The Shameless Copycatting in Kenyans Worsens Existing Economic Challenges

"First" and "Fast" are two interchangeable words in Kenya. Commercially speaking, the first-mover advantage belongs to the one who went in to the market faster than the others but many times in Kenya, the last-mover advantage is golden. One looks around then decides to copy another entrepreneur's idea and proceeds to invest without researching the available market possibilities. And lo and behold, they are respected investors overnight.

In the late eighties and early nineties, many retiring civil servants ventured into the posho mill business and literally saturated the market for the cohort. The following year retirees went into the egg production business and caused a glut.

The quail eggs idea came and went. Now Uber and Bolt are en vogue. One more example. Everyday, a new Matatu enters the ever diminishing transport market guaranteeing a longer return period on investment.

The Ministry of Economic Planning churns out useful data annually and the statistics bureau always has readily available information that entrepreneurs and copy cats can use to make informed decisions. But we are special. The evidence of a new venture in the market is enough to get going into "me too" mode. If he or she sets it up, then they must be right. That thinking is an added curse on an already challenging commercial environment.

It's high time that the freedom to do whatever one wants to do within the law is tested against the laws on economic sabotage. If one willingly ignores available data and proceeds to saturate a chosen market by investing what will never make a return, then they waste resources whilst spoiling the market for established players. They will poach staff from safe jobs and lead them down a precarious path a few months to a year down the road. And that too is a form of economic sabotage for getting tax payers out of employment.

Why can't Uber or Bolt for instance provide statistics and advice for those thinking of venturing into the App hailing business? And why can't every industry watchdog do the same in their respective fields?

The entrepreneurial herd mentality in us needs to be broken so that many are liberated from a continuous holding area akin to that used at the Kenya Meat Commission to hold excess livestock for days before slaughter, and allowed to redirect their energies elsewhere aided by useful data.

It's time every new business registration application is analysed before getting the greenlight. Since the sixties, the Ministry of Trade has and still has the Kenya Institute of Business Training - KIBT that is sufficiently funded to train SMEs. No one should be allowed to get into the market like a brood of free range chickens, for their groping in the dark carries with it a huge economic cost.

The copy cat mentality could also disrespect the legal implications around intellectual property rights.

What we see in the copy-paste mentality is partly the result of the absence of timely data needed to make quality decisions. It's high time those not doing their jobs around information sharing are sent home, for their failures are costing us big time.