How Nelson Mpaata built his successful online car business

Building a business empire is never an easy road. Nelson Mpaata’s story doesn’t refute this. 

He started Mpaatanel Company Limited initially an online car importing company and later transformed into a clearing and forwarding firm with a tour and travel section later. Mpaatanel has become a Be Forward (a Janpanese used car importer agent.

How he started
“I have hustled my way out since Senior Three,” says Mpaata when I asked him about his journey. 

Mpaata says he has always believed in working hard and smart. The high school dropout worked in an internet café which was owned by his friend in early 2014 and while there a gentleman came to the café and told him about getting a job at KFC, a restaurant which had just opened a shop in Uganda. 

He says he did not take the offer seriously at that moment but his friend later sold off the café which money they used to join a Ponzi scheme which was called Telex free at that time and they were robbed.

“This was the moment when I remembered about KFC,” he says. Fortunately his application was accepted and he was given a job at KFC in 2014.

Later, Mpaata says, he got a loan of Shs1m from Tropical bank which he used to set up a saloon in Kireka a Kampala suburb.
After about  three years he decided to go and work at his salon, as the manicure and pedicure specialist.

He realised he was not earning as he expected so he decided to look for another job. He says he applied to a company in Naguru called Cadam enterprises which was dealing in the importation of cars and he was lucky to join it in June 2017.  

“So this is where I learnt the whole process of online car sales but unfortunately just after three months they terminated me because I wasn’t meeting the target of selling 30 cars every month despite my progressive performance,” he says.

“This is when I started looking for customers at personal basis and I would earn commission from them,”  he says.
He says the time he spent as a broker, he earned so much respect because he was always honest and there was no time he took money and someone’s car wasn’t delivered.

At this point Mpaata says he got a client who insisted he drives his car from Mombasa. InMombasa he found Ugandans and they got on well and taught him how business works in Mombasa. “I found out the reason cars delay at the port because initially it would even take a month but we discovered even a day is possible,” he says.

He adds that he decided to make cleaning cars his niche in this business and would help him   gain a lot more market share.
With all this experience Mpaata registered Mpaatanel Company Limited as a clearing firm and started operating in 2019.They started working with many companies and due to their high sales they became fully-fledged Be-forward agents. 

They also setup Mpaatanel tours and travel as one of their businesses branches. The tour and travel wing according to Mpaatanel started with organising some small domestic tourism trips for Ugandans, they come up with packages for people. They also have cars that they hire out including a minibuses, Toyota Hiace (drone) and Prado Land Cruisers.

Mpaata says they have a team of eight people and that includes the human resources manager, the clearing and forwarding department staffed with two people, the coordination department and the sales team.  They also have a finance officer.

How Mpaatanel works
“What happens is usually people go to the Internet and search for cars they want, so they approach us and we help them calculate the taxes because the purchasing fee is always known but the maths comes in a lot with the taxes. When the vehicle is shipped to Mombasa we handle all the necessities until it reaches in Uganda,” he says.

What they do different
Like any other business Mpaata says  honesty is key, he adds that the problem with car dealers has always been dishonesty, they either under-price then create diversions after or they over price.

“We give you the overall cost of the car including the taxes and the client is able to make judgement of whether to buy or not,” says Mpaata. 

They also give you a disclaimer of increase or decrease in the taxes so that it doesn’t come off as a surprise. He says once the client gets such an experience they will definitely recommend others therefore this has been their strength.

The aspect of honesty also comes in with the money. “We get money on behalf of our clients because of our track record of excellence,” says Mpaata.

He adds that Mpaatanel carries out forensic inspection of all the cars they ship in. 
“We have our representatives and we have our own standards as a company. Therefore, our agents help tick those boxes before shipping is done and this helps us track the car very well, says Mpaata.

Money
Depending on the type, Mpaata makes about Shs4m from each car he sells. On average, he sells about 20 cars per month. 

Advice 
Mpaata advises the youth who are unemployed to join car business. He says buying and selling cars is not exclusive to a car salesman only.  

“You do not have to have tonnes of experience as a car salesman to earn money through it. If you are interested in cars, have the know-how of their technicalities, and are adamant in your aspirations, then off you go,” says Mpaata. Mpaata reveals you can earn 50 percent profits from selling cars. 

“Now, the main point to remember is that buying a car, of course, doesn’t pay you. It can cost you a lot, and if you don’t intend to sell it soon, its value might get depreciated,” he says. “First things first, you should have a certain amount of money to invest so that you can buy a car to sell. You would want to have a hefty amount at hand so that you can invest in a good car that can attract a lot of buyers,” he says.

Tactics 
Knowledge is your best resource for getting the best deal. Knowing what other cars like the one you are bargaining over sell for is key to talking down a price. 
Simply accepting the dealer’s sticker price as the lowest price possible is a good way to give yourself a case of buyer’s remorse.
The takeaway? When you buy a car that’s already a year or two old, it’s likely to have experienced its biggest value drop already.