Jamie Pujara is the co-founder of BuyRentKenya, a real estate company, connecting people with verified real estate agents, private sellers and landlords in all regions of Kenya.
He established the company and later, he alongside his partner, left to focus on the family business, Tin Tin Restaurant.
Following the success of BuyRentKenya, Jamie was committed to ensure that the restaurant stayed afloat in the ever-changing hospitality industry.
However, as fate would have it, this venture was not successful, forcing him to explore new opportunities within the real estate industry.
Here is his entrepreneurial story as told by EAFeed.
Jamie was among the minds that established and steered BuyRentKenya to become one of the most trusted property portals in Kenya.
However, after two rounds of fundraising for BuyRentKenya, Jamie and his business partner sold the business in 2017.
Tin Tin Restaurant, located at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) has been in existence since 1978.
Jamie wanted to ensure that the business remained open, and he achieved this by adopting a new business strategy.
In an interview with Business Daily, he noted that the business had to undergo some changes including introduction of affordable lunch options.
“We we launched smaller cafeterias in strategic locations in Nairobi to fulfill this need. Competition is important because it forces people to be creative and innovative. The Kenya middle class doesn’t grow as fast as the new restaurants on eateries that are being opened,” he said.
The new strategy worked but he wasater forced to close down following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Using data from his time at BuyRentKenya, Jamie out his money into real estate with Aspire Heights, which is in course to deliver 65-unit apartment complex in Riruta.
The units are comprised of spacious apartments with a serene valley view, open floor lounge and dining rooms, modern kitchens and 2 and 3 plush ensuite bedrooms.
The décor consists of stone and paint exteriors, and hand picked signature selection of vitrified tiles, aluminum tinted windows, high quality granite kitchen tops and MDF wardrobes in all bedrooms.
“We looked at the data on the areas that are up and coming and Riruta was on my radar, and with BuyRentKenya gone, I thought of getting into property development which is about aspirational living,” he explained.
Like any other people in business, Jamie has faced challenges including access to capital and unpredictablity of cash flow.
“Unpredictable cash flow is probably the hardest one to juggle because it makes it a lot more difficult to plan in terms of investments and decision-making,” he said.
For his success, Pujara was spotlighted in Business Africa Daily’s Top 40 under 40 list of businessmen in 2015 and named twice to Forbes’ list of 30 Most Promising Entrepreneurs in Africa (2016, 2017).
