Dominic Chumo on Sunday, April 30, recounted his transition from a college student to owning two companies in the United Kingdom.
While appearing on Alex Chamwada's Daring Abroad, Chumo revealed that the doors to a better life began when his campus friend whispered to him about an opportunity in the British Army.
Chumo intimated that while he was in his third year, his friend, who had joined the navy, asked him to sign up for recruitment in 2008.
"I was a third year at the time and was assisted by my friend who held my hand throughout the application process," he stated.
Chump joined the army and was deployed to the field after undergoing rigorous training. However, his roles surpassed what he expected of a military officer.
"I was sent to Afghanistan for seven months as well as Forklands for four months and I enjoyed it. I learned new skills. I initially thought that all I had to do was hold a gun but when I got here, most of my work was on the computer.
"We would set up the radar, configure the computer to the locations and areas you want to cover and we would feed the coordinates of the monitor artillery and rocket motors and would alert the frontline guys to verify the threats," he stated.
Retiring from the service
Chumo hang his soldier boots in 2011 after three years of service. Driven by his passion for business, he started his first company, Chunic Limited, an agricultural and construction company.
"I grew up on a farm and have worked with several farmers over the years. I want to modernise the way farming is done in the United Kingdom," he stated.
The ex-military officer stated that he would export some of the skills and technology in Kenya to improve the agricultural sector.
These included software to predict the weather, a platform that connects farmers to experts in the field, and a farm-equipment leasing platform.
He set up his second business, the Kenya Diaspora Media, a purely digital media platform that publishes weekly shows and news articles, in 2020.
Back home, Chumo set up Talkcoms, a communication company that offers call centre services. He employed a number of youths ranging from ICT to customer care graduates.
While comparing the business environment in Kenya and the UK, he noted that it was easier to run an enterprise abroad.
"The obstacles in Kenya are 100 times those we face here. During the pandemic, the government stepped in and even offered cheap loans to businesses," the ex-military man noted.