Building my dream, one stone at a time

Sasha Mutai, Quantity surveyor.

Have you been to Two Rivers Mall? Then you are familiar with one of Alexander ‘Sasha’ Mutai’s projects. See, Sasha is a quantity surveyor. One of the people you call when putting up a construction to look at the plans the architect has drawn and to tell you exactly how much you will spend.

If you want, he can tell you exactly how many bags of cement you may need.  This is a path that was inspired by his elder sister, enough that when he felt ready to dive in, he went to school and got a BA in building economics and years later, would start his firm from his bedroom. He shares the highs and lows of his entrepreneurial journey.

First things first, how much would I make if I decided to be a quantity surveyor?

Oh, you need lots of patience to strike it rich. The fees paid to quantity surveyors are determined by the Scale of Fees as outlined in CAP 525.

There are minimum set fees, but these days, fees are mostly negotiated. The fees paid to a QS typically range from one to a three per cent of the total construction cost. But I don’t know anyone who’s charged three per cent in the last 30 years!

Take us to the beginning

I was inspired to join the profession first by my sister who is today one of the directors at our firm, ANM Consultants. Then there was QS Stanley Murage, who was my first employer at Armstrong & Duncan, one of the oldest firms in the region and where I learnt the ropes of the profession.

After working for three years, I sat and passed my professional Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors (BORAQS) exams.

Three months later, I quit to register my own practice, ANM Consultants in 2004. I started the firm from my bedroom in Kilimani

, before moving to Gordon Melvin House on 4th Ngong Avenue. I already had my desk and chair, printer, computer and software. All I needed was minimal rent.

What do you wish you knew before setting out?

 One of the mistakes I made early on in my profession was to try and do everything by myself despite recruiting the best graduates and training them to be some of the best quantity surveyors.

Today, I delegate more but I am still very hands on. Another mistake I made in business was lack of diversity. When one industry is down, as is the current situation in the construction industry, one must have other streams of income. I have slowly but surely been correcting this.

What was your first project with your own firm?

Oh I remember. Peter Thomas, an established architect, gave me a chance, considering I was a rookie. It was a housing development for Elmwood along Miotoni West Road in Karen.

At one point you had to close your firm…

Yes. In 2011.  I was called to become a partner at YMR Partnership and had to wind up my firm. In 2017 however, I sold my stake in the business to Mace (UK) with a one year non-compete clause and so in 2018, I revived ANM Consultants.  Currently, we have four directors, one consultant, and six contracted quantity surveyors. Apart from quantity surveying, we offer development advisory and management, deal origination, capital structuring and raising, as well as procurement advisory services.

What have been your biggest projects?

That would be the Two Rivers Mall, Two Rivers Infrastructure, Sanlam House, Windsor Park, Deerpark Development, Crystal Edge Apartments, Windsor Golf Hotel extensions, among many others.

What would you say employment taught you?

Definitely the importance of attending site and client meetings if I can. I believe that if a client is paying for a service, you should give 100 per cent of yourself. You must respect the client, the project, your profession and yourself.

How do you market your skills?

We get appointed purely by reputation. Previous clients come back because of the professional services we render. We also get new commissions by referral from satisfied clients. Quantity surveyors are governed by CAP 525 of the Laws of Kenya, and advertising is considered unprofessional.

Your costing must involve some negotiations. How does one become a good business negotiator?

Do some due diligence, be patient, listen to the other parties, gauge body language and consult before making commitments. Again, ego is the enemy. One must look at the other party’s point of view. I believe in justice, so I would always like an equitable solution.

Happy people are always better to work with. So, no, I am not a shark. I like happy people, but you cannot make all the people happy all the time. A leader in negotiations must also be decisive and make the call. I have been in such situations many times. I get to learn from these experiences. As the old adage says, ‘You can’t buy experience.’

What is a key character trait in your profession?

Integrity is key in the profession. We handle clients’ contractual and financial matters, and if one does not have integrity, it is easy to collude with dishonest contractors and suppliers at the expense of the client. I love a good night’s sleep knowing that I have carried out my professional duties with integrity and to the best of my ability.

What are the key challenges in your profession?

There are clients who pay late or hold on to our fees despite having done a professional job. There are also contractors who try to cut corners and outmaneuver consultants. We also have some clients negotiating unbelievably low fees and some in our field accept such low fees thus distorting the professional space. We must respect ourselves and our professions since it takes good grades, years of good mentoring and years of practice and integrity to achieve recognition in the profession.

Any future plans for ANM?

As we pick up more projects from 2021, we plan to expand our workforce and expand into Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. But like I said, I am working on diversifying my interests into various things.

Things like?

I am about to launch an app; the FitViu app. My personal trainer and I realised that there is a growing gap between those in need of fitness and wellness services and the current providers. The traditional gym models will soon be outdated as innovative mediums sprout everywhere. The app, currently at a pre-seed funding stage, will turn my passion for sports into profit.

Our team is currently talking to several local companies and some venture capitalists to get the funding to launch and scale the platform in 2021. The businesses of the future (the future is now) are all about convenience, satisfying needs and availed on personal devices and smartphones.

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