Bounce Back Biz Tips

We know this is the case with MESHers, who face challenges in biz but have to keep up their resilience.

We spoke to MESHers who have had a downtime and gotten back who shared their biz stories on what happened, their strategies for a bounce back, tips for other meshers and what is it they learnt from that period in their biz.

Sharing such stories of downtimes and bouncing back will be a good way to encourage others, to show them they are not alone, and it’s the way of the biz. Below are their biz stories:

Irene Nyamolo: is a freelance hair dressing based in Umoja who has been doing this biz for 2 years.

• Protests - when this happens, most times people are in the houses, they don’t come for services, and are financially constrained, so clients have been few and biz low.

• “I almost gave up, but remembered most biz started down and with consistency they made it, so I was able to keep going on, I encourage myself with the example of how Coca-Cola grew from selling very few bottles and was able to sell more bottles which I always find motivating.”

• Online advertisement & reducing prices to cater for the tight budgets people have

• “I used all my platforms to do the ads – and i was able to get some clients – I expanded to IG, twitter and even opened a page on TikTok. Then I started adding my number to the posts, and with that, people could call me directly. This makes it easier to get feedback, before I was only using WhatsApp. It's good to add the number too when advertising, not just having the page and waiting for people to DM you. This has allowed me to get feedback and enquiries, which is also a motivation for me in biz. Right now, I don’t boost my ads but I am planning to be posting in bigger groups that can boost me e.g. Nairobi gossip page.”

• Be persistent - with social media, it’s good to showcase your work, kitambo (earlier) i was staying like 1 month without posting. It's good to plan yourself and when people see it, they know you are still in biz, ads will give you feedback and eventually clients.

• It's always good to plan and write it down.

• Don't listen to advise from many people, maybe just one, and if you do, write it down and strategize.

• “I realized that naskiza advise za watu wengi (I listen to advise from many people), and it’s not good, I decided to sit down and write what I want and planned, then started achieving one at a time, which was encouraging, and I have continued with this method.”

Has an electronics biz in CBD, Nairobi, sells both in shop and online, started in 2023.

• Protests - “During protests, we were worried, especially after the goons got into the protest – we couldn’t open the shop, couldn’t sell anything, zero sales, there was this one time when we found the shop lock altered on Wednesday morning, they tried to break in but could not get in.”

• Got a welder to reinforce the place and put some wardrobes in the shop that would add another stage of access – making it harder in case someone might be planning to break in again – this gave them peace of mind as a biz with a physical location.

• During that time, sales were low – I have another side hustle I do, an Upwork account as a freelancer – that is what I did, but we also did some sales online.

• If they just started.

• “I can advise them that if they start a new biz, don’t expect much, there is a difference between revenue and profit, don’t expect that you will get profits immediately, one must pass through some challenges before getting profits before the biz catches up – then they should take time to know how they can fix the challenges e.g. what is bringing this loss, how can I fix it?”

• Also, “they should be disciplined and patient – sometimes biz is high, other times biz is down.”

• You should have an emergency fund, a backup – something that can help you, if you depend fully on physical shop, you can face a similar challenge that we faced, so with emergency fund, you can get something to support your bills. This emergency fund is a different account, not a saving account – something that can sort you when biz is down, so i can sustain myself eg for the next three months if anything goes bad in the current gig, it’s different from a savings account.”

• Always have a side hustle – get some money online, you can’t depend on one thing!

A smokie seller & mjengo (casual labour) , from kawangware

• Smokie trolley got robbed during protest.

• Has just recently started this biz to take a break from mjengo gigs, he even had to eat some stock of smokies he had bought - there’s not much he could have done after trolley got stolen.

• “I had to go back to the casual jobs to look for capital again, as I rethink on how to strategize and get to biz again, I have been thinking of planning to get to the biz of selling mtumba shoes and have the smokie biz too.”

• When not so engaged – I have been using the time to learn from others, speaking to them, I know, “pesa ni watu na watu ndio pesa (people are important and network is the real net worth!) ” - so I speak to people around me.

• “As long as you have been born, life is never straight, we all need to go through these challenges in life – they open us up, meshers should use challenges as steppingstones to get ahead – use them as lessons, and learn from it- opportunities are all around us.”

• “Rome was not built in a day, look at the market trends, and learn to prepare yourself for uncertainty.”

• “Learn before getting to the market, and know uncertainties will happen, so always stay alert.”

Eva Kisaka: 4th year in biz, mtumba boutique, sells in physical shop and just a bit of online, in Eldoret

• Taking stock on credit and giving customers items on credit.

• When new in biz, “kuna hii tama ya kutaka stock imove haraka, so I was giving items on credit and struggling to get money to pay the supplier, did this for like the first 2 years of biz” (when new in biz, you want stock to move quick).

• It's a habit new people in biz do - “ukianza biz, uko na ambitions zako, uko na hunger ya kumake sales, you want to thrive, you look at others who are thriving, and want that for yourself too, immediately, so uko na hiyo rush.”

•I came up with the plan of getting the 70% deposit for items given on credit to my customers because that is enough to give you back the stock money, even without the profits – so if someone wants credit, ask them to give you 70% of the costs.

• I lost some customers when i made the 70% rule, but it’s fine, wherever remains is good, they respect your work and decision – unlike people who want to ride on you – some customers don’t mind.

• But even as you do this – ensure to balance good customer support and the rules you are making for your business.

• Biz takes time to pick – take that time to study the market, maybe you picked the wrong item to sell, but that is not always the case, wait it out and learn.

• Set aside some money when you start, so you can be able to pay for the bills as you wait for the biz to pick.

• Don't give items on full credit, you can start with a 50% deposit maybe, and retain the item – then give them a timeframe of like 2 weeks, if they have not finished paying for it, return it in display.

• How to treat your customers –don't be too hard on them, give them a listening ear, because some of the customer reasons make sense e.g. one can say they have 50% deposit but can pay tomorrow, don’t be too harsh even as you make rules for your biz, be a bit flexible

• I learnt the hardest way - “I put all my money in biz, didn't save, I had thought I will get in biz and thrive right away, I used to count the credit sales as a sale” - “my family supported me and I was able to bounce back.”

Viking Karundi: Nyeri, farming (cabbage & spinach)

• Accessing the market for the cabbages was a challenge, brokers took so much money, “bei hufluctuate sana, so kuna time hainunuliwi (prices fluctuate a lot and some times no purchases), other times bought cheap, kukuwa na market guaranteed at a stable price has been a challenge”, we mostly must rely on brokers who set their own price – sometimes they pocket more than the farmer e.g. buy the cabbage at KES 10, sell at KES 30/35.

• Another challenge was cropping failure – my spinach had some issues but got I an agronomist to tell me what the issue was.

• Looking for a good market for my produce - “i looked for someone to buy, mostly we have people who buy from farm to the market, another from market to wholesale, so it’s a supply chain, so i looked for the one taking to the market who had a better price.”

• “If in a challenge, tafta new ways of trying to solve things”, e.g. for me, it was market and relying on brokers, and needed to look for new strategies to solve my problems, don’t just sit and wait”, go out there and look for solutions to your problem.

• This challenge taught me how to be creative, i learned to “keep incorporating strategies as I go”, and this is a good mindset for doing biz.

Based in Busia, small scale poultry farming, for the last 1.5 years plus student

• Had some poultry which got stolen, the entire stock, this year January.

• Used some savings, changed type of poultry – from kienyeji to (improved kienyeji), because they mature faster than the others, started this in March this year and have been able to sell and grow the stock.

• Have some savings on the side – anything can happen in biz, if the downside happens without a good plan – look for a group that can loan you at a low interest.

• “Kwa biz, anything can happen, make good financial decisions, and if anything, happens e.g. the savings can help you”, this can be savings or any asset that you have – for me, i put some profits in my biz e.g. KES 1,000 in savings.

• “Don’t give up, keep going!”

Sharabion John: Runs a Mobile money & retail shop based in Kisumu, started in 2020 (corona time)

• Got into the debt cycle, borrowing and borrowing more to pay another loan.

• “You borrow, then another good one inatokea mahali, then it sounds good, then unaamua kuichukua without a plan, and when it’s time for payment, unapata challenge, at the end of the day, unadaiwa kila mahali, also you loan clients and then your stock goes down, so unadai watu, na unadaiwa pia, i was taking one loan to pay another loan.”

• Now at the end of the day, unapata wewe na mtu mwenye hafanyi chochote mko tu the same (at the end of the day, you find you are in a similar situation with people who are doing nothing i.e. have no biz).

• I started from KCB bank, then online apps and over time i was owing so much, and i was also giving items in my shop to customers on credit.

• To repay the loans - I had to sell some house items to offset the loan, and selling the house items was a bit tricky for the kids – they are keen and wonder where the items are going e.g. the fridge, they kept asking where the fridge is, i told them i took it for repair.

• I had to do away with some of the services I was offering as a mobile money agent e.g. the mpesa , I took the money I had to pay my debts, though that was not even enough, after that, it helped me a bit, but then I had to close that part of the biz.

• As much as it helped pay some debt, my stock was very low as I had given some items in my shop on credit (I sell day to day use items – unga, dippers, mafuta).

• I had to sell some of my household goods, e.g. my fridge and my TV, so I can clear my debts – I was able to cover most of the loans, besides the KCB (which was not giving me pleasure like the others).

• My biz went down totally – and so I took some other items from the house and reopened the retail biz.

• “Take every day in biz and learn, how things work, relationship with customer, balance credit and stock, sio kila siku kufungua na kufunga – and keep looking at what their plan is, where you are coming from and where you want to go”, in this case, stock is – ability to pay the credit you take, not just the stock in the shop.

• Kujituma - changamoto ni mob, most of my loyal customers made me get back to the biz, esp. the retail customers near me , they would send money and send the kids to get something as they were used to, and wondered why I am not operating, this relationship with my customers motivated me to keep going.”

• “This season, I learnt something, it’s like I went to school – now, I am okay, I do my retail biz well and can balance loan, stock and credit well, and have been able to identify potential good creditors I can lend to in the shop.”

Tracy Wanjala: sells mtumba clothes (on WhatsApp & hawking around), is also a student at Chuka), 1.5 years, gets her items from gikomba

• Challenges getting stock in the early days - “nikianza sikuwa najua places za kutoa hizo manguo” - (when starting out, I didn’t know where to source items).

• Be friendly - “Nilianza kuwa friendly na the sellers at gikomba so wananisaidia kutafta stock.”

• Team up with a friend – help each other come up, “I encouraged my friend to invest in this biz, tukuwe tikisaidiana.”

• Now challenges getting stock has reduced, I stock up when I am on long holiday in nairobi and take a huge stock back when I am going to school. When starting, I did not know what the items are that people like and prefer, but after some time, realized they like tops and skirts and I stock those now.”

• If one is having a challenge with looking for stock - “tafta hizo mashimo, make connections, be friendly with the sellers, and if taking many pairs of shoes, you could also get a good discount on the stock.”

• Business has taught me to be patient, “unakutananga you are selling to rude and arrogant customers, you just have to tolerate and be patient with them anymore, if not able to, just let them go, they are not the only customers.”

Sells shoes in Juja, mtush, almost 2 years now.

• Problems with city council - “sikuwa na store ya viatu, nilukwa natandaza chini, so kusumbuana na kanjo” (started without a store, was selling by the roadside and handling city council was hectic).

• I was selling karibu na stage, kuna flow ya watu hapo kwa fly over – so if you get info kanjo are about to come unajipanga – this was hectic.

• Got some capital and build some temporary stand, “ukifungua unaeza isimamisha, ukifunga jioni unaeza itoa, and now kanjo hawanisumbui, I moved closer to a place with some stores, we pay like KES 1200 per month for that stall area.”

• With the new place, we still have people coming – Juja iko na watu wengi including students, so this new place also works.

• Don't give up, push the limit until the limit gives way - “hakuna kitu rahisi, ng’ang’ana, look for solutions and do what you are supposed to do.

• “If you don’t give up, you are guaranteed something will change or even change for the better, if you give up, you are 100% sure it has failed, no chances” - biz people need to not give up.

• Challenges za biz haziishangi – “they are still there, but i don’t think about those things, I just wake up and just do it!, I live with the midset of challenge ikikuja tutatatua, don’t think about challenges all the time!’