If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur with a burning desire to start a small business, you’ve come to the right place. Here we discuss some of the best business ideas in Kenya that offer great opportunities in 2016 and beyond. But first a word of caution – most of these ideas are still raw and you need to do some work in order for them to actually pay you back. Just like our forefathers used to spot virgin lands and till them, you as well can spot one of these and dig out some gold in them.
2016 Business Ideas In Kenya
1.Social media consultant
Having a well established business website for your business is no longer enough- one needs to go social in efforts to promote the business. Since not every business owner is social media literate (or has time for social media), there is a gap in the market that has to be filled. That is why starting a social media consulting business is one of the top small business ideas in 2016. This industry is very profitable and involves helping other small business owners promote their products or services on various social media networks such as Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and Facebook. Some of the services you can offer as a social media consultant include:
*Live social media updates
*Trending of hashtags
*Online reputation management for brands
*Growth of likes and followers
*Routine manning and managing of clients social media sites
*Social media marketing
You can start this venture with as little as Ksh50,000 ($500). That’s enough to create a decent website, print out a few business cards and approach a few potential clients.
2.Internet-related services
Internet-related businesses are huge in potential. For example, with thousands of websites being established every day on the internet you can choose to start a web hosting company to provide sites owners with web hosting services and domain names. On the other hand, you can also start up an online community development business, a web design or development business or even a SEO/link building services.
In web hosting for example, you can become a re-seller by subscribing for a re-seller package from a company like Go-Daddy or Hostgator. And best of all, you don’t have to be an IT guru to get into this business. You only need to be passionate about online stuff and willing to learn new tricks. Is that too much to ask?
Typically, you can start this business with less than Ksh30,000. For instance, to become a Go-Daddy reseller, you only need to pay Ksh1,500 ($15) per month for unlimited customers. The more customers you get to purchase domains and hosting plans, the more you can make.
3.Green consultant industry
Starting up a green consultancy business is not only one of the best business ideas in Kenya but also a socially responsible one. It involves making life greener for everyone by evaluating their homes to find out where they might be losing energy and how to gain the green energy. There are just so many people and businesses out there that could benefit from this service. More so, the start-up costs are very low and the market is wide too.
A good point to start here is by taking up a course on green energy first. Most technical training colleges in the country offer this course for a short duration of time. A certificate, diploma or even degree in a related field would definitely give you a head-start into this business.
Typically, Ksh50,000 is enough to start particularly if you already have the training. Some of the services you can offer include:
*Utility bill auditing
*Lighting upgrades
*Renewable energy and demand side solutions
*Solar energy consultancy and installations
4.Mobile app business
Mobile technologies have really taken the world by storm. With less than 1 million premium mobile apps to choose from, there is still a gap in the market. Whether you hire an app developer to do the work for you or you develop the apps all by yourself, the key to success in this business is the ability to provide people with what they want.
Some ways to make money using mobile apps here in Kenya include:
*In app purchases
*In app advertising (e.g. Through Google Ads)
*Subscription Charges
*Downloading Charges (for premium apps)
If you are a trained mobile app developer, you can as well start approaching corporate and SMEs. Slowly but sure; you can start selling your apps directly to clients for a premium. Again, you can start this business with way less than Ksh50,000 if you are a developer. Another good alternative would be to partner up with an app developer so you become partners in the business (with so many computer science and IT graduates around, you will be spoilt for choice). That way you may not even pay a single cent to get the wheels of your business rolling.
5.Vending business
People in busy offices always get hungry and most businesses or companies are not willing to take the time and expense of installing a vending machine. Therefore, you can invest in food vending machines and pop machines. You can either choose to install the machines for a small fee or for free to the property owner and you get to keep all the profits from the machine. This business idea has a lot of potential hence it can scale to grow throughout your city and its surroundings.
So far, we have not come across any other person doing this kind of business here in Kenya which means you can get an opportunity to be the pioneer.
You simply need to import a vending machine that dispenses healthy bitings and beverages. Then you will need to look for a prime location either in town or some busy offices.
As people look for healthy food – and with fewer and fewer people managing to carry food to work, your food vending business would
definitely be a big hit in this part of the world. Minimum budget is Ksh1 Million enough to buy a simple food vending machine, find a location and stock it.
6.Cleaning & Organizing Business
Are you one of those people who love cleaning jobs? If so, you could be sitting on a gold-mine. There is plenty of money to be made in the cleaning industry although it might seem like a dirty job. As long as you know clearly what you are doing, this can be one of the best business ideas in Kenya given that most people are busy with day to day tasks that demand a lot of time. Some of the services you can offer include:
*House-help hire bureau
*Residential cleaning
*Office cleaning and organizing
*Carpet and upholstery cleaning services
*Post-construction cleaning services
*Swimming pool cleaning
The good thing with this kind of business is that you can target a wide spectrum of customers. For instance, you can target the middle class with the house-help bureau, real estate developers with the post-construction cleaning services and the high-end clientele with the swimming pool cleaning service. Minimum budget for starting a cleaning business is Ksh150,000.
7.Home day care industry
With so many parents needing to work, offering a home day care can be a great start-up business. The good thing about this small business is the fact that in most places you really don’t need to acquire a license to run the business from home so long as you keep your child headcount below a certain number.
Parents pay as much as Ksh30,000 per term (per child) in some middle-to-upmarket estates of Nairobi. Going by this estimate, we can project a revenue of about Ksh600,000 in 3 months for a small care centre handling 20 children. Deducting all expenses that could translate to a net profit of Ksh100,000 per month. The ideal budget for baby day care varies from as little as Ksh50,000 to as much as Ksh350,000 depending on the location and resources available.
8.Recycled product business
With the rise in material and production costs, making use of useless materials and creating something better out of them has proved to be a thriving small business. The start-up costs are usually low and you don’t have to hire people to help you. A good example is creating converse-like canvas shoes out of waste. Another great example is creating roofing tiles out of waste plastics.
In the latter example, you only need to collect waste jerry cans, buckets, old plastic phones and even computer parts. These you will cut into small pieces, burn, mix with some sand and finally mould into roofing tiles and sell in the market.
There is even more potential as you can mould this molten plastic to make man-holes and even poles which you can sell locally. Whichever way you look at it, the business of recycling is here to last. And with the world looking for sustainable ways to dispose non-biodegradable waste, this would be a well-timed idea. The typical budget for a small recycling plant is Ksh1.5M meaning you can either go it solo or as a chama (group).
Final Word
Our list of the best business ideas in Kenya goes on and on. As someone once said – business ideas are like buses; there’s always another one coming. Let’s keep the conversation going. And if you have some nice ideas or questions that you would like to share, feel free to use the comment box below.
