billion while our profits have gone
from 800 million to five billion
shillings. This growth wouldn’t
have been possible without the
IPO. The stock market floatation
was the fundamental difference
between where we were and where
our competitors are.
It was also a question of looking
at what’s happening globally
with WPP, Omnicom and IPG.
WPP own about 3,000 companies
globally and they buy about 30 to
40 companies every year. This was
the blueprint to follow.
Frank: How do you keep your
feet on the ground? How do you
keep working hard despite being
a billionaire and soon a dollar
billionaire?
Bharat: It’s a relevant question
with many of us being
entrepreneurs. You’ll understand
this when I say that I didn’t start
one day and say I want to become
a billionaire.
Neither did I start a business.
I started an advertising agency
with my vision and dream being
to create an agency that spreads
tentacles across Africa. I wanted
to grow the business that would
outlive my person. It wasn’t about
making money. The money comes
as an incidental to doing a good
job - it wasn’t the main goal or
objective.
Even today, it’s not the goal to
make money despite the fact
that we are a listed company
with shareholders who require
the delivery of profits; the focus
is about growth and delivery of
quality work to the clients we
serve. Of course you have to run
a profitable business but the
objective is more about the growth
and the quality of work.
Every entrepreneur will relate to
that. If there’s an opportunity you
need to grab it and do it very well.
Frank: People talk about the
culture of agencies as the core
driver of growth. You’ve spoken
about scale, what culture have
you built around your business
that keeps them growing and
keeps them focused?
Bharat: Scanad has its own
culture which was initially the
pride of being a Kenyan agency
and now about being an African
agency. We have a very successful
operation in Uganda, Tanzania,
Rwanda and Ghana and it’s about
being local based with global
thinking. Scanad has always
been strongly an African culture
oriented and driven agency.
Frank: You’ve bought out some
of the major advertising brands
in the country including Ogilvy,
McCann and others. What
philosophy drives you when
buying and managing a business?
Bharat: There aren’t any emotions
from past dealings driving me to
buy these businesses it’s mainly
about growth objectives for
Scanad.
Frank: Tell us about Nigeria,
this was one market you failed to
penetrate into.
Bharat: Yes this in one of those
‘‘ It is important that you be able to add value,
volume and sales to your client in whatever
proposal or idea you give them. If you fail to
add these you are history. If you can add these
then you will be a star.’’
64 MAL 12/16 ISSUE
‘‘ It’s important to
remain focused,
involved, and close
to your people
especially those
that have helped
you get to where
you’ve got to.’’
times that I probably should
have been more humble. Our
success perhaps gave us an air of
arrogance and when we visited
agencies in Nigeria and saw that
we were much more sophisticated
in terms of quality, creativity and
other aspects we figured we would
steamroll over them.
One major lesson I learnt is
that you need to understand the
dynamics and the lay of the land
in whichever new market you are
going into. You can’t go into a new
market guns blazing.
It’s like how the South Africans
came into Kenya. They assumed
they knew better how to do things
and came with an attitude of we
know better and we’ll tell you
how to run things here. The next
thing they knew is that they went
running back home beaten with
tails between their legs.
It was the same thing with our
Nigerian debacle. You need to
understand the markets, create
suitable relationships, and make
the clients see and feel that you’ll
provide value for their money.
We are also less protective of our
industries here in Kenya. If the
Nigerians came and set up their
businesses here we wouldn’t really
be bothered and try to sabotage
them. For instance Aliko Dangote
is bringing his cement factory and
he has received all the necessary
clearance necessary. We wouldn’t