Architect bags millions from transport business

Stephen Ochola, an architect and proprietor of Blucruise Limited, enters one of the cars of his transport business. PHOTO BY RACHEL MABALA

What you need to know:

  • Stephen Ochola, the proprietor of Blucruise Limited, emerged third in the 2015 Top 100 Mid-sized companies competition. Eronie Kamukama found out how he has grown his transport business.
  • With some shillings in his pocket, Mr Ochola continued dipping his hands into business. While at Makerere University, he specialised in printing cards as he pursued his degree in architecture.
  • In 1998, he started working with an architectural firm on completion of his degree until 2001 when he set up his own firm, “Real Designs Limited.”

He watched his friend pay his own school fees at Kings’ College Budo for four years, money he earned from selling polythene bags in Owino market.

The 16-year-old Stephen Ochola was astonished and this discovery sent him on a tour downtown, Kampala. On seeing what his friend had been doing, Mr Ochola returned a business convert, ready to start his own business. In 1990, during his senior four vacation, he began selling electricity bulbs.

“Phillips bulbs were predominant then. There was another company called NAVA that was selling bulbs in one shop and they were cheaper. I bought them, sold them on the street and they sold faster,” he recounts.
With some shillings in his pocket, Mr Ochola continued dipping his hands into business. While at Makerere University, he specialised in printing cards as he pursued his degree in architecture.
In 1998, he started working with an architectural firm on completion of his degree until 2001 when he set up his own firm, “Real Designs Limited.”

“Where I was working, things were a bit slow. So I needed to set my own pace,” he says.
But he was fascinated by mechanics, he ventured into the transport business.
In 2005, he pooled capital with four friends and set up a transport company, “Blucruise Limited” after realising a gap in this industry.
“I was a business partner in another transport business but we realised there was a market not being tapped, the corporate companies that do not want to pay cash up front,” he says.
Today, Blucruise is a tours and travel company dealing with clients in the banking sector, civil society organisations and embassies.

Kick-starting the transport business
He says every member contributed a Toyota G-touring and capital ranging between Shs350,000 and Shs5m. Mr Ochola invested Shs7m besides providing office space in Kololo and technological infrastructure to the company. He also drove some of its first clients.
He recalls how difficult it was to start because the company had to change drivers’ mindsets to provide a corporate service.
“Most drivers had a mentality that they are the lowest in the ranks of any organisation. We demanded them to be our company face so the profile of a driver had to be much higher,” he says.
Another challenge was that the industry was unregulated, an issue Mr Ochola says strains the company up to date.
He also says peoples’ attitude towards special hire transport companies took a toll on the company.
“People thought Blucruise was a special hire company and they had a very bad image of such companies. They used to say the cars are old, run out of fuel, they smell, drivers do not bathe,” he explains.
High operational, maintenance costs and delayed payments from clients are other challenges the company has grappled with.

Thought of quitting
Mr Ochola says he almost threw in the towel when the company’s biggest client, Barclays Bank decided to terminate its contract.
“80 per cent of our business was from Barclays. They woke up one day and said ‘we are discontinuing this service.’ That was a big shock to us,” he narrates.
This forced the company to downscale as many workers were laid off. They then opened up to creating a reliable and broader market.

Achievements
Mr Ochola rates the company’s major achievement as emerging third in the Top 100 Mid-sized Companies competition organised by Daily Monitor and KPMG last year.
He explains that he participated because the competition would enable them to evaluate the company within the growing medium sized businesses.
He notes that the award has increased the credibility of Blucruise among its old and potential clients.
Mr Ochola, whose company makes an annual turnover of more than Shs5b, attributes his success to innovation such as repackaging services to fit clients’ needs. Blucruise had to phase out its signature blue cars after clients complained and today, they only carry a company logo.
The company cars have grown from five to 50 tracked cars serving 34 corporate companies, including Barclays Bank. Clients are charged Shs2,500 per kilometre around town and the service has expanded from leasing drivers, transporting wedding couples, school children, airport picks and drops to transporting tourists.

Future prospects
Mr Ochola has big dreams to push Blucruise Limited beyond the road and invest in air transport such as using chartered flights or helicopter flights.
His plan is to invest in advanced technology by introducing driverless cars that are currently being experimented in United States of America.
Blucruise Limited corporate manager Ben Amwiine says the company hopes to launch an online application, “Blumasaawo” to interface with users directly.

Coping in transport industry

The 42-year old says they set out to create a unique brand right from the start. The drivers underwent fresh driving training but some were taken on by high profile clients.
He says building the company image meant going beyond simply teaching drivers English to proper dress code, customer care and self-esteem in order to tap into a corporate market.
Keeping open communication channels with its clients for services and feedback is something that has sustained the business.

NUMBERS

Shs7m
Amount of money Stephen Ochola invested in the transport business

Success Tips

• Have a razor-sharp focus on your purpose and stick to your core business.
• Be resilient especially when you feel you should quit.
• Have patience as you build the brand because that is what clients want to buy.