SMEs cut costs in shared-office concept

Then there is the thorny issue of licenses required by the Nairobi City Council to run a business in the area of its jurisdiction.

The trio has wriggled their way around that hurdle by obtaining one licence using Mr. Finlay’s business at a cost of Sh7, 000.

Had they followed the official route then each of them would have parted with Sh7, 000.

But this is a challenge that the once popular executive centres which offered a shared-office concept with common facilities such as a board room, printers and stationery was able to overcome by applying for a common professional licence.

After a two-year slump in business the operators of executive centres are reporting an upturn in fortunes with more interest shown for office space.

“Clients are streaming back and if anything I have more clients than last year,” says Mr. Harrison Karanja, a director of Genius Executive Centres, among one of the pioneers of the shared-office concept.

Started five years ago, the 50 capacity executive centre provides furnished and serviced office work stations together with boardroom and the reception area were shared out cutting costs for the entrepreneurs who took a space in them.

The demand for the office suites was high so much that Mr. Karanja and his partner Mr. Stephen Alala sought to open another centre in Westlands in 2008.

Global recession

However, they were forced to put the plan on ice as the country’s economic growth was curtailed by the effects of the post-election violence and the global recession.

Now they are mulling over the idea of forging ahead with the once shelved plans, but at a different location.

“We are looking at the possibility of staring such centres in Nyeri or Nakuru,” said Mr. Karanja, adding their research had shown these towns had good prospects for the executive centres.
In the city, the interest for office sharing has spread to the outskirts of Nairobi’s central business district.

“Many people are looking for residential houses which can be turned into commercial use for offices,” Mr. Mabeya says citing the ease of parking in such establishment for the business people and their clients.

This has been especially so in the areas outside the Central Business District (CBD) such as Westlands, Kilimani, Upperhill and Kileleshwa where property development has been stepped up.

These areas have also been the hunting grounds for the entrepreneurs looking to escape the parking congestion, a common characteristic within the CBD.