Knowing Simple hacks on how to start and succeed in business in Kenya is critical in the current highly competitive business environments. The business failure rate in many developing countries is alarming. Existing statistics show that new businesses fail at 70%, implying that only 30% of new entities make it to breakeven points. Of all new businesses started, 20% do not survive the first year. By the end of the second year, 30% would have closed down, and an additional 50% will be longer existing in the fifth year. Lacking the knowledge of simple hacks on how to start and succeed in business in in Kenya increases the chances of failure.
Starting and succeeding in business in Kenya is not a walk in the park. It requires passion, sacrifice, determination, discipline, and attention to detail from the onset. The following are three simple fundamental hacks on how to start and succeed in business in Kenya.
1. Have a well-defined vision before you start a business
Visions are the cornerstones of business success. Elon Musk’s vision for establishing SpaceX was to colonize Mars. You see, vision is long-range. Safaricom’s vision is to be a purpose-led technology company. Equity Bank’s vision is to be the champion of the socio-economic prosperity of the people of Africa. Kenyatta University’s vision is to be a dynamic, inclusive, and competitive center of excellence in teaching, learning, research, and service to humanity. Conduct Google searches of businesses that you admire. You will notice that they have clear and strong visions. Before starting a business that can succeed, understand the vision you want to achieve. That vision will fire you up every day to wake up and face the challenges. When you know where you want to go, it is possible to find alternative routes if the main way is closed until you arrive at your destination. Have you ever seen how matatu drivers find alternative routes when traffic jams close the main roads? They are always eager to reach their destination. The destination is their vision. Write a strong vision statement when starting a business to guide you and motivate you to make significant sacrifices until you succeed.
2. Focus on customer satisfaction after you start a business
The visions that businesses intend to achieve are focused on customers. Focus on your customers’ needs and tailor products to satisfy their individual needs. Ignoring buyer persona implies that you will not meet customers’ needs. Buyer persona is characterized by demographic groups and locations, critical interests, tastes and preferences, and factors that motivate them to seek your products. When you plan to start and succeed in business in Kenya, try understanding your ideal customers using data and research. Conducting research and generating information can be technical for start-up businesses, but you can seek the services of a consultancy to help you achieve it. Creating a buyer persona helps you to understand, anticipate, and satisfy customer needs.
3. Be consistent if you want to succeed
Consistency is key for entrepreneurs who want to start and succeed in business in Kenya. Being consistent helps to build trust, improve customer retention, provide a basis for measuring results, and enhance marketing. Once you generate the first market, people will start developing the habit of coming to your business. If they come a few times and do not find what they want, they will likely not come again next time. Customers feel frustrated when they do not get what they want after making an effort to contact you. So, you must be prepared to maintain consistency once you plan to start and succeed in a business in Kenya. If it is an online shop, ensure that your communication systems, such as mobile phones and social media platforms are open to respond to customers’ inquiries in real time. If it is a physical shop, ensure it is always open, and someone is present to serve the customers. Providing all the products you promised creates a sense of delight and customer satisfaction. Customers are naturally impatient; a little slug will see them swiftly move on to a competitor who responds and give them what they require.
The three simple hacks on how to start and succeed in business in Kenya discussed above are instrumental for start-ups and established companies. Having a well-defined vision, focusing on customer satisfaction, and being consistent increases the chances of streamlined starting and succeeding in business. Following them will remove your start-up from the list of 70% of start-ups that fail in Kenya.
How TrueMark Access helps you to Start and Succeed in Business
TrueMark Access has helped several start-ups in Kenya to transcend the failure roadblocks and emerge victorious. Whether you are a local or foreign businessperson and you want to start and succeed in business in Kenya but you do not feel confident about a myriad of factors that will spur your success, be sure to benefit from a range of our services, including marketing strategy formulation & implementation, social media management, creative design, branding & advertising, merchandising and general trade activation, experiential events, outsourced sales team, and training & capacity development.