How a manufacturer saved his employees jobs, after turning to home furniture

The coronavirus pandemic might have come as a catastrophe for many, but for some, it was an opportunity to innovate ad make a kill.

Just a week into the COVID-19 pandemic announced in mid-march, everything appeared to go south for Bucon Furnitures Limited, a local firm that specialized in the manufacture of office furniture.

Orders worth millions of shillings were either canceled or put on hold. It could not have happened at a worse time as the company had just expanded its operations.

He had also acquired a factory space and purchased Sh30 million worth of new state-of-the-art machinery. There were loans to service and rents and salaries to pay too.

According to the proprietor of the firm, Daniel Munene, a lot more cash was tied up in the purchase of raw material to service the now canceled orders.

“By the end of March, our machines had gone silent which is a worrying scenario for a factory that is ever in production,” said Munene during the interview at the factory located in Hemma Godowns along Enterprise Road in Nairobi’s Industrial Area. He pleaded, but in vain, with those whose orders were put on hold.

“I persuaded them to allow the production of their orders to continue but none wanted to commit citing the unpredictable business environment because of the pandemic.”

One of the clients even told him they had opted to close down some branches meaning there were no employees to use the furniture. The few employees who were lucky to remain would work from home, he was informed.

One evening Munene knew it was time to bite the bullet. The following morning, he drove to the factory earlier than usual. He, too, wanted to send his workers home until things changed. He was here to work out their send-off terms.

But as he went around the factory alone shortly before six o’clock he felt disturbed at the thought of sending his workers home.

“To be honest I felt tears swell up in my eyes as I imagined what would happen to my workers who I knew had no other source of income outside this factory,” said Munene adding some workers have been in the firm for over 25 years.

As he took his packed breakfast he came up with the idea of turning to home office furniture targeting the obvious high number of people working away from their offices due to COVID-19. This provided the much-needed turning point.

“I still held the staff meeting scheduled for 9 am only that the agenda had changed and it was now a strategy meeting on how we were going to make furniture to meet the needs and expectations of those working from their houses,” said Munene with a smile.

The client who had disappointed Munene when he talked about the closure of branches referred him to a few senior managers who would be working from home. This is how the initial orders were realized. The machines were switched on and the factory came back to life, again!

To date, the company has supplied furniture, either directly or through its listed suppliers, to more than six hundred homes in Nairobi and other counties.

“We encourage people working from home to always use recommended office chair and table so that they do not compromise their health due to poor posture,” said Munene.

The firm is also custom-making office furniture for individual customers depending on the available space in their houses. This entails sending its representative to take measurements and advise on the size of the needed furniture.

Munene is of the view that during this crisis triggered by the Coronavirus pandemic employers should become more creative to keep businesses afloat if only for the plight of their workers and their families.

“The government should continue encouraging its agencies to always buy locally manufactured furniture because this way we create and sustain jobs of our ever hardworking workforce,” he said.

Munene, who founded Bucon Furnitures more than thirty years ago, castigates what he calls unscrupulous government procurement officers who prefer imported furniture for the fact that is not durable meaning they keep procuring new ones every so often thereby increasing opportunities to make money through corrupt deals.

“If only procurement departments in the public and private sectors embraced locally manufactured furniture the industry can create and sustain millions of jobs and boost cash circulation within the country,” said Munene.

The 62-year-old businessman says he occasionally travels to China, Malaysia, Italy, and other countries to benchmark, adding the machinery he has invested in is the same one used in those countries.

“We are committed to our moto Jenga Kenya tupate ajira which is a plea to consumers to always support us through buying locally manufactured furniture,” said Munene.