Some of you may recall that last year on the Benin Epilogue, we featured a piece on the entrepreneur behind a Business Process Outsource (BPO) company from Kenya called Preciss Patrol. Actually, it was one of my favorite posts because it encapsulated so many important facets of entrepreneurship-all in one story.
For those of you who might not be familiar with Mrs. Mugo and the company that she founded called Preciss Patrol, let me summarize it by saying that through Preciss Patrol Mugure has helped to pioneer Kenya’s outsource industry. When she started her company it was a small concern focusing only on a tiny piece of the BPO outsourcing field. Since then this company has grown considerably and has often been the subject of writers seeking to forecast the country’s future impact on the global outsource industry.
Well, not long after publishing that particular piece on Preciss, I was very fortunate to actually catch up with the founder of the company-Mrs. Mugure Mugo. The conversation that follows is the culmination of our discussions.
Since the post that we did summarizing your accomplishments on the Benin Epilogue, you have kept Preciss on the path to becoming an even bigger name in Kenya’s outsourcing industry, picking up a stable of accomplishments along the way. Which of your feat’s have been the most memorable for you, so far?
By far the most significant thing that has happened is that we have received funding approval from a local investment company, with which we have been in discussions for the last few months. The company handles funds from a number of organizations, including IFC (International Finance Corporation) and European Investment Bank, and we will be utilizing the funds to expand our current capacity, and to improve our infrastructure so as to enable us serve our current and future clients even better.
This is very exciting for us, as it comes at a time when we expect a high level of renewed interest in Kenya as a destination for outsourced services.
What impressed me the most about you and your company Mugure, was that you have become Kenya’s unofficial spokesperson for the whole ICT outsourcing industry. That to me signaled the emergence of a true market leader. Could you please tell us how this role came about?
Preciss was the first BPO company in Kenya, and we learnt very early on that we had to actively promote Kenya as part of our marketing activities, if we were to successfully attract clients. Thus, Preciss became quite a visible champion for Kenya’s outsourcing industry and this has remained the case to date.
Over the years, the industry has grown and progressed, and we currently have a very active association, the Kenya BPO and Contact Center Society, which is highly involved in promoting Kenya, in conjunction with our Ministry of Information and other corporate and government bodies.
When the words “Africa” and “business” come up, typically ICT and IT outsourcing aren’t necessarily the first things that come to mind. Yet this young industry has been making steady gains in various parts of the continent. Who are the continent’s biggest players right now, by rank and how does Kenya fit into this picture?
Africa’s biggest players have been South Africa, Mauritius, Egypt, Ghana and Senegal.
Kenya has recently emerged as a competing destination, and we expect to strongly rival these countries, particularly once we are connected to international fiber optic telecommunications networks in the next 12 months or so.
What do you think that countries such as Kenya must do to become the India of Africa-as it relates to ICT outsourcing? How do you think that the continent’s ICT outsource industry should brand or differentiate itself from those operating on the Asian continent?
India’s BPO industry has been in existence for over 15 years, is strongly aware of its particular strengths and is able to effectively position itself accordingly.
New and emerging destinations need not try to position themselves in the way that India has done. They need to identify their own areas of strength and create strong value propositions according to their unique competitive advantage.
Has being a woman in business, in the Kenyan business environment, presented any specific challenges? If so, how have you been able to conquer those obstacles?
I have not encountered any special challenges being a woman in business, as the environment in Kenya is not too restrictive to women, compared to other parts of the world. Our cultural and business values do allow for women to take the lead and there are several prominent and successful women in business.
However, doing business as a wife and mother presents unique challenges as I have to find a balance between growing my business and my very real responsibilities at home. I try to overcome this by ensuring that I have a strong and supportive team in my business, and efficient domestic help to assist with the daily responsibilities at home.
As a business owner, what single issue resonates the most with your clients-price, quality, speed, or some other factor?
Quality and speed will usually be more important than the cost factor.
Confidentiality and the ability to handle important client information with discretion also ranks highly in the priorities of most of our clients.
Which country or countries would you say that the majority of your clients are based in?
The majority of our clients are from USA, UK and Canada.
Can you describe what a typical job or project is like for Preciss International?
Preciss’s service offerings are structured around three divisions. Each division provides different services, requires different skills and therefore offers a different experience for those involved.
1) PrecissContact is providing call centre services to local and international markets in the following areas:
a) Inbound telecare services customer care services technical support b) Outbound telemarketing services lead generation debt collection telemarketing 2) PrecissData / PrecissPatrol, which provides data processing services in the following areas:
Online Research Email processing Data processing PrecissCaptions is providing services to organizations based in North America and Europe in the following areas:
Transcription Captioning Subtitling Each of Preciss’s operational divisions has a dedicated pool of qualified personnel, all equipped with the skills necessary to complete required tasks. Their typical day revolves around the duties related to the particular division to which they have been assigned, and may require them to work on shift basis and on weekends in order to effectively support our various clients.
When or how did you know that the time was right for you to start an ICT outsource consultancy?
Towards the end of 2001, I attended a conference here in Nairobi, sponsored by UNCTAD’s International Trade Center (ITC). One of the things ITC spoke about was the need for African countries to move away from traditional exports and look for new opportunities, particularly those brought about by new technology. I became strongly convinced that there were areas in which we in Africa could offer our services competitively in the global arena, particularly in services that were labor intensive.
Shortly thereafter, I registered Preciss and began offering our services to international markets. I believe this was a very opportune time for Preciss to come into existence, and we have had made very significant strides as the Kenyan BPO industry has continued to grow.
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Benin Mwangi
(Visit Benin's Website)
A credit analyst by profession, Benin
Mwangi is one of the world's foremost
experts on the topic of entrepreneurship
in Africa. He is the founder of Benin
Mwangi Enterprises, a consulting firm that
specializes in promoting trade in Africa
as a means to achieve self-empowerment and
community development. His blog, BeninMwangi
.com, serves as one of the most
popular online destinations for those
looking to learn about and discuss
business and entrepreneurship in Africa.
He is also a regular contributor to Global
Voices Online and Kenya Empowerment News.
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