Best 3 Businesses to Start With Less Than 10k Capital in Kenya

Almost everyone longs to find a business to make money on the side in Kenya. The ideal business idea to make money on the side would be one that enables you to earn an income, continue with other daily activities, yet the business pays you sufficient to enable you to pay your way in life.

This article presents three business opportunities you can start with less than KES 10,000. All can be run online, and each can enable you earn a decent income in your first six months to a year in business if you are determined and persistent.

What to Look For To Start to Make Money in Business with Less than 10k 

The best of the internet is that you are actually spoilt for choice when looking for way to start making money in Kenya and you have less than 10k as capital. The range is astounding and that is why this article trims the options to just three. 

Yet, even within the three, that is Dropshipping Business in Kenya, Affiliate business in Kenya, and network-based business in Kenya, there is a wide range of options such that the entrepreneur can look for that area that actually excites their best selves. When looking for a business and what will fit your personality and interests, look out for these factors: 

Establish the Terms of Payment 

The main goal of starting a business is to get paid. On terms of payment you want to look for frequency of pay, reliability of payment platform, and ease of access to funds. 

Whether a business opportunity is online or offline, all have a system in place, terms in place for when they pay their Partners. Although it is attractive to get paid daily, you must evaluate if this will serve your greater financial goals. For example, if the goal of starting a business is to generate money to invest in another area, then daily payments are actually a set-back. You will likely tend to spend the money before you have enough to put into your goals – unless you are highly disciplined. 

There are also platforms that pay after two months. Now if you are going to wait for two months to get your $100 in the bank, then you may want to rethink your partnership with that business. However, this too depends on your larger business goals. 

When looking at the reliability of the payment platform, you need to assess matters such as the currency in which the payments are made. If the system does not have a method or a system that translates the dollar payments into Kenya shillings and thus money that you can spend, then you want to evaluate the system very closely. How simple is it for you to get those funds into your bank. 

Always evaluate your access to the funds you will earn. If you are online, most payments will send your earnings to either Paypal to Kenya, Skrill to Kenya, or an American Bank. These will link to a bank account in Kenya and you can therefore access your funds. 

If they do not have those processes in place, then you want to give the organisation a wide berth because, let’s face it, there are few other easy ways to get foreign money into the country. The main point being an easy way. Most other ways may not be as affordable and that means the payment process will also be an additional business cost. 

For local payment platforms, some programs will pay through Mpesa and others through the bank. If for instance you do not currently have a bank account – although in business you really should get yourself one – and that is the only method of payment, then you may not have access to your money. The moment you land on a business platform, first, before anything else, find out how they pay you. 

Evaluate if there is a Market for the Products 

As discussed in the article on five best tips to develop a winning business idea one of the most important factors when planning to start a new business is to establish if there is a market for what you are going to promote. Lack of need for a product is one of the top ten reasons small businesses fail. 

As an example, in recent years, we find that in Kenya , according to the Business Daily mobile penetration has gone up to a staggering 91%. Subsequently, it may be safe to say that there is almost always a need for a mobile phone reseller. However, that could very well be inaccurate if you are going to sell mobile phones in a place with another 10 resellers of the same possible goods. So you want to go to a place where there is not as much competition. 

Know the Difference Between a Business Platform and Products 

Share-a-Sale is an affiliate platform, the email delivery program, GetResponse is a product whose affiliate system is managed on the Share-a-Sale platform. It means, if you want to be an affiliate selling GetResponse email delivery software, then you have to get approval from Share-a-Sale, which is not as simple as just wanting to sell GetResponse. 

The same is true of Jumia, Kilimall, Shopify for dropshipping business. Whereas baby products are products, you must first get approval on the company that hosts the sales information and the payment platform before you start to sell. It is the details of the payment platform that you want to look at very closely. 

Always Start a Business with the Marketing Strategy in Mind 

Although you will never have the full picture at the start, always evaluate a business platform with the best promotion strategy at the back of your mind. In Kenya, social media and text messaging are some of the most effective for small business. Websites also convert extremely well, but you would have to grow an audience first to make the effort worth your while. One of the most important plans to put in place in that regard is to have your own responsive website.

Over 91% of the traffic in Kenya are not only online, but are browsing the net from a mobile device. It is wisdom for the business to have your own responsive website. A responsive website is one that renders correctly on all gadgets, desktop, laptop, tablet, and phone. 

That said, here are the three suggestions we have on ways to make money in Kenya in business when you have less than 10k to start. 

1. Drop Shipping Business in Kenya 

Drop-Shipping Business in Kenya  Often and misleadingly described as affiliate business, drop shipping is different from affiliate business it is a retail process that trades in tangible goods. Drop-shipping is a retail business where the “store” does not store the goods it sells in a warehouse or retail shop as stock. The best examples of dropshipping retailers in Kenya are Jumia  and Kilimall although there are a host of others.

2. Affiliate Business in Kenya 

Affiliate business is a marketing function and can pay from different elements of the marketing process. Affiliate websites mostly deal exclusively in digital products. Therefore product range will be eBooks, eCourses, software, website themes and such products distributed in digital form.

3. Network Based Business 

A network-based business is a business that pays you in direct proportion to the size of your network. Whereas all business will pay you better when you have a bigger network, network based business tags payment on attaining levels definite network sizes. The most common names of network-based business is multi-level marketing (MLM), direct sales business, and network marketing. These general names miss the core of the idea.

A network-based business can be any business that has means of award for an individual who supports their trade to improve on the business sales targets. A good example of a network-based business is Safaricom, which awards their resellers continually and in multiple tiers.

Although very informal, most hawkers operate on a network of resellers in the supply chain. Each new reseller will earn a commission for their effort. It is therefore important to differentiate the network marketing trades from the more general and highly effective network building for business.