ever will. I love working. I may slow down and focus on different things, but I cannot sit back and do nothing.
What do you think that 24 or 25-year-old boy in that living room on Mutithi Road is telling the man sitting across from me today?
He would probably say that the excessive pressure and running around was not necessary.
Every other day I was on an international flight. For nearly 200 days a year I was out of the country. Looking back, a lot of that was not needed.
Covid slowed us down and taught us that work can still happen without constant travel. These days we have reduced that to about 150 days a year.
And what would you tell that boy?
Organising your life is more important than money. Once you become successful, you understand that.
Jagat, what do you wish people understood about you more?
I am very strict when it comes to management. I have more than 50 companies. If I ask you to do something, it is your responsibility to come back and report on it. It is not my job to chase you for updates.
I am tough on that, and some people are genuinely afraid of that side of me.
Do people ever see you beyond the money?
Yes. I have many friends.
What insecurities do you have now?
Just my health.
Give us some good advice. Do not chase easy money. Be ethical, work hard and stand by your word. If you say something, make sure you honour it.
