It tends to catch people off guard. The strike is announced the night before, or sometimes the morning of, and by 7 am the stages are bare, boda bodas have tripled their fares, and your staff, your suppliers, and your customers are all stuck somewhere on foot.
Matatus are a core part of the country’s economic machinery, determining how labour reaches workplaces, how goods move across cities, and how informal trade survives.
If your business has no plan for when that machiney stops, you will lose money. The good news is that the adjustments are practical, most cost nothing, and the businesses that have survived past strikes have already road-tested them for you.
Sort your deliveries the night before, not the morning of
The single most effective thing a small business can do before a strike is to move time-sensitive deliveries.
If you run a food business, a clothing shop, or anything that depends on getting a product from A to B, check the news from 6 pm onwards. Matatu strikes are almost always announced a day in advance.
When a strike is confirmed, contact your courier or delivery rider that evening. Book your slots early – boda boda riders who are still operating become very expensive and very scarce by 8 am on a strike day.
Negotiating rates at 7 pm instead of 7 am is the difference between a manageable day and a costly and stressful one.
If you rely on a single delivery person, this is a good moment to build a backup list. Keep two or three boda boda contacts specifically for logistics.
Call your suppliers before they call you
Supply chain researchers writing in the Annals of Operations Research have found that businesses can withstand disruptions most effectively when they maintain “flexibility, alternative suppliers for sourcing, alternative transportation depots and modes for delivery.”
For a small business, that translates to something very simple: do not wait for your supplier to cancel on you.
If your stock arrives by van, call your supplier the moment you hear about a strike. Ask whether they can deliver the previous evening, whether they have a smaller vehicle unaffected by the blockades, or whether you can arrange pickup from a closer location.
Suppliers who hear from you first will prioritise you. Those who do not hear from you will reroute their limited capacity to whoever called.
It is also worth keeping a small buffer stock of your fastest-moving items, as a two-to-three-day cushion specifically for disruption events. The cost of holding a little extra is almost always lower than the cost of running out during a strike.
Shift to remote service delivery where you can
If your business involves any service you can deliver by phone, WhatsApp, or video call, a strike day is the time to lean into that fully.
Consultants, tutors, tailors taking measurements, salon owners doing consultations, accountants, graphic designers – the list of businesses that can partially operate remotely is long.
Manage your customers’ expectations early and directly
Customers who are kept in the loop forgive a delay. Customers who discover the delay themselves do not.
When a strike is announced, send a broadcast message on WhatsApp the evening before. Keep it short: let people know you are aware of the disruption, tell them exactly what you can and cannot deliver, and give them a realistic timeline.
If you take orders in advance, consider offering to push an order by one day at no extra cost. Most customers will accept. The ones who need urgent delivery will tell you, and you can find a solution for them specifically.
