How 32 Year Old Doctor Resigned, Set Up A Hotel & Now Makes 3 Million Per Month

By Lilian Wamaitha
Would you leave your well-paying job to start a business? What if it fails? What are even the odds of it succeeding? Is such a risk worth it really?
Meet Dr. Muhoro Muriithi Paul. Born 32 years ago in Murang’a county, this young doctor is taking over the business world and will soon be next big thing.
When I heard that a doctor quit his job to risk entrepreneurship, I definitely wanted to meet him.
It’s not every day especially with this generation that you meet someone who is willing to take such risks and to quit medicine off all careers!
Few try and a lot of them give up when they experience failure.
But for Dr. Muhoro, he has had to learn so many lessons along the way that have shaped him to the man he is today.
When you meet him it is very hard to think that the man standing in front of you is the owner of three major businesses including a very high end restaurant in Nairobi.
But when he starts speaking, in his voice is a man who is determined who believe in going for what he wants.
In his voice is a man who has so much to prove yet has had so much to lose when he decided to trend a path that many would dread.
I sat down with him and I must admit that his story got me thinking about so many things. Things like how most of us just want to stay in that little bubble we have created for ourselves. Just because we have a well-paying job we think that that’s all life is about.
Here is Dr. Muhoro’s story and I hope that it motivates you to rise above the ordinary and do extraordinary things.
1. Tell us about you?
Well, they call me Dr. Muhoro Muriithi Paul, hailing from Murang’a County. I am 32 years of age and a Medicine and Surgery graduate from The University of Nairobi.
Currently I am the sole owner of Charlie’s Bistro, a very high end restaurant located at the junction of Mbagathi way and Lang’ata Road and a couple of other businesses here and there.
When I was growing up, I was an intelligent kid basically who managed to get good grades and landed in Alliance Boys. It was like a dream come true. (He says with a little laugh)
Well, I managed to score an A in my KCSE and as such that entitled me to a course in either medicine or engineering or one of those prestigious courses. I found myself pursuing medicine. To say I did not enjoy it would be lying.
I loved everything about medicine but deep down something always told me that there was so much more out there for me.
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2. Tell us about your medical career
I have been in medicine for 10 years and it has been an amazing journey.
First I started at Mbagathi Hospital where I did my medical internship and then I was transferred to Kenyatta Hospital for one year and finally Mathare Hospital where I have worked for 8 years.
3. You seem like medicine was your calling, why quit?
I wouldn’t say that it was my calling as per say, because that’s the course I found myself pursuing due to my good grades.
But I enjoyed it nevertheless but I guess it finally dawned on me that I needed to do something else with my life.
I must say that when I realized that I was not cut out for medicine (not from failing), business was the next option.
4. Tell us about your entrepreneurship journey. Where did you begin?
It was during my internship at Mbagathi Hospital that I realized that I wanted to start a business.
And so I did. With the savings I had been accumulating and a little help here and there, I was able to launch my first business.
I opened a dental clinic in Ngumo. I had done my research and realized that there are no dental clinics located on the ground floor and so I paid for space on the ground floor for mine.
5. But you are not a dentist? Why a dental clinic?
I must admit that I am somebody who takes risks and goes for opportunities when I see them.
When I opened the dental clinic, I knew that I was not a dentist and if I was to succeed, I had to find ways of working around it.
I therefore hired a dentist and a dental assistant to help me run the business.
Every month I would make 350K in a month, I would pay the dentist 150K and the dental assistant 20k.
Rent was coming to around 100K and after paying the other expenseS, every month I would be left with like 40 to 50K.
I must say that it was not a bad business investment in that I was already making money whIle on internship and topping up with my salary.
6. Would you say that that was the birth of Dr. Muhoro the entrepreneur?
Basically yes. There is something great about taking risks and seeing them come to fruition.
I ran the dental clinic for about two years then moved it to Donholm for 6 months before selling it at 1.5 Million.
7. So after selling your dental clinic, what was next for you?
In 2013, after devolution, through classmates and friends who had secured jobs in county governments and the money I had gotten after selling the dental clinic, I was able to secure some tenders to supply medical equipment to hospital and counties.
I also started supplying construction material in the process in order to accumulate savings for other businesses.
8. So Charlie’s Bistro, tell us about that.
Yes, Charlie’s Bistro is a very high end restaurant located at the Mbagathi and Lang’ata Road junction and it opened in July 2017.
9. What was the seed capital for the restaurant being a high end eatery?
I must say it was not cheap. I opened it to a tune of 42 million shillings having accumulated around 22 million from my other businesses and then I took a bank loan of 20 million.
10. Why that business?
I realized that people who wanted to go to high end restaurants from the areas of Lang’ata had to go all the way to town and the Westlands and that was how the idea was born.
To my surprise, the reception has been great.
When we opened in July, we made a total of 3 million in sales and a total of 0ver 100 million up to today.
I have plans of opening two more branches this year and hoping that the reception will be the same.
11. Would you say that you finally found your passion?
Definitely yes. I am in business to stay and medicine has now become my side hustle.
I still do consultations but not on a full time basis.
12. Any other passions or businesses in mind?
Like I said, entrepreneurship is now my full time job and there is so much more I want to do.
For instance, I have a passion for interior design and I intend to turn that into business very soon.
13. You took a risk and it worked out for you, what would you advice those who want to start businesses?
Business is all about knowing what you want. It is also about identifying a need. Once you figure that out, there is nothing that will stop you from succeeding.
And don’t be afraid to take risks because it is only in failure we succeed. Start that business you have always wanted to start and if it fails, well, try again. Go back to the drawing board and see where you went wrong.
We need to create a country of people who can create employment for others and if you have that chance, you should go for it.
Dr. Muhoro’s story should definitely inspire you to start taking risks. Just because you have a 9-5 job doesn’t mean that that is all life is supposed to be. Be willing to step out of your comfort zone and push yourself to heights you never imagined you could reach.
The Writer is a Communications Officer at Career Point Kenya. Got any questions? Email them to lilian@www.careerpointkenya.co.ke.