I advise you to read my post entitled, Kencall: Blood, Sweat and Tears, where I interviewed Nick and where he provided what I thought were very good answers to my questions. If you are looking for substance on the BPO sector in Kenya, that would be a post to read. Do a search for it on my blog.

SM:
You look like you’re really enjoying yourself here and seem to thrive when you think a comment hasn’t gone my way I’m all about happiness for my readers so keep reading and keep laughing. Laughter is good.

This piece on Kencall seems to have developed a life of it’s own and it’s not something I manipulated into existence. As I’ve said before, it’s just an interesting story and interesting stories capture people’s curiosity and imagination. That’s life.

Thank you for making him understand in a harsh and sarcastic way as he and his followers deserved.

Once again my dearest KE .. PLEASE GROW UP !!Thanks LOL

The potential clients cannot trust it since it does not have solid references. Its an egg and chicken situation: clients are reluctant to outsource to Kenyan BPOs since they do not have much experience and good profiles, yet the start-ups need these clients to build their profiles. Even local firms do not trust the local BPOs so they are building own call centres instead of outsourcing.

The solution lies in support by local firms first so that they can build profiles to attract international clients.
business is tough for local technology startups especially if their target clients are international. We cannot compare Kenya and India in this. Ask yourself why Indians where never traded as slaves like Africans and you will understand the west’s perception of the two economies.

Kencallers and ex-Kencallers, I strongly suggest you learn to make decisions in life and move on with them, take responsibility over your situations. If you are not happy with your employer or whichever human being, tell them in the best and most effective way possible to get a resolve. If it does not work, MOVE ON! You were not born to the Nesbitts neither were you dead before you joined Kencall and I assure you, you shall not die after you leave the company. Just do what you need to do – take control over your life, make decisions and live with the consequences! You are Kenyans, we have survied and thrived despite all the ills that have befallen us, surely you can do better than spend your time and life complaining for 3 years over the same problem!

The sadest part of this is you have managed to get the attention of Nik Nesbitt himself BUT you are still ASKING THE SAME QUESTION 3 YEARS LATER ON. Do you sincerely want to learn about BPO? Maybe you would have enagaged this man to give you insights on the industry – after all he pioneered the call centers in Kenya yet all you could do was JUSTIFY the existence of your blog WITH NO THROUGPUT value for this egengagement.
Fine then, maybe you are intelligent and really wanted to learn about BPO’s. I understand there are atleast 3 -4 MNC’s who are conducting due diligence in Kenya. If they are imperessed they will be setting base in a year or less. Will you STILL BE ASKING THE SAME QUESTION?

I would have expected some grwoth to this trend even if it was on salary e.g., what ways can local I.T start ups attract financing or investors, in which employee engagement models would produce a win win for BPO’s including Kencall….etc such discussions will definately win you serious peopole keen to learn about this industry, the opportunities available as well as the challenges!
I rest my case.

If you’ve tried to run a technology startup in Kenya, I’d like to hear about your experience and what you think the solution is.

Why is outsourcing working in India and not in kenya? maybe you can share what you think the problem is.

I would encourage you to read the harvard business school case study which I attached in a piece called: “Kencall: Blood, Sweat and Tears” (you can use the search function on this blog).

Cant blame Kencall, its a tough business around here. Most BPOs never take off the ground unlike Kencall. These guys cant refuse to pay employees if they have the cashflows. Why do we always expect technology firms to become profitable in less than 5 years whereas most other firms become profitable in 5-10 years?