 Welcome back to why in the morning at Y244channel is where you can find us across all our social media handles It's Michelle Ashira, so you can reach out to me on all my socials So in this particular session, we are diving into an interview that that it's going to look at the rising trend of Cold living spaces. So remember you can follow us across all our social media handles at Y244channel at Michelle Ashira is where you can find me on all my socials. I'm so sure you've heard about co-working, right? So by now But there's a new concept in town about co-living a trend that has been there Since way back and young people were actually embracing it all over the world in all the cities, so I am joined by Two gentlemen from the village world limited So Iza Kamao and Bonface Nyaluale I got that right. They are co-founders of the village world Limited. Thank you gentlemen for creating time to be with us today. Thank you so much I appreciate so starting off with this conversation about co-living we understand that Co-working has been there for a while for a while and also co-living but it has not been much embraced and Considering to the least 21st century where young people are embracing it Especially professionals and they're looking for to be in spaces where they are closer to their work and everything else So Bonface, I would like to find out even before we dive into the question that I have is that Is it an ideal way to continue one's profession and personal growth outside of the office? That is the co-living space if you dive into it Yeah, I mean as you said earlier This is not a new concept per se Because it comes from like the aspect of sharing and I think For like generations people have been sharing spaces I know with the rise of millennials thing might be changing or perspective might be changing But even in our families we've always shared spaces in schools We've always shared spaces and then of course it came into an aspect of sharing spaces when we're working Just to use those spaces more efficiently and more effectively and to save on cost That is when we're talking about offices. So also as village We looked at how do we help young people one cut down on cost, but also make living more efficient? I introduce communities to just make also living more fun I mean at the end of the day you can believe in your workplace and then coming home and it's almost the same environment You need a change of environment. So that's one of the main reasons why we had introduced this but we also Like people needed to continue a professional growth outside of the workplace And so that's why the community aspect is in this So you meet young people who are sharing the same spaces Probably in the same profession or different profession and just gives you an opportunity to interact with them Understand how the world operates out there. Remember you always talk probably eight hours You don't have time to interact. So this is the time you actually interact with them and just get you know new perspectives and just understand like the dynamics around The profession where you're working and if you're feeling like you need to also change a space at least now You understand which kind of steps you need to take, you know who to actually talk to to just understand how the space works So yeah, this was a continuation of personal growth outside of the workplace All right, and we'll just get a better in look throughout this conversation about co-living But I'd like to go back to you Isaac. You also co-founder of the village world And I'd like to find out for someone who's watching this conversation and they're wondering What is co-living? Maybe they have been co-living, but they don't actually know that it is co-living. Yeah Yeah, co-living is basically Sharing spaces with someone else someone you might know or someone you reiterate don't know and for us At the village we are focusing on how do we bring people who don't know each other to live with each other and coexist and grow each other You'll agree with me the people from they come from different backgrounds have different personalities. So how do you gauge? the suitable people to just live within the same space Yeah, so basically for us, we've been able to develop a criteria and Using tech we are able to leverage on Marching people so they are able to see the preferences of the other roommates and they can be able to select whether They want to live with them or not Okay back to you boomfist and Co-living has been there since way back and it has now been You know embraced by young people quite too much because especially in the professional industry sector I would like to find out. How did you just find out about these business and how did you get into it? well You know village was founded in a really funny way So We were in the same program. Of course young African leadership initiative with Isaac And we also have another colleague called Christine but When we put this together all of us were living like in different locations. I mean for me I was in Kakamega, but I remember the same week I'd traveled actually to Mombasa for a training and then Isaac reached out and put together a team and Then he was like so we have this housing idea I was already working on a project for housing He was already working on a project for housing and we felt like leveraging on you know those Potential we could build something new And I just remember one of our colleague. I met her in an elevator and I didn't even know like it's I just knew the Name but I didn't I went to pick her and then I came up and I didn't know So this is where we started feeling like actually this could work with strangers Yeah, because I remember we went we pitched in the same day in a competition and we won and we were like We don't know each other. We haven't even interacted with each other Before that, but we could just get together because we understood like each other. Yeah, so I think This is how it came to be But also we just looked at what had some of the other challenges that young people are experiencing out there when it comes to housing I mean you've heard of Affordable housing and the big four agenda you've heard of deficit of affordable housing But then there's also availability of spaces that a lot of people and a lot of Kenyans can't afford So then we asked ourselves how do you address the needs in the market without having to like, you know Look at really huge investments that we couldn't get so we thought we could use the empty spaces To actually get young people as spaces that they can afford and the best way to cut down on cost was to cost share Yeah, so that's how generally we settled on this and we said I think this is the best way that we could actually move forward Yeah, and it's what you've been doing since then and pretty much if you look at what a young person pays when they live in a co-living space as Compared to if they lived either in a normal apartment or even if they lived out of for example If we have an apartment in Westlands what they are paying there Relatively, it's it's a chunk right but if you compare to expenditures like transport going to work in Westlands If you compare at the time the productive time that they're actually wasting, you know commuting and then if you look at the aspects like people have to like Concentrate on work and then there's the frustration of having to go home the music You know, there's that's so much frustration that if you compare to what you are actually charging They're getting so much value for their money at the end of the day And that's what you've realized We need to actually build on give young people more decent living spaces Give them an opportunity to save on cost and also give them an opportunity to just interact with people outside of work So this stress question burnout issues can actually be addressed in a very simple manner They're just providing an affordable co-living space close to their workplaces. All right And box here as a collective find out in terms of the village Well, they needed how did you guys start? With what what were they the tools? What how did you even capital? Where did you start? How? so we are lucky to have a Got into an opportunity to Go through a hackathon two years ago back in 2018 where it was a shelter take her cousin and Through that we got an opportunity to get into shelter take a greater where we actually got some funding that came in and we were able to grow our business and our team and We are able to facilitate ourselves in terms of going to the market discovering new opportunities in the market Actually doing the surveys from the people we are targeting the young people and it has been a great journey so far and in terms of Also fundraising we always looking for opportunity to get more money from investors. So That's where money comes from basically, but you're also looking at how do you also get some chipping into the business when we don't have Money from investors. So we also do contribute some money internally So we're able to move the company forward What I think that you mentioned is about how can take a feeling the whole business originated from there What is how can take and what do they deal with so no role do they play in this? so basically a hackathon is a Place where you meet as group of people you work on different ideas To solve a specific problem. So for example back then we were given like a couple of challenges There are three main challenges and we picked one of them. We are like five team working on the same challenge. So after having worked on the challenges a team From the village we have key strengths from everybody within our team. So we were able to form a team that was very Creative in terms of ideas a team that demonstrated a lot of enthusiastic and A lot of commitment towards solving an idea and towards bringing it to the market. So Basically hackathon enable young people be able to work on new ideas that are either Existing or they are not working very well in the market and are able to bring some efficiency Into the market by working on a specific solution All right, and one face. I would like to find out how long have you guys been into business and So far, how is the journey? I mean since 2018 That was November If I'm right here, so that was November at 2018 till now, so that's the time of taking and I mean one thing about entrepreneurship journey is that It it comes with a lot of learning opportunities because a lot of issues come up and One thing that for us at village you understand also as a team is that the challenges are actually like Opportunities they give you a different perspective like you're supposed to look at these issue You're addressing a different way. Otherwise that problem wouldn't exist. Yes So I think for as it has been a learning journey We keep on building each other not just the business itself because at the end of the day What we usually say with Isaac is the business and the solution is as good as the team itself Yeah, so I think for me it's been an an experience. I mean Before I got into this I was already doing like businesses and small hours in small businesses by then and One thing about those was that a lot of it was average I mean, it's just about you you have a product you get a client But the startup space for as long as I've been Village is a bit different. It's about waking up every morning and asking yourself What's the problem today? No, what was the problem when we came up with this? Yeah, so if today we like you were supposed to address housing problem And then we realized that these young people on top of the housing problem They have maybe let's say an issue about stress management Then the question would be how do we still like bank on this solution to make sure that we are able to address? These are the solution. So it's about every day waking up and asking yourself How better can we do it? Yeah, how efficient can we operate? How can we make life easier for our clients and and and these young people in these tenements? So that has been the journey since 2018 today and pretty much there is a huge difference If someone who matters probably in 2018, it's gonna tell us. This is not probably what you said in 2018 Yeah, that's that's been changed Still on on to you. I understand that you're in the department of marketing when the large is concerned Then I believe this question suits you best. How do you guys market the business out here? Okay This this is one of I think the toughest moments probably in any business Is that we usually insist that yes You have money for the business, but the business doesn't rely on actually how much money you have But your ability to bring more money and get clients because that's also how you realize the impact So We have a segment. That's the young people, right? So we asked ourselves. Where do we get the young people? So mostly we market through Facebook platforms But also the other thing is since we're living pretty much in Africa and and and here in Kenya We're probably the first people to implement it. We need to also help people change perspectives Okay, because a lot of people will say mmm, but I don't want to share Okay, someone is like but I've shared enough. So I just want my own space Yeah, yeah, a lot of people are like look I was looking forward to just getting a job and just getting my own space I'm like, okay as marketing now I need to like give you a solution that will make you overlook all those issues and just settle into this space Okay, so of course Facebook as a platform, but also Facebook might not be as much effective So we also use like just different models of campaign talking to young people Platform like this. I mean a lot of people probably have not also had what co-living is all about We go out there and someone says so it's called leaving and the first thing I tell them Do you know what co-working is because it's much easier for me to explain from something you already Yeah, yeah, but yeah, those are mainly our our models of Marketing but of late you've had like different people reach out to us Especially a lot of corporate travel agencies just asking us, okay, you guys are providing co-living Maybe it's something we really want to hear about so we also have that platform on the side of B2B so business to business kind of yeah that's interesting and Back to you Isaac and for someone who is watching this conversation and they're wondering yeah, why should I consider co-living? And then the next question would be is there privacy will they have will I have my privacy in this? Yeah, yeah So basically co-living you're looking at how do you save costs? From what you are spending at the moment to bring in them Down to something you can always consistently afford over time and in allocations that You really want because sometimes you will be forced to live far away from the city and This is because you cannot afford a place for example in Upmarket for example, Westlands Kilimani area. So looking at that Costs effectiveness Nest is one of the key factors that most people Who come to us are asking can I get a house or a room of this budget and then we tell them We have different options. So you review them And if you like it you pay and moving then the other thing of course that comes with co-living is the aspect of joining a community You're able to network with people you're able to live with other people But within the living of This community you're sharing an apartment or a house. So how do you share an apartment or the house? I'm a couple with other people. You don't know so for us We have two options where you can either access a room that is fully ensued with a bathroom where you you have total privacy and the only thing that you do is actually share the ribbon group and the and the kitchen as well as the laundry area If the room is not ensued then there is a common bathroom within the apartment or the house these The best way we actually solve this idea of how do you maintain privacy and cleaning less is actually providing Weekly cleaning services to these apartments. So you don't have to complain who is supposed to Yes, exactly and then you don't have to ask who never washed the dishes. So if The toilet paper. Yes, exactly. So so with this kind of services You're able to have an amicable coexistence with other people because all the major barriers towards Colleven have been eliminated and then we come in as a company to manage it professionally Which is something that is not existing in the market and basically all over Africa It's maybe South Africa that has colin spaces at the moment, but I will say that