Home-grown consulting firms make their mark

A business owner desiring quality growth is now spoiled for choice in local consulting firms. PHOTO | FILE 

By SCOTT BELLOWS

In Summary

• Kenya holds self-purported experts in every possible discipline, so the wary business owner must spend considerable time separating the wheat from the chaff.

Mbugua started a business in 2006 that focused on the provision of premier food supplies to high-end Kenyan resorts. He steadily grew the business to a top-tier provider.

Having transitioned from a purely Nairobi distributor, Mbugua this year extended his reach from Mombasa to Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisumu and other remote areas with niche resorts.

Approaching his 10 year anniversary in the business, Mbugua desired to broaden distribution throughout East Africa and into Ethiopia.

He recognised that as part of the expansion she needed to move beyond hiring only his family and friends and instead retain unrelated professionals at all levels of the business. Mbugua also realised that he required outside assistance in order to push through the evolution.

He drafted an announcement seeking consulting services and placed a brief advertisement. He received a plethora of consulting proposals. Stunned by the high sticker price of the international management consulting conglomerates, he decided to invite three local low-priced bidders for presentations.

Each of the three low-cost consultants pitched their ideas to Mbugua and his team. During the presentations, he went on Google and found much of the content just a few clicks away.

In questioning the firms, he understood clearly that the consultants had just downloaded content the day before and did not truly know the subject matter. So Mbugua switched gears and invited three of the large multinational firms to pitch.

The night and day difference between the two pitches stunned him and, despite the price tag, Mbugua went with one of the large entities.

However, the proposed solution by the large multinational consulting firm did not meet with Mbugua’s expectations. He felt that the firm tried to fit his situation into the consultant’s standard model and could not make the local context come alive in the solution. Stuck with no workable solution, what should Mbuguua do next?

Those of us from Kenya or who have lived here for any amount of time know that our nation stands out as one of the most densely populated with consultants in the world.

Kenya holds self-purported experts in every possible discipline. So the wary business owner must spend considerable time separating the wheat from the chaff.

Kenya hosts the big four accounting and audit firms that also retain consulting divisions: PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst and Young, KPMG, and Deloitte thrive as market leaders. Global management consulting giants McKinsey & Company now operate a Nairobi office.

Many of the colossal international consulting firms grew out of partnering with leading local entities or buying out Kenyan firms as well as consolidating globally.

Kenya struggled with a void by missing strong middle-tier consulting firms that could move beyond one-man shows, develop their own brand and structures, and create strong content to rival the large international partnerships.

Organisational behaviour research conducted at the world’s leading universities clearly shows the importance of local context, customs and culture in the success of consulting interventions.