Startup Kenya

So you’re a businessman, eh? You have a registered business, a proven product, and a growing client list. You’re passionate about your business and spend every waking moment at it. You’re confident that you know best how to deal with the problems of the business and you’re there to save the day in case anything goes wrong. You’re a specialist at what to do. No! You’re the best at what you do. Hiring someone else to do a client’s job would be short-changing your client, as you care deeply about your clients. So you’re a darn good businessman, right? WRONG! While consulting for one my clients today I realized that many of us businessmen (term includes both male and female gender) are still victims of what Michael Gerber in his E-Myth series describes as technicians seized with an entrepreneurial spirit. Angela [1] my client is a dyed-in-the-wool believer in taking personal charge of one’s business. Back in 2000 she took a three-year IT course where she specialized in we...

Today fed up with my overpriced town mechanic and needing some specialized service on my car I decided to try out a “jua kali [1] ” garage. My friend gave me the instructions to get to the place and after a few wrong turns I pulled into a muddy ‘mabati [2] ’-fenced garage with a boldly drawn Mercedes-Benz three star on its gate. I was apprehensive but I had been assured the best mechanics this side of Kenya would be found within those tin walls. Four hours and perfectly working car later I found myself unsure whether to agree or disagree with my friend. Great customer care, consistent service, and a professional set-up attract me most to my town mechanic. The jua kali mechanic lacks all the above but sufficiently compensates with sublime technical skill and competitive pricing. What put me off though most was that the jua kali mechanic takes on the role of administrator, sales man, customer care rep, and mechanic at the same time. He ends up giving your car staccato attention as...

Andrew Mongy’s first business involved developing complex information systems for large organizations. To woo over his potential clients he invested heavily in expensive furniture in his uptown office where he met the clients. Unfortunately his business suffered from poor management, weak marketing and insufficient capital and had folded within a year. Down but not out he vowed he would not make the same mistakes on any future business. It was therefore with great pleasure when in early 2006 as he prepared to launch his second business, he heard of Genius Executive Centre located on the 15 th floor of View Park Towers, a business incubator that would keep his start-up costs low, assist him in his marketing and possibly even finance his business. The prestigious View Park Towers “Genius Executive Centre although begun as a subsidized business centre, now operates with the social responsibility of a business incubator” according to Ms. Christine Matogo, acting centre man...

Hi, finally I've posted my first blog! Been wanting to do this for a long time but lazily never got around to it. I'm an entrepreneur of sorts and my blog will concentrate on entrepreneurship in Kenya. You're all welcome to post comments.