Kelly Shankaya is in the real estate brokerage business where his work covers arranging the selling or renting of houses, land, offices, or buildings for their owners. And, he is a DSTV dish installer. This unusual combination prompted us to ask Kelly:
Which came first? The real estate or dish installing? And when did you start?
The dstv business came first and it was the dstv business that made me venture into real estate business because most of the time that I was in the field doing dstv installations, I would see some real estate opportunities. People seemed to be always shifting from one place to another, and I started to ask the owners of the houses if I could help to find them other tenants.
Before long, I started to have some clients and I opened my real estate page. I started without any particular qualifications or paper; just a passion.
I am hoping that in the next 5 years I start to buy and sell properties, specifically land.
What made you choose this business?
I wanted work which would expose me to a lot of places, and see what other people are doing. I never really wanted to work in an office. Before, when I worked in an office it made me feel so confined.
So when I got this job of installations, it helped me spread my wings.
Which takes up more of your time?
Dstv takes much of my time, because people love entertainment… ‘Too much’. So they are upgrading their television systems every day.
Have you ever had a bad experience at a location when installing a dish?
Yes, I have had some bad experiences. I remember I failed to install a dish on two occasions, one was an Indian dish, where the client wanted to watch some Indian channels and the other one was a Turkish client. In both cases, I failed to find their frequency. Quite embarrassing.
How far have you travelled to do your real estate work? What did you like about it? What did you not like about it?
I haven’t travelled much. The furthest I have travelled to do my real estate is Kabwe.
What I like about it is when I make a sale, I make quite a large amount of money. Which I am able to re-invest in something else.
What I don’t like about it is that sometimes it takes time to make a sale. And can test your patience. You need a lot of dedication.
Where can clients find you?
On social media, specifically, Facebook and WhatsApp.
