BUSINESS CASE METHODS · 2026

Property economics,
without the guesswork.

Many PropTech pitches promise lower operating costs or higher occupancy. Those outcomes are worth testing—not inventing. Start with a consistent baseline, clearly labeled assumptions and a measurable pilot.

This article is a methodology and hypothetical model. It does not report JengoPesa client outcomes, market-wide Kenyan rental benchmarks or a verified return on investment.
01 · START WITH PROVENANCE

What a credible property case study needs.

Before publishing a numeric saving, record the building, measurement period, comparable control or before/after baseline, the exact denominator, sourced expenses, occupancy definition and full operating costs. A developer's completed units must not be confused with legally leasable inventory; a signed lease is not the same as collected cash.

Vacancy

Use dated unit-level availability, tours, signed leases and first occupancy. Count only market-ready rentable units.

Maintenance

Measure time-to-triage and time-to-resolution separately. Track parts, labor, revisits and customer satisfaction.

Utilities

Use verified meter reads, tariff effective dates, included allowances, recovery, disputes, losses and actual settlement evidence.

Total cost

Include devices, commissioning, gateways, connectivity, software, training, service, replacements, taxes and payment fees.

A BUSINESS CASE YOU CAN CHALLENGE

Replace vague savings claims
with your own assumptions.

These calculators are transparent financial thought experiments, not verified JengoPesa customer case studies or predicted outcomes. Adjust the inputs to see sensitivity before evaluating a pilot.

MODEL OUTPUT · ANNUAL SCENARIOKsh 80,000

Illustrative net value after assumed costs — may be negative.

Hypothetical vacancy revenue opportunityKsh 70,000
Hypothetical admin time capacityKsh 130,000
Assumed annual platform cost−Ksh 120,000
Calculation and exclusions

Vacancy opportunity = relevant units or turnovers × days × (monthly rent ÷ 30). Admin capacity = hours × loaded hourly cost × 52 weeks. These are potential gross values, not guaranteed incremental cash flow. Vacancy demand, occupancy, collection risk, marginal staffing value, implementation, taxes, training, hardware, payment fees and other costs can materially change results.

Discuss a measured pilot ↗Read all assumptions and exclusions →
02 · INTERPRET RESULTS CAREFULLY

Capacity is not cash.

Fewer administrative hours might enable faster responses without reducing payroll. Faster leasing may increase rent collected only if a suitable tenant is available, the unit is ready and the rent is actually paid. A utility allowance model can improve transparency without reducing physical usage. Avoid double-counting the same benefit under multiple categories.

How we would validate a pilot

  1. Agree the participating buildings and a baseline measurement period.
  2. Define responsible data owners, authorized access, occupancy denominators, and a comparison method.
  3. Capture implementation costs and any staff work shifted rather than eliminated.
  4. Measure service outcomes, invoice disputes, vacancy days, resident satisfaction and receipts.
  5. Publish only independently checked changes with limitations, exclusions and the date range.

Data limitation: No named customer, audited project dataset or verified performance study was supplied for this page. Illustrative scenarios are not labelled case studies.

Scope an evidence-backed pilot ↗