Consistently working on their craft, Jackee Ombajo, Co-founder and Principal CEO of Trublaq Entertainment, alongside her brother, the late Kevin Ombajo, became maestros in their field and by 2015 they had grown Trublaq into a market leader. It wasn’t unusual to hear their name alongside their competitors, such as Homeboyz. Something changed that year, a turning point that set the record straight. They got their business valued.

Then reality hit when presenting their books to investors. “It was like a slap on the face,” Jackee reminisces . “For a business whose value we placed at say Kshs 100, the investors were only willing to part with Kshs 10” she continues. This came as a surprise, given the blood and sweat they had dedicated to their brainchild, now a growing empire. They sat down with the investors and the main question that was rolled to them was ‘How healthy is your business?’.

What comes to play in the health of your business?

The cofounders were siblings which translated to a lot of the company’s decision making being made in the daily humdrum of Nairobi life; the brother calling the sister to grab a coffee latte as grave decisions hang above; conversations at Java or whenever they met at their Parents’ place, they would have chit chats about general life and business would surface one way or another, and automatically, some more decisions were made over the dinner table, not knowing the consequences of business breeding in such an environment.

 Questions like ‘Who audits your books?’, ‘What systems & structures are in place?’, ‘What policies are in place that govern what you do?’ ,‘Are they clearly stipulated to enable daily operations?’ were overlooked. Such tenets of business that the investors would carefully pick apart explained the value they attached to the business, and that’s when Jackee knew they had to put their house in order. In doing so, it also occurred to them they were running Trublaq in a comfort zone and we all know what happens in comfort zones right?

She humorously comments, “When you’re having your books audited by your cousin, it’s so easy to cook figures, and you can bet that an investor will not bat a single eyelid at your company”. The health of your business is highly correlated with your worth to investors, and you definitely want treatment that ascertains your market value.

Jackee Ombajo was a guest at Un.thinkable roast (our monthly 10X Growth Leaders Meet-up) in March 2020. Click here to apply for membership in Un.thinkable.