In 2009, while working as a technical assistant with the African Development Bank (AfDB), Jean-Philippe Kayobotsi was seconded to the Rwandan government to work on formulation of private sector policies and strategies.

After successfully completing his assignment, Kayobotsi decided to explore the country, with investment ambitions in mind.

But even way before this visit, he had already nursed entrepreneurial ambitions: "It’s just that I didn’t know which sector I wanted to venture in. So I used this opportunity to look around and see what sector would interest me.”

It was important to find a sector that was not only interesting to him, but also profitable.

"At some point before 2009, I was looking at large scale projects like mining and infrastructure, and hoping that one day I would raise the required capital. Eventually, I had to settle for a project whose start-up cost was not so high,” explains Kayobotsi, who is half Rwandan and half Belgian.

Starting Brioche Pastries and Bakery

Eventually, the decision to venture into bread and pastries seemed to come naturally to him, giving birth to the Brioche Pastries and Bakery at the Kigali Business Center (KBC) in Kimihurura. Not only was it relatively affordable in terms of start-up costs, it also represented a true passion he had acquired while in Belgium.

Brioche is actually the name of a popular kind of bread in Europe.

Opened in 2013, Brioche Pastries and Bakery will have been in business for two years next month. Over these past two years, the business has been able to expand to two more locations, one in Nyarutarama, and another on the lower grounds of the Grand Pension Plaza.

During this period, the size of the workforce has grown from 12 pioneer employees to 65 currently. Each of the three branches employs between 6-8 workers, while about 40 more staffers are spread between the production and administration departments.

They have a central bakery unit at the new industrial park, and that supplies not just the three branches, but also a select corporate clientele.

The Nyarutarama branch is bigger and less exclusive, with more seating possibilities. It also offers a wider option for food, with things like hamburgers, pizza, and pastas prominent on the menu.

The KBC branch exudes the aura of a take-away, while the outlet at the Grand Pension Plaza is the more sophisticated, more upmarket of the three.

Even with this, Kayobotsi says: "The idea started in 2009, we implemented it in May 2013, and it’s still growing. It’s continuous work where you constantly have to question your concept and the investment to see if it will work.”

Standing across the road from the KBC complex in Kimihurura, Brioche exudes a rather continental aura about it.

Indeed, the feeling you get is that you could as well have found it in any other world capital.

"We shipped in quite a few things,” Kayobotsi explains: "those which are not manufactured locally, and those that were either of low quality, or more expensive on the local market.” He hastens to add:”But the reason it looks continental is not because we shipped in stuff. It’s because we wanted it that way. We wanted something different.”

Having had a chance to be exposed to other ideas, concepts and designs in Europe and elsewhere, Kayobotsi thought it was a good opportunity to bring this experience home.

What Brioche represents

In a way, the emergence of home-grown, high-value brands like Brioche represents many things:

The government’s vision of developing high-end and business tourism through initiatives like MICE, which in turn gives rise to support sectors like hospitality. It also points to a new optimism in private sector powered growth and, at a pragmatic level, the job opportunities it presents to the country’s youths.

Otherwise, Kayobotsi also thinks that it’s all about that indomitable feeling – the notion that anything is possible in the Rwanda of today; that Rwandans in particular, and Africans in general deserve the best.

And memories of the early days are still fresh on his mind: "When we opened some people came here just to thank us for opening something that was beautifully different.”

Skills vs mindset

Kayobotsi is a firm believer in "attitude and mindset”, as opposed to skills when sourcing staff: "Skills you can acquire, and for most of our work at Brioche, the skills are not difficult to acquire. For instance we have trained some people to make cakes from scratch, people who literally did not know cake before.”

Asked what made attitude and mindset stronger qualities to posses than skills, he pulls out a Rwf5,000 note from his pocket, holds it up and explains: "If I dropped this note somewhere along the street, so many people would perhaps run very fast to try and claim it. But few people are willing to walk quickly while on a job for which they are paid.”

He believes that it all boils down to "a lack of discipline, professionalism, and work ethics,” that there "has to be some kind of dignity and self-respect” about an employee’s overall work ethic.

Doing business in Rwanda

Like many start-ups, Kayobotsi, cites high taxes as a major challenge.

"The only consolation is that at least in Rwanda, we know where the taxes are going, and it helps to know that.”

"High employment taxes also mean that some start-ups are limited on the number of staff they can take on.”

Other challenges include that of a relatively small local hospitality and food industry.

Overall, however, he is positive about many things: The efficiency of the immigration services, which makes it easy to bring in skilled labor from abroad in critical sectors, the investment in infrastructure like transport and ICT, and improved online banking services.

"When I came here in 2009, it was really poor. Even the Rwanda Revenue Authority’s online tax payment system has become quite smooth over this time. Thanks to RwandaAir, air travel in Rwanda has tremendously improved.

Even the clearance of goods, though still painfully slow at times, is moving in the right direction.”

After a long pause he adds: "Here you can break new ground. You can create something new, at least for the country or the region.”

On entrepreneurship

To him, the concept of entrepreneurship means being free and not free at the same time.

"You are not free because there are different categories of people on which you are dependent – like customers, staff, suppliers, and shareholders.”

"At the same time, you are free because you can choose: you choose strategy, whom to employ, and you choose when to change tact. As an entrepreneur, you define your own vision. You can choose whether to have five points of sale, or 500 points of sale. You can decide whether to operate in Rwanda, or in Africa. You can define yourself in terms of the standards to be achieved.”

He believes that entrepreneurship is all about the rush of adrenaline, "because every day there is something new to handle, something new to learn as well.

"Ask if you love to study new domains and sub fields, because a company or even country that does not move forward, is actually moving backwards. You need to learn about the opportunities elsewhere, and the threats –like new regulations, and new players in your sector. At all times, you have to question if you are moving ahead, because if not, then you are moving backwards.”

"Roller-coaster” is the term he uses to describe the experience of Brioche’s two-year existence:

"One day, you are riding on a high, another day you are low. Other times, you experience highs and lows in a single day, and that in a way makes the experience even more exciting. I would say it’s been a journey of learning and excitement, with its lows, of course.”

The future

Kayobotsi is rather modest, if not guarded in his response when asked to project the future: "It all depends on the development of the country as a whole. As Brioche we play a very small part in that development but we do not control it.”

"It would be interesting to venture into the region because it pushes our limits. Facing bigger competition makes us better because it’s always better to stretch outside your comfort zone in terms of service, logistics, and management policies.”