 Yes, welcome back to entrepreneurship Tuesday special. Thanks to a messiah and myself for that feature that you just watched That was an art festival somewhere around Nairobi next time. We are having another one I'll be sure to inform you guys. I go by the name of Barry Moses or it's very money We social media platform and this is our first segment of the day and this segment has a queen Who is in the construction business and this is Rod works in particular? She goes by the name Sauti. I like your second name Thank you very much. So Karybsana the drill is always you look at camera for and introduce yourself and Say everything that I left out. Okay. Let's go. Oh great My name is Louis Sauti. I'm our road works contractor I've been in this of five years Since 2014 we're in 2019 Well, and I'm glad to be here I hope I can actually inspire someone You know a young girl watching a young man watching Looking for it. I hope what I say would actually be of help to you You ask your point in your life where you needed this inspiration that you're about to get right now So, you know the need yes, how many dresses do you own first? This is a beautiful dress number. Oh, thank you very much Well Not mainly because you know and not mainly because most of the times you're out there in the field You know go, you know to site the address Rather obviously need to be in jeans and probably boots or an apron because you need to get your hands dirty All right, so these are some of the things you have to sacrifice when you're going into this life. Yes. Yes. Yes, all right So nail job Sizing in a quatricci But anyway, once all that is done All your you know your nails have you know put on rock that dress do that heel Yeah, but nothing comes without a sacrifice. All right. So take me back Campus life what which campus and what were you studying? Well, um, I Studied something totally different from what I'm doing now. I'm an alumni of this the University I did bachelor in communication. They still stand up represented on why So I said at bachelor in communication I Actually didn't practice the only I think doing I did revolving around communication I did voiceovers and that was it so I had this edge, you know to Start something on my own Without being employed So that's when I I I began this I said it as a business name The name of the company is a little tech power systems. Then it was just solar tech power systems But now it's solar tech power systems limited um Once we I as a business name and then two years down the line three years down the line. I I Feel like I am I'm not on my optimum. So I need to operate my optimum and out of curiosity I ventured into road works. I Incorporated the the company I went to NCA NCA is national construction authority. I got my my my certificate and my license But then I was so green. So I was given the last category of the NCA which happens to be NCA 8 So now I'm actually at NCA 5 in a period of five years. So I've kept growing So, you know throughout the so you go with time you go with time and your previous works determine your growth Yes, they do they do you know, um, you know, of course contract sums Because you just don't come out from somewhere and you come in you're given NCA 3 Let's say so it is change. It can be gradual. It can be you know, you get back to back tenders and Hopefully I can um, probably give you a snippet of how this tendering works But yeah, basically that's this is just about it. All right, so, uh You came from providing power solutions to road works in particular. Yes. All right. So when it comes to road works, uh Most roads are public. Yeah. Yeah, very rarely we will find uh Roads in a private property. Maybe universities or very big mansions. Yeah So you have to go out and sort for these tenders from the government. Yes, you have to all right So how is the tendering process like? uh, well, uh for They are institutions. They are parasitals. Uh, we have um We have kera. We have county county county government They also have their own procurement for for, you know, for road works Then we have the three from national government. Uh, we have, um, kura, which is kenya urban roads authority We have kera, which is kenya world roads authority and kenha, which is kenya national highways So for the three, uh, if I would Pilot with the ones from national government. They actually advertise the drops Uh Some for in my category, you know, the the women the youth women and people with disability Um, of course, there are allocations, you know, there is open tendering and then there are those jobs allocated for that particular Group of persons. That's the youth women and people with disability So the out of all the tenders Provided by the government this percentage that has to goes that has to go to women youth and the people with disability 30 30 percent 30 percent So anybody can apply anyone can apply Even the person who's watching us right now, even the person watching can actually apply. So long as you have all your papers in order I mean Just do it. All right, and if One day I go apply and I realize the youth the women and the people with disability are not represented I have the right to go and complain some of course. Yes. You have every legal right Wow, wonderful. Yes. No reason why every morning. All right. Bye. We have madam sooty herself Woman in construction. All right. So keep telling me the story. It's very interesting. Okay So about the about the tendering process. So, uh, they advertise they add the the addresses for the jobs Say let's pilot with the kenya rule rules authority. So they advertise for the drops Um So they either do it, you know, we can do it on the on their notice board. They of course their website So you as the contractor Depending on of course regions. Uh, there are 47 counties. Same way. There are the the regions. We also have 47 regions Um Well, there are few changes here, uh, which I think are so happened. I think a month or two two months ago But Old script is this you Uh, you you bid for the jobs. They are advertised You bid for the jobs Uh, but just before bidding you have we do something called a side visit because you cannot bid for something You actually don't know. You don't know whether that truth is you don't know, uh, the length of the road The side visit is, you know, the length of the road the activities that are supposed to be done on that road What is happening around where you're going to be constructing exactly then, um, if they're lions Okay, okay. Yeah, they're lions somewhere in Savo, but anyway, so, um Once you uh, once you side visit and then now you can bid for if if you want to bid okay, and there's no limits You could if there if they raised 50 tenders and you want to bid for 50 tenders There's no limit You can as long as you provide the best price for the best service. Exactly exactly and it's actually people have this notion It's not the lowest bidder. It's the lowest evaluated bidder. There's a difference between the lowest bidder and the lowest lowest evaluated bidder So once if you're if you're among okay, uh, they of course they go and you know the procurement So if you should listen and you're given the award letters and you're going to go So that's the first short list and then there's the second pick or they just pick one No, they don't pick one, you know, they have to you know, they can't be like, uh, 10 Low-evaluated bidders, then now we check. Uh, are these papers, you know, did they attach this this one? You know a small thing could get you a very small miss elimination The elimination process very small day. That's where you as a contractor you need to really really look at your document Before you actually throw it in a tender box Because the small things like you didn't you didn't put your your compliance But the rest of the thing is, you know, the rest of the document is, you know And even your work is top-notch exactly with experience and ATC But you just that small one leaf of paper and these are things you learn with experience. Of course. Yes I was very green on us beginning. But of course, I went to a few courses here and there. I went, um I've done like five courses with um, this is after Deaster. This is after Deaster Kibbit, uh, Kibbit is a Kenya Institute of Highway and Building Technology They offer courses for roadworks. Okay. It's a whole range, but they also have for roadworks They also plant machinery operations So I've been able to get like now. I'm very comfortable if you would give me a road and tell me in as much as I don't have a resident engineer with me I'm able to execute that contract without having to hire like a resident engineer to come and you know, tell me This is what you're supposed to do when it comes to if it's a road with grading Well, I know, uh, I need a grader and you know their specifics with the depending on what is in the boq The bill of quantities when you are bidding for that particular road All right. So before you get into something knowledge is very important. This is why you had to go back to kibbit And then do your courses. Can you just mention the five short courses that you did? Uh, I I I did spot improvement. I did routine maintenance. I did low volume sale um, uh, I did uh performance based routine maintenance And now performance based routine maintenance now they've actually like, okay It's like incorporated. It's now it's called a pdc performance based contracting That's right. Next one. I want to take you back to before you went to dexter. Okay, this course communication Who picked it for you? Did you did you pick it yourself? Um, I'll be honest my geography teacher. Uh, she figured you were such a mouthpiece. Yes, exactly So she was all the thoughts. Why don't you try it out? I was like, yeah, why not? So just like that In fact, I joined this I didn't join a normal semester. I joined when we're doing blocks the crash period between when people are on What between um between may and on uh, august? That's the blocks. We still have it to date Yeah The reason I ask is uh, we've had so many people every single Tuesday here was studying engineering But I'm practicing music Studying this and practicing that studying this and practicing that What do you think is a solution where we can have just kids getting into college to do what their passion is? I think um career day, maybe I will probably you know, um, you see like being a doctor is a calling Being a teacher is actually a calling. Yes, and memory is also. Yeah, yeah But anywhere Um If you feel that it is in you and you want to venture in what's in in road works or whatever construction It doesn't necessarily have to be in road works. It can be buildings. It can be water. It can be mechanical It's a whole it's a whole, you know, it's a lot of things involved in construction If you feel it is in you Then the infinite possibilities just do it. Just do it. No matter the time. No matter what your age is You can always start now. You can always start now and if you need to start don't procrastinate Start now now a lot of communication is involved a lot of documents are involved But you have to do the work and get your hands down. Exactly. All right. This is a male dominated field We agree on that first. Very true. All right. Uh, were you scared before you mentioned it? Oh, yes at some point because how did you overcome your fears? Um You know that that that thing inside you that tells you I'm going to prove this people wrong. That's the thing that has kept me going That's not the thing inside you sometimes it's it's a very good thing. It's a good thing But sometimes also, you know, you sit down and think I'm not really cut for this I really want to do this. Sometimes you go you beat for tenders one year two years Nothing is coming through for you and you're feeling like maybe I should just go get that CV and go look for a job You know a job, you know I know a job where you get paid a salary and you get a salary actually But then I get your boss has the liability and everything But anyway, that's that's small thing that keeps you know telling you that you know, you can do this Don't shut it off. Don't shut it off. Always listen to your gut. I'm very interested in these people who made you Say, I'm gonna prove this people wrong. I hope they're not the kings in that business No, no, no, no, no completely actually Okay, I would have a contact person here and there But they were actually not behind like, you know, you can actually do this So this came from um, sorry. I forgot to mention we used to do social economic studies when um When the lanterns are slow moving and I am not able to make sales here and there So, um, I used to do social economic baseline studies for kera Those studies done before the road is done to access the social economic impact If this road is is done, how is it going to you know, I think people impact the lives of people around the road around Okay, of course along that road and you know So, uh, then I'm thinking this is the same road then I do the social economic impact And then someone comes and does the road and then I have to come back and do the post How you know and compare notes then I'm thinking, uh, okay What I mean, no, let me try now do the actual I'll do the I'll do the the studies the social economic studies I construct the roads and come and do the post Plain simple Just like maybe some of the lanterns while I laugh Thank you very much. Yeah So what are the challenges you're facing as a queen in this business? Well, they are One financial constraints always Look at the gross. Yeah It was back to you like that big week contractor Because uh, sometimes you will learn yourself. You're you're having uh, say three contracts running at the same time Uh, I the institutions which can go and lend you money But you know what we're talking about timely payment You could say that you will be done with this contract with a period of a month But due to you know, the weather it rains and you're not able to to execute this So you you already said it's the the the loan period is a month But now it rains you would have done it within a month and you know gotten paid and And you go to go and offset the loan, but now it rains And now you're stuck you stuck on the road and you stuck with the loan So for that, you know the finances it's a bit of a challenge actually. So you need people Who can support you? You don't necessarily okay, you can go to the bank, but if I have Barry who is a friend or business partner or business partner And you have some money somewhere and I'm I'm I'm actually borrowing so that I can you know execute this Well, whether written down or just gentleman's agreement. Well, you need such people in this industry Yeah, you need such people in your life. You need people who can help you financially Exactly and banks work But you also need Exactly and I I I keep saying that if you cannot solve your financial problem with at least Four phone calls, then check your cycle Check your circle Yeah Why so as from so would you right here if you cannot solve your financial problems with four phone calls You need to be checking that cycle whiteway for channel on twitter Whiteway for underscore channel on instagram and whiteway phone facebook is the way to interact with us Don't forget the hashtag one in the morning and hashtag entrepreneurship tuesday You can hit me up directly at it's very more. How can they find your company on social media? Okay, um, my um, you can find me at my twitter handle is at south. It's actually across both on instagram on a linkedin on Twitter, it's uh, sauti lowest Company website is www.solartechconsistence.com. All right, so uh, I'd like you to demystify something for us Kenyan contractors. Yeah There's no shows on their stereotypes and their stories that have gone around about kenyan contractors And uh, this is the reason why most of our big contracts are going to china japan And the rest of the european countries in america. It's kenyan contractors Are greedy that is what people say The work is going to cost this amount They quote this they do it with this amount. They do a shoddy job after one year We don't have a rodeo anymore. Is this true or false in this industry? Uh, well, it's true So, yeah, this is happening. Yeah, it's happening. It's happening. So, um And it's actually what you've said is about grids. So you want to You want to make a hundred percent profit? I mean, come on, you know, in as much as you're not gonna use that would You know, probably that's not why you would decide or you know, you bid for a rodeo in eastern and you live in north rift, you know But you also, you know, that's where a discipline comes in Uh-huh A discipline in this sense Are you happy with yourself? Are you happy with what you've done? If you're able to answer that question and answer it very honestly with yourself Then you're good to go. But, you know, you'll find of course, they are, you know, they always They always rock on charges here and there But if you do what you're supposed to do, well, I mean, what is going to cost you? You were and your name is on that road exactly and you know, that's not that, you know Also for, you know, this thing all these people are in cahoots, you know This contractor was given this road and did this This contractor was given this road and did a shoddy job So in as much as you think you're making your 100 profit, you also, uh, you for actually for the company name Because someone is not gonna trust you that much After after, you know, I always I always keep checkers of the guests I host here and I've I get to know this this is a really This kind of person. This is this kind of person. This person does these government organizations Do the same thing Do they keep checkers of contracted of contractors? Yes, they do. Yes. So if you do a shoddy job Chances are next time, you're not going to get a contract Yeah, most likely you are not going to get a contract and now the very specific because Most jobs are now Going under what I said is called performance based contracting You're given a job and you're told to bring it to a service level a service level like, you know, if it's, you know Okay, you're given there's something called instructed wax So if we have road a to b and probably it has the potholes, they need it needs Maram on it So you bring it to a certain service level and then you maintain it for that at that service level for Okay, 36 months. That's three years So there's no way you're gonna do a shoddy job and then you pay it per kilometer per month So if you didn't go to site, then it's gonna pay you Like it's just plain simple. You don't know. Yeah, you don't know systems are slowly starting to work for us Yeah, yeah, it is actually it's actually transforming now If there's anyone who wants to venture now, well, you're good to go as we really had, you know back then We really had a few issues here and there All right, so do you have uh, are you guys given access to the road plans for say the next decade or the next five years? um That is purely with uh, the With the ministry institutions because they know what roads are supposed to be done But now that is actually evolving because if you're given as a contractor you're given that road for 30 for 36 for 36 months. That's three years Then it basically means There's not going to be any other contractor on that site until you're done with the with the with the works, right? Same as roads x y z road, you know So over time that layout that map you're talking about It's going to be out in the public because we know this road is with this contractor for 36 months This other road and like, you know, what we are, you know, do the job do a shoddy job Run away go bid somewhere else, you know, yes. All right, so ideally All roads should be in a good state by 2030 ideally They're probably earlier than that Probably earlier than that. All right. So do you think this business is sustainable when we have fully constructed roads and Everything is is working for us. Will there be jobs for you guys? Yes, there will be jobs because it goes every other day because not every in as much as we will maintain that road for 36 months Uh, you know, it is probably tomorrow, you know, there are classes of roads They're from class a to class e and they also have RERs the rural access routes Um, so that basically means if I'm on an air RER, and I'm we've done a contract of 36 months And it's on rural access routes don't have tarmac So we will not be out of business because at some point That RER someone is going to say, you know what? Maybe you can put this this this this thickness of a tarmac on it. So still there'll still be, you know All right, there'll still be maintenance maintenance through and through and through and then, you know, you cannot Roads have always been maintained. They have to always been maintained. You cannot just 36 months and then disappear It rains, you know, whether changes traffic flow, you know, all right. All right. All right. All right. I like this so much I like this. All right. So, uh Role materials, where do you get your materials? Depending on um, the activity on uh on the road There's some which are for those a bit sensitive routes you are we have we have uh laboratories where you take your Materials to so that they are proved whether either you can proceed with, you know, they can take the most your content The more things that they check then these are done by government officials. Yes, uh in the labs for various regions for of course the various whether it's Kera, whether it's county, whether it's Kura, they have labs for them. So Really if it's a Okay, normally you're allowed to source within but if that within is not to put specifications according to what you know Lab specs then you have to outsource from summer But normally if you're within a road and you have say a quarry say a kilometer away You're allowed to source for that but that has to go to the lab first If it's not approved then you have to go further So, but there's no case where you have to import raw materials. No, no, no, no, never. No, never. Everything has got luckily here All right in your industry. How are you trying to empower the women? Uh Through the through whatever you're doing as being boss lady as you are how are you trying to empower the women? But maybe incorporating them in in your um Okay, if for those who were I okay Say when you're executing a contract, you know, there's also that uh be gender sensitive So, um, what I've made sure is you know, you know, you also make women you need to make them feel that you know What we can also prove so in as much as That guy is holding a a matok. She can also hold a matok So it's really don't feel inferior doing it once you put that in her head Then she's unstoppable for once who wants to you know, incorporate You know a business and you know start trying to tender for this I mean you need to believe in yourself. You don't need outsiders to tell you um, what you need to do You only need the only thing you need for yourself is believe in yourself once you do that The rest do the rest are details other than the fact that we're living in you and some communication skills. Of course I like this Right before underscore channel on instagram and white for a phone facebook Don't forget the hashtag. Why in the morning don't forget the hashtag entrepreneurship tuesday Never ever forget to tell us we're watching as from we have madame sauti in studio with us She's in the construction business and road works in particular. All right, so as we come to the end of this Okay, what is uh, uh, what is that one word? You tell your your younger self Um, maybe not one word All right, I appreciate say I have one word left and then they say a whole Okay Just do it. Just do it. Just do it like nike. Yeah, like nike plain simple plain simple. Just just do it start today Start now Now not today. Yeah, like now. Okay. You might not go to every office But you can check, you know, you can start if you want to incorporate you can start checking You know, of course with the smartphones. You can check, you know, uh, such your business name What's name? Do you want to call it? That's already starting. You're already starting with the name now Yes start with the name of course and registration and registration and the rest of the rest will follow suit. All right. Yeah Is it uh As it's ever been a better time to be alive in Canada right now Despite the sad headlines that we see in our newspapers every day. Is it a conducive place to do business right now? Uh, well Yeah, because there are still contracts On going there's still more contracts coming something. What else? What else would you ask? Yeah, exactly. Thank you very much for coming through to my morning social media And how they can get to work with you just in case they'll they need your services. Well, I'm an open-minded person Should you if needs for you to reach me my My handles are all the same. It's at Saudi Lois or across all boards Apart from facebook. I don't have a facebook account Uh, yeah, we can interact more. I'm open-minded. Just drop me a text I am willing to share whatever information that you need from me I'm actually willing to help where I can to you know, of course empower right and you invite contract. Of course. Yes Yeah, thank you very much, Madam Lois So thank you for coming through to my in the morning. Thank you, too We we appreciate what you're doing. Thank you keep building the country. Thank you very much All right. Yes, we've come to the end of the first Interview of the day on entrepreneurship tuesday. I go by the name of bright muscles or it's bright morning social media platform Joy moshash and held up with if you still have a lot lined up for you. Don't go nowhere. Don't don't touch that out