Twelve Biz Lessons Learned by MESHERS in 2024

We spoke to twelve MESHERS about their year. Here are some of the diamonds MESHERS made under pressure. Learn from them so you don’t have to learn it the hard way!

Do you have a great biz tip for MESHERS? Share your lessons learned in the comments. We’d love to hear from you.

Alphine – don’t give up, show up everyday

“Usigive up, kuna siku unaeza fungua biz, and make nothing, then kuna ingine unafungua unapata 500, day two 0, then day three1000 – you have to keep going daily, ni better kuliko kukaa home.”

Ruth - Enviromental factors have effect on biz

“The political climate ya country huaffect biz, whether you like it or not. Like this year, it really did, especially the maandamano”

Moraa - expand beyond the local market

“I learnt about importing in MESH fest and this imefanya i grow interest in international platforms like e-bay, etsy & amazon. I have been doing research on this, watching videos on youtube on this and so naplan to venture to other platforms beyond jumia where i sell my beaded work – I liked the Jeneviv video on MESH too”

Joan – credit to family and friends can mess up your biz

“Remember biashara na urafiki, ujirani, ukoo haiwezi work, ni adui, hazipatani - wakikopa hawarudi, and sometimes they find you when you need the money, mara ya kwanza wanakopa na wanalipa vizuri, but the second time, wanakushow their true colors - next year i am not doing that, most times watu hawarespect biz yako, you need to stand your ground.”

Maisie - profits and record keeping

“I learnt about calculating profits, like this year nimemove from selling bags and shoes to selling alcohol, and in the beginning nilianza vibaya, calculating profits by the stock, na in this case, stock include different bottles, so i was told, kwa hii biz, the best way is calculating profits per bottle. Sometimes you can do the best research, but you only understand how things work ukianza that specific biz. Record keeping is a great part of biz that most times unalearn after starting the biz”

Salim - loans can boost your biz, but take loans with caution

“At some point in the biz, you will need some money kuboost biz, this can be from savings or loan. But for loans, some come at a high interest yenye it might damage rather than build your biz, you need to be careful of this – for example before i got the jiinue loan, nilikuwa na loan ya shylock, and interests were so high, they even took my fridge. Jiinue has been very good and has helped my biz grow, i plan to be cautious on where I get these boosts”

Kujilipa ni muhimu – at a daily basis, when you make some profits, set aside some money in savings that will account to you kujilipa – because you are spending all your days in this biz and you got bills to pay and you need to eat.

David - on record keeping

“Record keeping ni muhimu sana, i have several businesses and sometimes naachia mtu aniangalilie (has a salon and also is a driver part time), so i keep track on the purchases i have made eg for my salon and can see ni pieces ngapi zimebaki, especialy when i am doing other hustles and have to leave the salon to someone”

Eric – pay taxes

“No matter how small, if registered pay taxes – these days they are tracking everything, from banks to your statements – kuwa macho, this can mess up your biz, this year they almost closed my biz for some tax arrears”

“Don't take a loan without a biz plan, it is especially painful when you are struggling to pay back a loan and you don’t even know where you used the money, kuwa na a clear business plan before committing to take any loan”

Alice - Planning early on for your profits

“Profits are made in the purchasing of a product if you are a reseller. So ukienda kubuy stock, do your best to get the item at the best price, that is how you will be able to make the best profits, because that has the best markup”

“There is power in delegation – offload yourself and leave time and mental space to do otherthings, unajipata ata hizo times uko free, unapata ideas zingine unaeza fanya”

Brian - Spread your investsments

“ you should never invest in one place, don’t put all your eggs in one basket, they might break – eg mafuriko and demonstrations took away all my biz, and so I plan to be doing more things and not put all my money in one place, saa hii bado tunarecover”

“When you get to a new sector, profits is not always guaranted. I have been doing modeling for some people in their biz, and when i got in, nilikaa sanaa bila kupata clients, so ni poa you prepare yourself that you might take some time before you can see any returns.”

“tax is so high these days, account for this and communicate with your customers, economy ni ngumu kwa kila mtu, and good customer service goes a long way. So these days, unajipata ukiendea stock, bei imepanda, and when customers come they expect ile bei ya kitambo, so inabidi unawaelezea, else you will end up selling things at a loss”

Saweria - Believe in yourself and trust God

“Jiamini, mungu atakuwezesha, even if you do not have a shop, for instance, i started my biz nikizungusha perfume door to door, and recently i got a small stall – i kept telling mungu anifanikishe”

Perpetua - Sales tip

“don’t sell a product, sell the benefits of that product – watu wakiona benefits za hiyo product, the once who need it will come, and that is how you will be able to move your stock”

Nichole: Modeling & Acting

“vile akili yako inasema kutakuwa is not always the case, there is a lot kwa ground. It can be costly to make it, do your own research before going and be flexible on what being in the field will teach you, but don’t fear to get started, and once you are in, keep going, jikaze!”