For those of you familiar with the movie 300, the Spartan army back in the 10th century was revered for its military prowess. They were distinct both in their military gear and in their fighting skills. Well, distinct is a quality that defines our guest entrepreneur’s grind. Coincidentally, ‘spartans’ is how he and his peers would refer to themselves while in campus at Michigan State University. David Onyonka is the executive director at TSG Realty, which was initially known as Spartan Developers. Their developments are known for their distinctiveness and have received recognition in the East African Property Awards and the Real Estate Excellence Awards. What is even more interesting is that David is not an architect. He studied computer engineering but somehow found himself in the building and construction industry. The Inquisitor sought to learn his story.

How does a computer engineering graduate find himself in the real estate industry?
A mixture of luck and fate! chuckles
Luck because, the timing of when I got into the industry was favorable and fate because I knew innately that I would be an entrepreneur. I had been in the United States for 11 years, 5 of which I spent at Daimler Chrysler as a project manager. I came back to Kenya with no plan of what I was going to do. I just showed up here. As I was trying to figure out how to get into the Kenyan scheme of things, an opportunity to oversee an ongoing building development arose which I took up. Initially, I thought it would be temporary, but I liked it so much that I ended up setting up a company with a friend of mine and the rest is history.

At some point in life, we find ourselves drifting towards our passions and chasing the dreams we had as children. Would you say that you are living your dream?
I think I am! Personally, I believe that the people who are most fortunate and successful in life are those that figure out what they love to do very early.
I was always fascinated by the design and aesthetics of buildings from an early age, but I never envisioned being the guy that would be building them. It all came together in a way that I would never have imagined.
I think life leads you to where you are supposed to be if you give it a chance. If you take a leap occasionally, you sort of end up where you are supposed to be. But you certainly must put in some effort.

“Our Daring Drives Your Reality” is a tag on your website that describes your brand’s promise at TSG Realty. Share with us some brief background of TSG Realty.
TSG Realty started out 10 years ago as Spartan Developers. My co-founder and I were both uninspired by the building developments that were coming up at the time and so we decided that we would offer something unique in the market.
We were young and broke but with a dream! Our initial plan was to develop one building and then quit. But after we finished the first project, more opportunities came our way because of the impressive work we had done. These were largely through referrals. We currently have a portfolio of seven properties with two more still coming up.
It is unreal in its own way, but it is because we dared to follow our dreams! We sometimes look back and wonder, “Have we really done this?”

Your developments such as “Kirichwa Creek” and “The Courtyard at Vanga” have been recognized for their uniqueness. What are the inspirations behind these creations?
We try to push the envelope because if it can be done in Europe or the United States, then it can be done here as well. You will always recognize any one of our developments because there will be something different about it.

What impact has the Covid-19 pandemic had on the real estate sector and how is TSG Realty coping?
COVID-19 practically brought things to a halt! Right when it hit, we had three sites running at the same time and our contractor insisted that we stop because of uncertainty of the safety protocols that we needed to implement. It affected our functionality and delivery times on projects that were running but we were fortunate because these projects were nearing completion.
Most of our properties are furnished and serviced apartments which were largely frequented by foreign clients. The freeze on air travel and the return of these clients back to their home countries has had a devastating impact on the business. This situation has forced us to reimagine the future and to reinvent ourselves!
Besides trying to find new markets for our rental properties, we almost have to imagine what the new house would look like as the concept of working from home has been touted as the new normal.

At a time like this, where do you get different perspectives and constructive challenge on the way you manage your business?
My partner and I work with a diverse and experienced team. However, the idea of establishing a board has been an ongoing conversation between the two of us. We have had so much on our plate for the past ten years and even after growing our portfolio to where it is currently, it still feels as though we are in startup mode. We still feel like there is so much that we need to learn, but this is a feeling we need to outgrow.
Our headcount is now at two hundred and counting, and as the business continues to grow, a board would add great value to the business.

As an Executive Director at TSG, talk to us about how you balance between leading your team in such a difficult period as well as ensuring the business stays afloat.
Our work environment was never the conventional 8 am to 5 pm routine. We have always let our staff figure out how to work best. Of course, we have had to adjust our operations as have others, but I am proud to say that we have not laid off anybody due to COVID. We have managed to keep our operations going and I continue to challenge our team to reimagine their jobs and think differently because the work environment as we knew it is going to change.

In your mind, what does the “New Normal” look like?
I see the pandemic as a disruption. It is as though we were all on autopilot or running on a treadmill in terms of how we used to live our lives: wake up, go to work, come back to the house, repeat. What has happened is that this pandemic has put a spanner in the works and everyone has been forced to pause. We must now innovate and look at safety and hygiene in a different way.
In the new normal, we all must figure out what we really like to do because we have learnt that everything can be gone in an instant! COVID has taken a way so much from people. We must think about what we like to do and what our passions are and then figure out how to make a living out of it.

What do you look forward to in 2021?
The 2021 script is still being written but my guess is that it is going to be a year of recovery. My advice to people is that you could either choose to write that script yourself or have someone else write it for you. You must make that decision. It could either be about what happened to you or what you caused to happen. I prefer to be the latter.

David mentioned that he never once envied his superiors while he was in employment. He never saw himself rising to their positions as he viewed life from a totally different angle. He also mentions something that we are all familiar with and which fits perfectly well with his story: when you love what you do, it does not feel like work anymore. It feels like play. My guess is that this is the reason why he still feels like he is in startup mode. But even so, he acknowledges that he, together with his partner, will not be able to do everything on their own. Hence the reason why they have ensured they have a strong internal support structure to help them manage the business.

The Inquisitor.