Professional footballers are required to have playing boots of prescribed quality and standards at all time. Most players have several pairs for use in a single season.
29-year-old Samuel Mwema saw it fit to leave employment at his father's company and ventured into football boots supply business in 2018.
Muema worked at his father's audit firm but left the high-paying job, becoming one of the country's leading football boots vendors.
Speaking to Teamkenya.co.ke, Muema narrated his journey to the now lucrative venture.
“Before I started selling football boots, I was working at my father's audit firm in Nairobi. I later left the job and ventured into selling football boots.
“My biggest challenge is when a player defaults on payment after purchasing the boots on credit. Delays in shipment are also a big hindrance when a player is urgently in need of the boot,” he stated.
He noted that footballers consider what is the latest trend in the market before they can settle on a particular make and brand of a boot.
“I import the boots. I change my stock monthly as these days boots designs change at a fast rate,” he noted.
Muema, who has his shop along the busy Ronald Ngala Street in Nairobi, noted that the cost of importing a pair of boots depends on the number of orders he makes.
The prices of the boots range between Ksh3,500 and Ksh4,500.
He believes that the football boots business in the country has the potential to grow, as there is a marked increase in interest in the sport.
Some of the players who are his customers include Erik Zakayo (Tusker FC), Brian ‘Rio’ Ochieng (KCB), Michael Mutinda (KCB), Hashim Sempala (Former Tusker), Rodgers Aloro (Bandari) and Joseph Okoth (Bandari) among others.