Covid-19 pandemic threw so much in the world’s economy.
From drawing strategy to new inventions and completely new fields in business, it has been tough for most of the businesses all over.
For a Kenyan entrepreneur, it provided a revelation like no other and when opportunities came knocking, the firm grabbed each one of them with confidence.
For Rogers Okuta, money matters in business, even when you’re a successful entrepreneur or starting off.
The owner of Reca Two a collection of a trendsetting business — doesn’t rest on his laurels when running his business.
“When you’re making purchases for a company like this, a couple of cents here and there can tilt the scales dramatically,” said Rogers, who opened the company after working for a leading British Security outfit.
“When the pandemic became something beyond anything we could ever have imagined, the margins became more important than ever.”
As 2022 begins, Rogers feels the company has gained its footing from that painful day in early 2020 when a hospitality business he run was forced to furlough almost its entire staff as the coronavirus raged out of control.
“When we closed the business, we laid off many people. Like most independent service providers, we weren’t sitting on a big pile of cash to weather the storm.”
What he did, though, was pivot from business-as-usual to a tighter, leaner, and even more focused approach to reopening his restaurants in a methodical, orderly fashion. While two locations have closed for good, Rogers completely overhauled his flagship business, opened a new strand, and has resumed operations in the new set up that is set to change everything.
“People in the service provision community are pretty good at making things happen,” he said.
“In building back the company, we learned to prioritize what was important. And we just slowly but surely put Humpty Dumpty back together again.”
A perfect example of how Reca Two has become hyper-focused on managing expenses is the company’s use referrals and old customers, something that provides small businesses with access to new frontiers and business opportunities.
“We provide security and associated business service for everyone, so, yeah, I like to offer new enhanced services and plans for the business community,” Rogers said.
An experienced executive in the security service industry, Rogers brought rigor to the enterprise — focusing on planning and organizing every aspect of the business, and communicating openly to all stakeholders.
“What I did when I started out, and for many years afterward, was none of those things,” admitted Rogers, a Nairobi-born and raised native who worked in Spain and the United Kingdom before settling in Nairobi.
Recently, two leading global security service providers tapped the Kenyan firm as their local representative.
America Vikings Security and British Vantage Security have Reca Two Limited, a Nairobi-based firm to handle their sales and penetration into the East Africa region with a promise of offering cut-throat products in the security services industry.
Rogers, whose Kenyan franchise launched in 2021 sees the prospect of the burgeoning economy and increased need for top-level security in Kenya and the region.
The expansion of the East African Community to rope in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan offer encouraging prospects that the two companies seek to exploit.
British Vantage Security with a 30-year-old presence in the security & surveillance industry.
“Vantage has seen the industry being conceived and mature over time and have been at the forefront of every technological breakthrough. We stand here today bringing security technology to the world, which helps us realize our philosophy of “Keeping You Safe”.
“As a principal security services provider, we offer tailor-made solutions across markets and have a direct presence in the UK, USA, Hong Kong, UAE and India which helps us cater to over 45 countries worldwide,” said the company in a statement.
Rogers, says of his company partner’s visions that include Viking Electronics designs and manufactures over 500 security and communication products such as Emergency Phones, Entry Systems, Paging Interfaces, Amplifiers, Mass Notification Systems, Hot Line Phones, Auto Dialers, Enclosures, and more are well designed to cater for the local market.
“In addition to our extensive analogue line, Viking also offers a large selection of IP based solutions. Viking’s VoIP products are SIP compliant, with features such as built-in relays and automatic noise cancelling,” Rogers says of products they will offer to their clients in the country.
“We are continually developing new ideas using the latest technology to expand our product lines. As always, Viking products are designed, manufactured, and supported in the USA and backed by a two-year limited warranty,” say Viking in a statement.
“I bounced around like a pinball, moving whenever opportunity came knocking.”
For years, Rogers has stayed put, realising that the best opportunity for him — as an IT specialist and entrepreneur — was to work with a small but devoted leadership team to make the most out of Reca Two.
But their meticulous business model was certainly tested by the onset of the pandemic, which has brutalized industries. As the economy slowly reopened after the vagaries of 2020 and 2021 Corona pandemic, Rogers became even more determined to set up an enterprise that offered more and more to the business community and.
As he looks to the future, Rogers remains wary of being too bold in expanding Reca Two, given the uncertainty that remains around the pandemic.
“2022 is a year in which we’ll dial in our operations and be an employer of choice, which is so important in a tight labor market,” he explained. “We’ll focus on running the business efficiently and being the best we can be.”
Additional reporting by Derek Otieno
