Little Mike asked for a computer for his accountancy classes. As important as it was to him then, he knew that his father could provide it with ease, he was surprised to hear the business tycoon asking him to sort it himself. Unlike most youths who would resist the authority of their fathers or become cold to their families, the inborn genius in Mike Jnr. was awakened and ready to venture into any honest enterprise.
Being a young kid in college with no funds to start a tangible business, he began to sell his meal tickets in exchange for money. The money generated from the meal coupons was used as seed capital to buy many blank CDs which his fellow students bought. Being intellectually minded, he used some of his proceeds to buy shares and eventually got a computer for himself.
His entrepreneurial journey
From that moment, he realized that he could actually figure things out himself. Nevertheless, he had to graduate as a chartered accountant before 22 while working for his father to consolidate his entrepreneurial training for four years. After his graduation in 2012, Mike put his hands into lots of things which included Innovertising Company.
Media entrepreneur
Due to his experience in media, he went for a floundering Star radio station in Lilongwe. He intended to buy it low, stabilize it and sell high. Due to his age, the owner was skeptical of getting into business with him. The owner had to call Mike’s father to seek his permission. It lingered till 2015 when the owner finally accepted to sell off the radio to Mike. In his words,
Lala Limited, an unbranded toilet production firm
Just like he said, he delivered and sold the station at a profit. But before that, he had already started Lala Company in 2013, a year after his graduation. Lala Limited produces unbranded toilet paper rolls in large quantities for institutions at very competitive prices. When interviewed about his decision to produce toilet rolls, he said that he used a toothbrush strategy to deduce the economic importance of products. If people do not use a product at least twice daily, it could indicate that it may not sell.
In his experiment, people need to clean themselves after using the toilet on regular basis. Therefore, he could excel there. He later expanded Lala Limited to be involved with agricultural processing for export and otherwise. Having seen himself as a serial entrepreneur, he opened Chilewe Brand Global to diversify and meet the world’s needs.