Nairobi, Jan. 15 -- This pet business was an accident. In 2017, Taha Mohamedali and a friend got dogs. Getting dog food in Nairobi was a nightmare-shops with no stock, broken card machines, no delivery.

"Why don't we just import our own?" Taha suggested. But they couldn't buy small quantities, so they brought in an entire container. Yes, mental. They sold some to friends and were left with mountains of dog food.

That's how they started selling online. They hired a store guy and a driver. PetStore Kenya was born.

At the time, Taha was doing fundi jobs-installing glass, covered in silicone and dust-while trying to keep his father's over 100-year-old glass business afloat.

This was the same man who had quit his job as a software engineer...