How to Start and Manage a Profitable Business in Kenya

With the rise in unemployment levels and the COVID-19 pandemic rendering many people jobless, there has been an increase in business start-ups in the country.

According to data from the national companies registry, the number of business names registered between July and September 2020 rose by 95% compared to the same period in 2019.
The pandemic reminded us of a very vital aspect of financial stability, which is to always have an alternative source of income.

That said, starting a business is relatively easy, especially now that people can register and set up a business online. The difficult part however, is in running the business to ensure that it becomes and remains profitable.

According to Christine Atieno, an entrepreneur who runs a successful online business, there are five key points that every business owner should consider when planning to set up a business.

The Market Demand of the good and service.

The easiest way to fall out of business as soon as you launch is by offering a service that is either oversaturated in the market or lacks demand. It is advisable to conduct a market research study to determine if at all there is demand for the product and if there is enough supply to meet the demand or not.

Your target audience.

Many businesses tend to target the entire population and this is where they go wrong. Businesses should always define who their target audience is, in great detail. They should know the gender of the audience, the age group, their economic status, their location, where they spend most of their time, the online sites they frequently use etc. This will enable the businesses to better target the customer and create products and services that best suit this customer. Ultimately, this increases their chances of making higher sales.

The funding and budget required.

As you test the viability of the business in the market, it is advisable to use the least amount of capital as possible. Do not be in a hurry to invest in expensive products when you are still young in the business. Start small and scale up as you rise. Many small businesses, in a bid to compete with the already established ones, may choose to invest in expensive packaging or setting up an expensive website. This makes the start-up cost very expensive and eventually, they will struggle to break even and probably shut down their business altogether.

The taxes that you will be required to pay.

For every busines or service offered, you will be required to remit a portion of your income or profit to the government in form of taxes. In Kenya, many businesses disregard the issue of taxes. However, failure to be tax compliant will be very detrimental to your business in the long run. Once discovered, the heavy fines that you will incur for not remitting your taxes may cost you your entire business and force you to shut down.

The competition in the market.

As much as it may be a difficult task, it is vital for businesses to closely monitor their competitors. As a business owner, you should always strive to offer a service or product that has a unique aspect that sets you apart from your competitors. This is what becomes your unique selling point. In addition to this, you should always strive to introduce new aspects that will continue setting you apart, whilst remembering that your competitors are also watching you and working to outdo your unique aspect.

If you are planning to start a business, keep these aspects in mind as you create your business plan. If you are already in business, it is not too late, you can revise your business strategy and include the above aspects to boost the performance of your business and ultimately chart a new path for yourself.

Goodbye 2020; Hello 2021

2020 has been quite the year. It’s the one year that we all want to forget and assume never happened as we embrace 2021 but in reality it’s the year that we will always remember.

For some of us it has been a difficult year forcing us to deal with our deepest fears, creating deep wounds and causing great grief. At the same time; it has been one of the best for some who have set up new projects, gone beyond their expectations and delivered far more than they thought they could.

It’s a gentle reminder of the reality that is the life we live here on earth and God’s superiority. We make plans for the future but only God can ascertain that future. This is the biggest lesson that I have learnt this year.

I have also learnt to plan for the future but live each day as it comes. It’s no use procrastinating starting that business, telling that special someone how you feel about them or even going for your dream holiday just do it if you can. You will be thankful you did as the years go by.

Lastly, I have learnt to embrace each season whether good or bad and try and look for the good however small in any season. When covid hit and we were all stuck at home; my extroverted self wondered how we would survive until I thought to take advantage of the season and do all those things that I had always wanted to do but couldn’t because there was just no time. I took advantage of the time and learnt new recipes, finished pending online courses and most importantly rested as much as I could.

I look forward to 2021 with renewed hope of a better year and definitely more blog posts for your lovely selves. See you soon and until then; keep smiling and embracing joy.

What are your takeaways as we close the year? What lessons have you learnt this year? Share with us at the comment section below.

Leibster Award : A sneak peak into my life

In my thoughts of what to share this month. At the top of my mind was to write a blog post on Anxiety and start this series like I did with the Depression Link and Narcissism Link series.

However a certain talented writer friend of mine named Tushy whose blog entries I always look forward to; nominated me for an award and just like that the topic was changed. 

The award is called Leibster award and it is an award for writers by writers. Click here to view the piece she wrote when she nominated me and also don’t forget to subscribe to her blog! It’s a great honour to be nominated by your talented self Tushy.

Rules for the award

1.Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog..
2.Answer the questions given to you.
3.Share 11 facts about you.
4.Ask your nominees 11 questions.
5.Notify your nominees once you’ve uploaded your post.

Tushy’s Questions for me:

What irks you most about our society today?

The selfish nature we have grown to adopt where we only think about our interests and completely disregard the effects of our actions.

Is there something you love most about yourself? Like an ability/character about yourself that you love?

I love my heart. The fact that I can genuinely love and care for others even when they don’t deserve it.

What book are you currently reading?

I have a wide range of books that I am reading*insert chuckle* however I would go with Born a Crime by Trevor Noah.

If you had to choose between rice and chapati, what would you pick? Well cooked chapati any time!

Which African author inspires you? Ngugi wa Thiong’o at the moment.

Do you have a favourite YouTuber? Name them

>>On Money & Investments

Money-Wise with Rina Hicks

 Manyara Kirago

>>On Fashion

Slizer Mita

Are you an early bird or a night owl? Forever the night owl!

Flats or heels? Heels

Dresses or pants? Dresses

Dishes or laundry? Dishes without a doubt

11 Facts about me

1. I love God

2. I love my sleep

3. I appreciate hard work & discipline

4. I was once a poet

5. I sing sometimes

6. I treasure my family & friends

7. I am social

8. If I can help; I will help

9. I take mental health very seriously

10. Swimming is the only sport I can never get bored of.

11. My motivation to write is to educate.

I nominate another talented writer, sister and best friend of mine Melanie. Her blog Sema dana ; visit her blog to understand what I am talking about. She has me begging for more each time I finish reading a piece. My questions for you dear one:

1.If you would change anything in today’s society, what would it be?

2.Any documentaries, movies or books that have given you a new perspective on life? Name them

3.What is your dream holiday destination?

4. What is the one thing that you would never want to change about yourself?

5. What advise would you give your 18 year old self?

6. What do you think the society should embrace more?

7. Fashion or Food?

8. Books you would recommend as must read? Name them

9. What is the one thing that you think we take too seriously and yet we should not?

10. What advise would you give someone searching for love?

11. A career in law, what is your take?

Love,

Life Diaries

The Cycle of Friendships

Have you had that friend or friend(s) with whom you were once inseparable while you were in the same environment say same school, church, name it and you were certain you would be friends for life? But then, your environment changes; maybe you finish school and over time you notice that your bond is slowly weakening. Before you know it, you are thinking twice before texting this friend(s) because he or she seems to be more of a stranger than your girl or boy depending on the familiar names you had for each other.

Well if you haven’t, good for you! At least now after reading this post it won’t be a bitter pill to swallow if it does happen. It has happened to me and at first I tried to prevent nature from taking it’s course. I tried keeping the friendship together by maintaining the frequent calls and texts, proposing meet ups and so on in the hope that things would go back to normal. They never did.

What I did not realise was that sometimes friendships are meant to be seasonal. Not everyone you come across in life is destined to be in your life forever. Some people are brought to help you get to a certain destination, others to teach you certain lessons, then there are those meant to walk through the entire journey with you.

A few years back around the time I had just completed high school, I was having a conversation with a friend who is older than me by say 8 or more years. She would often offer me a ride home from a class we shared and enjoyed sharing stories and giving me advise during the journey. During one of those conversations, she asked me; “How many friends do you have? Those you consider your true friends?” I made a mental calculation and at that time they were more than 10. I gave her my answer and she smiled and said as you go through life you will be lucky if you can count up to 3.

I could not really imagine it but took her words seriously nonetheless. Around that time, I was also introduced to the concept of seasonal friendships. Now you can imagine how horrifying it was for me to imagine that a friend I called best friend could possibly be a stranger to whom I had little or no contact with in years to come and worse yet not for a reason I could put my finger on but that this friendship could just die a natural death. I vehemently refused to accept the fact but reality caught up with me over the years and the two concepts were proven true.

Today my understanding of the concepts boil down to; the 3 friends whom I was told I would be lucky to have are the ones brought in my life to go through life with me while the best friends who we would naturally lose bonds with over time, were brought for a season with a mission.

Once I understood and accepted this, I stopped fighting to keep friendships together long after they were overdue. Instead, I would take time and think of the lessons, goals or even problems I encountered during our friendship and would accept and make peace with the end that had come preparing for the new that was on the way.

I realised that seasonal friendships as much as they have a short life span, new ones get formed very fast. Maybe the old ones end to make room for the new! You will meet new people every other day in your current environment and make new friends every so often as a result but the permanent bond type of friends, they will be few and slow to come by but once they come it is forever with them.

What are your thoughts on friendship? Do you have a different opinion? Would you like to add on to this, I would love to hear your experiences.

Love,

Life Diaries

When Boredom Strikes

Everyone of us must have had that moment in time when everything just seems to be boring. You are not well able to explain why you are suddenly bored and low but you are. Other times, the boredom is accompanied by its good friend irritability. People, sounds, even scents at this point easily irritate you and for no major reason. The beauty of it all is that it sure is a very normal human feeling and one of those things that you do not have to beat yourself up when you experience. However, what do you do in such situations?

I do not think there is one sure way of dealing with this because we are all different and unique but I think some things cut across the board. First off, it would be wise to figure out at what point these feelings come about. Get to know the trigger. Is it after you have had a long period of doing nothing? or maybe after being subjected to continuous pressure or stress?

Knowing the trigger is essential in helping you find the solution faster or feel calm whenever such an experience comes about because you know exactly what is going on and that it will pass away. It can also help you know what to do to remedy the situation or avoid it. For example, if the cause is the fact that you have been subjected to too much stress then you know that having a relaxing session or engaging in a self-rejuvenating activity will go a long way in making you feel better.

Next off would be protecting those around you from your negative emotions and eventually protecting yourself in the long run. What do I mean? When in this kind of a situation, it is very easy for you to be difficult to those around you and very rude or insensitive without meaning to. This would then probably result to negative reactions from them that would anger you even more. You would now have to deal with your own negative feelings as well as anger as a result of other peoples’ reactions.

It would be better off to keep your distance or if you are comfortable enough, let those around you know that you are going through something and you are not in much the high spirits when they get into your space. However as much as you are keeping off, do not abandon your responsibilities. This will give you the time and the good environment to rejuvenate yourself and get back to your normal feel good self faster as well as maintain good relationships with those in your life.

Lastly, deal with the emotion. Do not try to ignore it once you have figured out the trigger. Go ahead and try to reverse the emotion. Ignoring things will only suffocate the emotion inside of you and eventually you will explode. Once you do, it will not be pretty and we certainly do not want that.

In case you are having difficulty figuring out the trigger, you could speak to a trusted friend or family member and explain how you are feeling and when the feeling started as well as previous instances where you have felt the same. This will help them figure things out and help you. Do not go through it all alone.

I hope this will help some of you should you come across such a moment. It would also be very interesting to hear how you handle these situations especially with this period where we are all quarantined. Feel free to share in the comment section or via email.

Taking Advantage of Each Season

Hello guys,

I know it has been a while since a blog post was seen around here. Apologies to all of you who patiently look forward to my posts and thank you to all who have reached out reminding me that I need to come back. I have been struggling to find time and the motivation to write ever since the year began. I was tempted to call it a writer’s block but I’m not sure if it really is that or just plain fatigue hopefully with time this will be figured out.

So we are in quite the awkward times and most of us are trying to grapple with the situation we are in with the Covid-19 crisis. We are all in a season of uncertainty not knowing when it will all end and for some people the anxiety and fear of what lies ahead is consuming them. It’s hard to to do this but please don’t let it consume you and if you are well dealing with this; check on your loved ones. You may find out that they are struggling emotionally, physically, financially…name it and you may be able to help out.

Now how can we human social beings maintain our sanity during these times when we have been forced to be anti-social and for lack of a better word been forced to be homebound? I found myself asking this question when I realised that very soon I would go insane considering my character which is more extroverted than introverted. I certainly am no expert but there is a statement that helped guide my answer to this when I thought of it:

Take advantage of each season in your life and turn it into a fruitful season even when it seems negative as it may not come again.

What do I mean? During the normal days, too many things compete for our attention and a good number if not most of these things often involve leaving the house or having other people around. What suffers as a result? Those things that we need to do alone or with limited distractions.

This is the time to do those things. That recipe you have been wanting to try or that online course you have been postponing; spending that quality time with your children, family or spouse; finishing that work to do list; getting further in tune with your faith and having those conversations with God that you once had and with the hustle and bustle of life gave a back seat. There are plenty of things that you could do.

However, caution is necessary. These things ought to be things that grow you. Things that help with your overall well being. This is not the time to overinduldge in social media. As explained before, in a previous blog post, too much of social media is dangerous to our mental health. Matter of fact it’s worse at this moment because it may further heighten anxiety levels or introduce them. It’s a good way to continue communication and we thank God for its invention at this time but like everything else moderation is advised.

I hope this will help some of you out there who are trying to make sense of this situation and moreover keep you positive. Not to scare anyone but this may go on for months judging from the trends and we need to be aware of that and prevent the occurrence of another problem once this problem is over.

If you can, help out others in the way that you can. This is the time to put love into action and be our brothers’ keeper. Someone may sleep hungry tonight with the tough economic times while you have extra. Share what you have be it in monetary form or physical form it will certainly go a long way. I live you with that for now and encourage you to stay safe, stay positive, maintain social distance and keep praying.

Love,

Life Diaries

Letting Go

Goodbyes are always one of the hardest things in life. When the time comes to say goodbye; even when the moment has been well prepared for, it is never easy. As human beings we are wired to want to hold on as much as possible especially to our loved ones. It’s good because it shows how much we care for one another but we also need to learn that not everyone is meant to be in our lives forever.

There are people brought in our lives for a season. Maybe to teach us something or help us with something then leave our lives. Holding on in such scenarios  causes more damage because more than anything it prevents us from moving forward to higher steps that we are now ready for. Sometimes it is very painful to let go so we do everything in our power, going as far as compromising some of our values or sacrificing our happiness to accommodate others. However, one can only stretch oneself for so long before breaking or reverting back to the original self.

You may have impeccable endurance able to withstand your uncomfortable situation for years but then the question to ask is do you really love yourself? Now if you sacrifice your happiness to this extent it would be safe to say that probably not. Yet you can’t truly love and care for another if you do not love yourself and are at peace with yourself enough to say no when your peace of mind is being destabilised.

As we head on to the new year, let us take time to reflect and see if the people in our lives are there because they want to or because we have begged them to by adapting ourselves to their wants and needs and not really being ourselves. Let us choose joy over self inflicted pain. Merry Christmas to you all 🙂

Run your own race

We live in a world where competition has become the norm. We are always competing with one another; everyone trying to outdo the other in a bid to get to the top spot. “My friends have more social media followers than me, I am not popular enough.” “My classmate has a better job than me or got a job and I do not have one, I am not good enough.” “I got a C grade in this paper while others had A grades, I am not smart enough.” These are some of the thoughts we feed ourselves as we constantly compare ourselves to each other but is it worth it?

How about when we succeed to overtake others and actually make it to the top? We feel so much joy and a sense of achievement right? But how long does it last before we realise we are falling behind in another sector and want to get to the top of that too? This competition does nothing but give us stress and low morale. There will always exist someone doing better or smarter. This should not be a discouraging fact but rather an encouraging one because it also means that there will always be new things to learn.

We need to realise that everyone is brought on this earth with a unique purpose. It is not always easy to figure out what this purpose is until we learn to accept ourselves as we are, identify our strengths and work on growing these strengths. Most of the time our strengths lie on those things that we love to do and though they may seem challenging to others, the challenges they pose seem thrilling to us and we are always looking forward to overcoming them.

Push yourself once you start working on your preferred area and celebrate your small wins. You are Sandy, a fashion designer and you sold your first outfit today. Celebrate this milestone and now target to sell 5 outfits. Before you know it, you will be a well known brand.

Now this does not mean you should not look at what others in your field are doing. You should look at them as role models who can help you know the direction to take. Continuing with Sandy the fashion designer having reached at a point where she needs to open a website, she can then look at say Gucci’s website to get ideas on how to set up her website adapting it to her budget and her target market. At the end of the day she ends up running her own race and steadily growing at the same time.

As you go on life, remember you will never achieve as much success and peace climbing up the ladder as you would running your own race.

When it’s time to say goodbye

Alot of things go through your mind when you are unwell especially at the stages of the sickness when there are no signs of healing. That moment when the fear of leaving this world becomes very real. I had such a moment and one of the thoughts that stuck with me was what matters at that point when it’s time to say goodbye.

We are on earth for a limited period of time as human beings after which we shall move on to the next stage that is afterlife. However, at that point what is most likely to give you joy and peace as you prepare your departure. What will have you saying I am now ready as opposed to fighting to stay on?

If we think of it now; can we well prepare for the future? To prevent that feeling of regret that we all dread having when there’s nothing we can do about a situation. As I pondered on this, I figured that in my case it would be the impact I made on this earth. The number of smiles attributed to me, the tears I wiped, the people I offered my shoulder to lean on, the children I empowered and those I saved. In a nutshell, the love I shared to my fellow brothers and sisters.

Not the wealth I acquired or the amount of power I had over people. Those seem to be important when we are healthy, alive and kicking but not when we are in that hospital bed or sick bed. Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean that wealth or power are bad and that one shouldn’t aspire for these. Quite the contrary in fact. When used well; they are instruments of development that can impact thousands or even millions.

It’s giving them too much importance that we forget that we are dealing with fellow human beings; our brothers and sisters that is bad. Give love alot of importance. Let love be the principle and everything else falls in place.

What would be the one thing you would want to be remembered for? When it’s time to leave; what will give you peace of mind and heart? Remember these as you go through life.

Social Media: Why Control is Necessary

Image Source: Pixabay

Social media has since inception, grown to be a necessity in our lives today. This is where news breaks first before spreading on to other channels. It is where we share our happy moments and milestones as well as important news that we want to reach the most number of people as fast as possible.

The most common social media sites include Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, and Snapchat; all platforms with millions if not billions of users worldwide. That said, we can conclude that we really cannot do away with social media. However, caution must be practised when dealing with this tool and controlled usage effected.

If not used properly, the negative effects of Social media always outweigh the positive effects. Frequent usage can lead to increased feelings of unhappiness and isolation in the long run.

This is how social media can be affecting you unknowingly.

Relationships

Human beings are social beings. We are not created to keep to ourselves. We are meant to interact with one anther. However, this becomes difficult when we are constantly glued to our devices. Moreover, we often come across as rude or disinterested when focusing on our phones in a social gathering or when in the company of others. The result: we fail to create and maintain meaningful relationships.

Self-esteem

Social media is set in such a way that people never post sad things or ‘imperfections’. Most posts are filled with stories of people having a good time, beautifully edited pictures, that event that just could not be missed etc.

When constantly viewing these posts daily and for some people for over six hours a day, comparison kicks in. We start comparing our lives and ourselves to these people and start getting feelings of inadequacy.

We fail to realise that we only see the good side of these people’s lives. We never have a clue of what they struggle with daily or their insecurities. Maybe if we knew, we would appreciate our lives much better. Moreover we fail to appreciate that we all have different paths in life and different timelines to achieve our goals but in the end we will all get to the finish line if we do not give up.

“When we derive a sense of worth based on how we are doing relative to others, we place our happiness in a variable that is completely beyond our control,” Dr Tim Bono, author of When Likes Aren’t Enough.

Becoming more conscious of the amount of time we spend scrolling through other people’s online profiles could help us focus more on ourselves and boost our self-confidence.

Memory

Social media, like photo albums in the past is a great way of recounting good memories and how past events occurred. However, it can also alter the way in which we remember the small details from our experiences.

Most of us spend a lot of time trying to take the perfect photo or video for our next post, all the while not actually taking in the firsthand experience of witnessing it with our own two eyes. In the end, we rely on the post to remind us of how amazing the experience was since we did not allow enough time for our minds to effectively experience and process the moment.

Image source: Pixabay

Mental health

Not only has social media been proven to cause unhappiness, but it can also lead to the development of mental health issues such as anxiety or depression when used too much or without caution.

Social media tends to have us unknowingly concerning ourselves to the feelings of all those people we follow. It exposes us to the daily feelings of all these people at once with each post. The human being is not wired to deal with such pressure and eventually the pressure takes a toll on us. 

Sleep

The importance of sleep cannot be emphasised enough. However, most of us are guilty of using our phones too soon before going to bed. This makes it harder to doze off and affects the quality of our sleep. The anxiety or envy that emanates from what we see on social media keeps the brain on high alert, preventing us from falling asleep. Not to mention the light from our mobile device just inches from our face that tends to suppress the release of melatonin, a hormone that helps us feel tired.

Staying away from computer and phone screens 40 minutes to 1 hour before bed can really improve the quality of sleep.

Attention span

Social media has allowed us to have a wealth of easily accessible entertainment. The brain naturally lures one to wards the less tedious tasks that are relaxing. It is why being lazy is far much easier to working hard.

Now social media provides the entertainment that one can walk with. This has resulted to people constantly checking on their phones when having free time and sometimes even when busy. People have become far more easily distracted which has negative effects on productivity.

If you are unable to stay away from your phone for a few hours, then you would do well to practise exercising your willpower on occasion. 

Do you feel like you relate to any or all of the above? You do not necessarily have to quit social media. You only need to limit your time and experience life in its fullness. You could consider allocating social media-free time slots during your daily routine. The slight change could go a long way.