Benmark Ng’ang’a is a Civil Engineer by profession. He is the founder and managing director of Lifesize Design and Build (EA) Ltd, a Kenyan design and construction firm.
I started this construction business in 2015. At the time, I was in my third year at the university. I had set aside savings of Sh. 20,000 from HELB which I used to register a construction company. I started approaching clients with proposals.
My works mostly entailed designing simple residential and commercial buildings. I did this with the supervision of one lecturer who was a Registered Professional Engineer. Each design would go at a range of between Sh. 50,000 and Sh. 150,000. This work grew and led to a construction contract for a residential house in one of the estates in Mombasa County and a Sub-Contract at the SGR project.
It took around three years to break even. If my business was in design only, perhaps I could have broken even much earlier than I did. However, I had combined design with construction, and the construction part of the business took longer due to the intrigues that go into learning project management and cost controls. Balancing studies and business was initially a challenge as well. However, with time I learned how to juggle the two without upsetting either.
I did not have adequate working capital when I started out. I had not learned that working capital is cash available to spend and not cash flow. It is not profit. It is not your contingency fund. It is the cash you have available at any given moment to cover your business expenses.
That is where a lot of businesses go wrong. They think they are set up to pay their bills because they have strong profit or cash flow. Or, they think they can dip into their emergency fund if things get tight. I learned that all these approaches create risk that the business won’t be able to cope up with when the bills start piling up.
My best business moments are when I am able to create job opportunities for jobless men and women who work in the construction industry. In addition to this, the satisfaction that comes with the opportunity to train fresh professionals in the industry by giving them attachment and internship chances. I am glad that the brand is able to avail these to me through new and referral projects.
If I could start all over again, I would probably get a mentor who has done the things I wanted to accomplish in the future. I specifically had a secret mentor who once gave me an attachment while in third year of my studies who is now a senior Architect. His works inspired me to start my construction business, even though I never reached out to him for advice.
Ndindi Nyoro gave me 100k only. I wanted 500k, probox and job, says lookalike
Why not learn from someone who’s already done the things you want to do? I would also use the strengths and failures of the people who have been in this industry before. I have come to learn that proper research and planning is key before you start any business.
I have taken a long-term approach towards saving money. To realize this, I mainly put my money in investments that yield above the inflation rate, sometimes through my business. This has worked way better than hiding my money in the traditional savings account.
Entrepreneurship has plenty of benefits that make it an appealing choice over employment. Still, you should understand the drawbacks before taking the plunge. You must review the pros and cons before making your choice. Personally I chose doing what I like while exploring my full potential without any limitations that are often part of employment. I almost gave up at one point in my early days.
The business wasn’t panning out as I had envisaged. I got a job and took it. I quit after a month. It was clear that I was not really cut out for employment. I resolved to go back and resuscitate my business venture.
A version of this profile feature on Benmark Ng’ang’a and his construction business was also published in the Saturday Magazine. The Saturday Magazine is a publication of the Nation Media Group.
