Business without boundaries -The Africa Edition Part 2

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This week's update is the final instalment of our Africa Edition with a spotlight on a Gambian born property developer and visionary who provides much needed social housing for local people as well as fulfilling the demand for quality homes and land for Gambian and foreign buyers and investors. Introducing Bubacarr Jaiteh, a Property Entrepreneur and the CEO of Kerr Finder Real Estate.

Bubacarr meets us on site at his latest development and greets us with a friendly handshake and big smile and proceeds to show us around a brand new three bedroom home in a relatively new community in a rural area of The Gambia. The bright white external walls and accents of vibrant orange are striking and unique and stands out from other properties we’ve seen on our travels across the country. The interior is bright and airy and would make a nice Pied-a-tere or family home for any buyer.

The area has benefited from much needed development, thanks to Bubacarr and his team, and is beginning to feel like the start of a new community, with a few completed bungalows featuring large imposing gates, positioned adjacent to the concrete foundations of another home under development.

Whilst there we can see that Bubacarr is very much in demand, but we take the opportunity to find out more about him and his property company, Kerr Finder. We asked the man, best known for building and selling homes to millionaires, a few questions.

Tell us about your childhood and upbringing?

Bubacarr was born and raised in Fajikunda, The Gambia and described himself as having a normal childhood. The son of a businessman, his father sells fabrics and mother is mainly a housewife, but makes her own income through small business ventures of her own.

One such venture was selling ice based products, ice juice, ice blocks, watermelon and other fruits. Bubacarr credits his entrepreneurship DNA with this early start and helping his mother with the business.

The learning for him didn’t end there, it in fact continued formally through higher education, when Bubacarr went on to study Electrical and Electronic Engineering combined with business in India where he was awarded an exclusive university scholarship. This was followed by an internship where he had to work exceptionally hard to stay on top of the competition which was exactly what he credits with maintaining his competitive edge to this day.

His first permanent paid role was at Nawec, National Water & Electrical Company in The Gambia, and prepared him for management, strategic thinking and the exposure to the key principles of how to run a company and was a great experience for the young graduate.

What inspired you to start Kerr Finder?

Bubacarr came across the concept of entrepreneurship through witnessing young people solving the problems of their society through entrepreneurship  - this was appealing and inspiring as was the relationship he built with friends. One friend in particular, specialised in business and finance, Ayman would spend many weeks and months discussing business and industry, for example why Coca Cola was so successful, why Nokia went out of market etc. This and his new found love of reading business books, such as the bestseller “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, Bubacarr, finally realised that he wanted to become a property and real estate entrepreneur and while working at Nawec, Bubacarr set-up Kerr Finder in 2015. 

What was your experience of starting Kerr Finder?

Starting in the industry was particularly challenging as Bubacarr had little to no experience in this industry, no contacts and minimal finance. However, with the help of a loan from his sister, savings, and his salary from Nawec, he was able to rent and furnish an office and buy a work vehicle.

The business was stable for a short time, but problems began soon after, as there was little to no sales and Bubacarr's salary was beginning to be swallowed up by staff costs and paying salaries which was in no way sustainable. The truth was that the business was slipping away and though he didn’t want to accept the business was failing, he had to reluctantly close its doors, which he describes as “one of the saddest moments in his life”. 

Not wanting to be defeated, he had a vision and knew if serious he’d need to quit his day job at Nawec and make a conscious decision to focus on building back his business from scratch. He knew it wouldn't be easy, and recognised that he would still need a second income to fund himself and the new start. He swiftly set up a kiosk at The Gambia College selling breakfast and lunch to the college and university students. He employed people to run the kiosk while he put his energy into Kerr Finder.

Without his own office, he began working alongside other agents in the streets of Senegambia, renting and selling properties for a commission. Eventually, his contacts book grew, his client base expanded and more importantly he was now starting to make a good income from commission. This income supported Bubacarr with building his own portfolio by buying and selling plots of land which later enabled the opening of a new office with a new team.

How would you describe your experience of building Kerr Finder and its impact on Gambians?

Kerr Finders has helped thousands of Gambians contributing to reducing the housing deficit and with helping house hunters to purchase their dream properties, taking the hassle out of the process. They are also widely known for providing secure investments to clients from within The Gambia and overseas.

Over the years they have employed hundreds of local people in management and administration as well as much needed trades and site workers, from Masons, Carpenters and Steel Workers. Corporate Social Responsibility is a major element of the company's values, and it is committed to providing education and inspiring young Gambian entrepreneurs to grow, and also providing them with a platform and incentive to thrive through the Gambian Foreign Base Player’s Awards.

What’s next for Kerr Finder?

The plan is to continue to grow and move into building and management of multi storey developments. They are currently building homes at Sukuta, Jabang and Brufut and building apartments in Dalaba. Bubacarr is excited to tell us about working on an exclusive gated community as their next big move.

What do you consider to be the key factors that have contributed to your success as an entrepreneur and what advice would you give to anyone thinking of starting a business in Africa?

"Firstly, persistence is key! When I want something I don’t rest until I get what I want, because I believe success disguises itself in the form of failure." He describes failure as a sign that you are getting closer and closer to succeeding, so do not stop! Bubacarr confesses that he can sometimes be annoyed by being told something isn’t possible just because it’s hard to achieve.

"The second bit of advice is, if you do what every other person does, you will get exactly what every other person gets, therefore if you want to be outstanding you need to go the extra mile and that often means, paying attention to detail. It wasn’t by chance that the houses we build look unique and much better than the others in the industry, it wasn’t by chance that clients feel at ease acquiring properties through us. All this has helped Kerr Finder get where we are today.”

How can people find you?

Email kerrfinder@gmail.com