Neither 24 year-olds Harrison Karanja and Stephen Alala’s millions nor their flaunting stands them out; many possess even more and Kenyan musicians do the latter even with a less than six-digit figure income.

Rather, it is their innovative ways, the daring means through which they have pursued their dreams and the entrepreneurial strategy they apply to initiate their peers into business.

Take their first enterprise, for instance.

Stephen was an intern at Kapila Anjarwalla and Khanna Advocates when a partner at the firm gave him an assignment: To get the legal definition of the word ‘trade disputes.’

The then law student perused the volumes of hard cover books- unsuccessfully. Upon reporting the failure of his mission, the partner engaged on the search for the term and found it.

Immediately, Stephen’s business antennae were pricked.

“I enquired whether all the Kenyan laws were available in soft copy or online and when the answer was negative, we had deliberations with Harrison and decided to computerize all the laws of Kenya,” reminisces Stephen.

“We were the first to do so and make money from the venture.”

Four years down the line, the duo is riding on the crest of the wave of technology, not only making money but also has put Kenya on the global outsourcing map under the banner of SoftLaw Limited.

Apart from the laws of Kenya.com law business, SoftLaw Limited encompasses other divisions, including Genius Executive Centre, Financial Services and their latest venture, the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO).

On hand to receive The Financial Post (FP) team at SoftLaw’s headquarters at View Park Towers was a red-eyed Harrison, a mug of tea in his hand and a tired look on his face.

“Sorry but I have not slept since yesterday,” he explains with the ‘life sucks’ look on his young face.

While many of his peers were enjoying the comforts of their blankets in the prevailing cold weather, Harrison was trading with his American clients courtesy of the company’s BPO division.
Modeled on India’s $ 20 billion industry, the duo’s three weeks-old outsourcing venture involves transcribing recorded material from American-based companies and organizations.

“Recorded material is sent to us via the Net and once we receive it, our transcribers type and edit it for our overseas clients. It is cheaper to do it here in Kenya,” says Harrison, who is known as Harry.

The firm’s clients include American broadcasters and universities and, regionally, Makerere University, among others.

Genius Executive Centre, on the other hand, gives opportunities to young entrepreneurs who have no start-up capital, by availing an office, computer, Internet and other office services at a flat rate of Ksh 10,000 per month.

“We shield them from the realities and expenses of starting up with no office and equipments by availing the facilities to them at a fee,” he describes the cyber caf  modeled centre that is currently housing 40 business offices.

On financial services, SoftLaw is financing business ideas through partnering with the originator of the idea.

“If we cannot be able to finance an idea, we link up our clients to other potential people who partner with them,” says Harry.

Their ventures partly inspired by their experience when setting up the law business, the duo’s life is too much a coincidence.

The two lawyers’ life, professional relationship and background dovetail like a carefully choreographed act fate. What can one say? Same age and profession and fairly similar family backgrounds!

Born in 1982, both attended the same primary school in Nakuru and their parents were both lecturers at the Njoro-based Egerton University.

“But we attended different high schools until we met again at Strathmore University, where we were undertaking a Diploma in IMIS (the Institute for the Management of Information Systems) computer studies,” carries on Stephen.

In 2001, they enrolled at the University of Nairobi (UoN) for a Bachelor of Laws degree and Harrison was on the footsteps of his father, who also straddles the academic world.

“The head of department at Strathmore requested that I instruct web design and development students and I was put in charge of 25 students,” says Harry.
The light-skinned entrepreneur was at the time still a student at UON, where his classes were held during morning sessions while lectures at Strathmore were mostly scheduled in the afternoon.

“One of my students scooped the gold medal award from IMIS, which is given to their highest achieving students worldwide. That year, I was awarded the Best Lecturer’s Award.”

But the avid hip hop fan was overwhelmed by his law class work and decided to quit the teaching post at Strathmore but became a web design and maintenance consultant. 

If he was so conversant in computers and Information Technology (IT), then why did he venture into law?

For the first time since the interview begun, Harry lets out a chuckle, eroding the worn-out look that he had maintained.

“I felt as if I had hit a glass ceiling in IT and I needed another challenge. I settled for law,” he explains the sudden decision.

However, it was not until June 2003 that the business bug bit the duo when Stephen discovered the unavailability of the Kenyan laws in soft copy.

“We toyed with the idea for a while before deciding to implement it in 2003, when we also registered Softlaw Limited,” says Harry, who is the director of product development.

Having no office, capital and manpower to convert the over 50,000 pages of Kenya’s laws to soft copy, the duo had to think, and think fast.

“Our friends thought we were joking when we sourced for capital from them to implement the idea while banks dismissed us as mere whippersnappers.”

The available option was to find a partner who would finance their business and the duo would in turn cede a percentage ownership of the company.

“But some of the deals that some businesspeople offered us were unrealistic. For instance, one wanted to acquire majority ownership of the company but offered us little money, which we declined.”

The duo was, however, determined to get the business up and running by hook or crook.

“We approached a cyber caf  at Phoenix House (Nairobi) with a proposal to use their facilities at a fee. Using our savings and some pocket money, we initially employed six people.”

Like mankind’s first exploration of the outer space, the venture experienced unexpected handicaps chief among them being the underestimation of the time and manpower required to accomplish the job.

“We had planned that it would take six weeks and the same number of people to key in all the laws. Entries were done in a haphazard manner while the requirements for editors and other writers needed an additional 30 other people.

“The situation was getting out of hand and we decided to use our key strength-innovation.

“We developed an artificial intelligent data management software that helped us arrange the laws as they appeared in the hard copy and though it was not 100 per cent efficient, it helped us slash down the cost of hiring editors.”

The increase in employees presented a problem for the young entrepreneurs for they could not foot their wage bill and, according to Harry, they had to negotiate to pay them ‘once the money started flowing in’.

Experience is a harsh teacher and any notion that the duo had nurtured that an entrepreneur would single handedly fund their project was dashed after an experience with  ‘a business heartbreaker.’

“After noting the progress, one businessperson promised us money with which we were to pay our employees and hire new ones. In our excitement, we promised to pay all the employees’ dues at that particular date we had agreed with our would-be benefactor.

 But the investor never availed the money and subsequent contacts confirmed that he had pulled out of the deal.”

From then on, we vowed to be self reliant no matter the handicaps and hurdles we would face.”

As the conversion project was a 24-hour operation, how did the duo manage to juggle between the operations of Softlaw and the demanding law career?

The answer brings out his philosophical side.

“When a man wants something badly enough, the world will conspire in his favour.”

Indeed, the same came to pass, as it was at that period that a series of unrests hit the country’s public universities. These were occasioned by a lecturer’s strike and subsequent murder of a Bomas of Kenya Constitutional Conference delegate Odhiambo Mbai, leading to the closure of UoN.

The laws of Kenya project almost took five months and their hard work paid off when they got their first client, a multinational bank.

“Barclays Bank’s legal department were the first to get the then installation at a cost of around Ksh 200,000.However, the system then was more complicated as a deterrent to pirates.”

They paid their employees with most of that money and though business slowly picked up, it was not until 2004 that the company saw the profit horizon.

“Currently, our clients in the law fraternity include the country’s judiciary, Kenya National Council of Law Reporting and other regional companies and organizations in Africa.”

The project’s success came with a few lessons for the duo, which they aptly shared with FP.

“Never hire someone merely because they are your friends. It becomes difficult to correct them or relieve them of their duties if need be.”

They observe that sometimes failure is good.

“It sharpens you and makes you know the pitfalls to avoid next time.”

With the success of the law of Kenya division, the partners did not rest on their laurels but switched their minds into top gear to found Genius Executive Centre.

“We were sitting one evening reminiscing on the difficulties we had encountered when setting up an office and other infrastructure when the idea of providing people with such kind of integrated facility hit us.”

“And since we needed another risk, we decided to give it a try.”

After brainstorming on the idea, they put up advertisements in the local Press calling on people who wanted to let an all-inclusive office to contact them.

“The following day, over 50 people called in to view the offices but we had to explain to them that we needed more time to actualize the idea. However, we took their contacts and promised to call them once we set up the offices.”

They frantically searched for the office space and finally settled on View Park Towers in Nairobi’s Central Business district.

“We had planned to have them ready in two days but problems with contractors dividing the office delayed for almost two weeks. However, within a month, 30 businesses were renting the office after paying a deposit.”
Currently, over 40 start-ups are using their facility during the day while at night, the centre comes alive with transcribers keying in recorded information from Softlaw’s clients.

“Our overseas clients outsource the service to us as a way of reducing costs. They send digital recordings that we upload and our transcribers type them and the data is sent back to them.”

Barely two months old, the transcription division now employs 30 Kenyans whom they pay at a rate of Ksh 500 per audio-hour keyed.

“Outsourcing is big business. It accounts for millions of jobs in India and earns the economy billions of dollars. We can also create jobs and expand our economy since, like India, we have the manpower and facilities.”

To encourage the venture, the avid traveler urges the government to shift its policy from encouraging agriculture and other mass production industries to IT-driven sectors.

“Through Telkom Kenya, the government should lower Internet connectivity charges and speed of connectivity by encouraging many players as is currently happening. This will lower the cost of Internet when bringing more outsourcing jobs to the country.”

“Globalization is no joke and any country that is not prepared to handle its ramifications will sink,” he adds.

Prevailed upon to reveal their business worth, Harrison is, however, cagey. “I cannot tell you how much we are worth but the bottom line is that we are self made millionaires,” he only offers.

Warning that complacency is the Achilles Heel of many businesses, Harry advises young people to act on the many business ideas that they have.

At that moment Stephen joins us for the interview. Clad in a black suit with no tie, the director of business development offers an insight into the future of the business

“It is to keep looking for new business ideas. That is why we have introduced financial services where, if one comes to us with a good idea, we can fund it or look for other partners to do it.”

“We just do not want to venture into any business. We want unique, innovative businesses that excite us.”

 “Inaction is worse than failure. I would rather fail than not act on an idea.”

Stephen adds: “We learnt that many people had thought of the law idea but no one implemented it. We had the guts and the drive to implement it and we are reaping the fruits.”

According to the duo that graduated from law school last year, Stephen is in charge of conceiving business ideas while Harry is the ‘Mr. Fix it’.

“He is good in getting things done and done efficiently,” admits Stephen.

It is from this point that their differences emerge.

While Harry draws his inspiration from innovation guru and Apple Computers Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Steve Jobs and his parents, Stephen’s comes from the latter.

“My dad, a holder of a doctorate degree in engineering, is a perfectionist and we had to work very hard trying to be like him,” says the second-born Harry in a family of three.

A second-born too, Stephen’s mother is a professor of Agronomy while the father is a PhD holder in Environment.

A mobile phone call interrupts the interview and, though Harry never picks it up, a hip-hop inspired ring tone arouses my curiosity.

“Which song is that?” we enquire.

“I have two ring tones. One rings when men call me and the other, women. For guys, Chris Brown’s Run it will do while for girls...”
 
“Nice meeting you. I have to rush to the field and refresh with a game of basket ball before coming back to the office,” Stephen hastily excuses himself, marking the end of the interview with the two bachelors.

Harry’s ring tone for women callers would not amuse many a female folk.

How Genius Executive Centre works

Barnabas Kimani, one of the owners of Westville Media Services, is one of the people with an office at the Genius Executive Centre.

He learnt of the Centre when a friend saw its advertisement in a newspaper. After checking it out, he paid the Ksh 10,000 capital that was required and moved in.

“It saves us money that we would have spent on renting an office, buying a computer, installing a telephone and other services like messengers.”

According to Kimani, it would have cost them at least Ksh 100,000 had they rented an independent office and bought other equipments needed.

“It also gives us a physical address but the Internet connectivity is too slow, especially for our kind of business.”

Westville runs an online magazine detailing leisure spots outside the Nairobi City Centre and sells space on the website.