Do I qualify to be a mind reader? I hope so because I know you have ever thought of starting a business at some point. Whether as a side hustle or a main hustle.
However, the question that lingers in most minds is! Which business should I invest in? This question is simple and complicated at the same time. Why you ask! Let me explain.
You see anyone can think of a business idea and visualize its inception, operation all the way to it being a success. But as the famous saying goes “kwa ground mambo ni different” loosely translated to the business might look good on paper but present an entirely different scenario in reality.
In this article, we shall cover 10 business ideas you can consider starting here in Kenya. We shall look at the requirements finance-wise as well as how to make money out of these businesses.
As the author some of these businesses I am already invested in or plan to invest in in the near future and therefore the ideas outlined below are as a result of first-hand experiences and years of research.
I’d also like to mention that whenever I need a refill of fresh business ideas, I always go to a platform called Bizsasa where they share some really unique ones along with providing access to business mentorship. If you are someone like me who always likes to grab new opportunities, that’s a platform I would highly recommend for you.
And now, without further ado, let’s dive in.
Best Business Ideas in Kenya
Table of Contents
1. Tech Logistics Company
E-commerce business is on the rise in Nairobi and Kenya as a whole. One of the major issues this type of business struggles with is logistics (delivering products to people who order online).
Another issue is trust. Buyers usually hesitate to send money before receiving the products and vice versa. This is where a Tech Logistics Company comes in.
Such a company helps solve these 2 problems. You will start by creating an App or a website where sellers upload their orders with the customer’s details. Secondly, you will need an office/warehouse location. For efficient operations, you can have traders store their goods with you, this way when an order comes in delivery is arranged immediately.
You do not have to do the actual delivery. You can partner with companies like G4S, Fargo Courier, Nation Courier, etc. G4S supports payment on delivery.
Cost
The startup cost for this type of business will range between 1 Million – 1.5 Million Kenyan Shillings.
Most of this amount will go into the App/Website development. Ensure you have a reliable and user-friendly application that’s easy to navigate and loads fast.
To reduce operational costs choose an office location that’s near town that way it’s easier for customers to bring their goods to you as well as easier for you to deliver the orders to partner couriers like G4S stations.
How To Make Money From The Business
This is a business of numbers so your main goal should be to process as many orders as possible on any given day. You make money by having a small markup on the delivery cost. You can also charge a small fee for processing payments on delivery.
Lastly, you can also charge a monthly fee for storage. However, remember that most of your customers will be small-scale traders; therefore, your charges should be the lowest they can be but remain profitable.
Go hard on social media marketing to bring in as many customers as possible. Once you have customers coming in ensure you offer the very best services to retain them.
2. Scent Marketing
This idea is explained very well on the Bizsasa Book called “100 Profitable Business Ideas in Kenya” including how to market, who to target, mentorship etc etc but let me sum it up for you.
Scent marketing is the strategic use of aroma scents to enhance brand identity and influence consumer behavior by creating a distinctive and memorable atmosphere.
For example, when you walk into a Java there’s a certain distinctive smell that’s usually around the atmosphere, the same goes for banks, hospitals, and even some posh offices.
Companies leverage scent marketing to establish a unique brand image, leaving a lasting impression on customers and cultivating loyalty.
To start a Scent marketing firm, you’ll need to be able to curate fragrances for different types of business. Scents can be found on Amazon or even Alibaba.
You will also need to get diffusers as these scents are released via a diffuser. The trick here is to get unique diffusers that don’t scream “I am a diffuser”
Cost
This business is relatively cheap to start. You can start with a few scents and diffusers and then grow your portfolio as more customers come in.
With around Ksh 500,000, you can start a decent Scent Marketing firm. The majority of this money will go into procuring scents and diffusers.
You will also need to invest a lot in digital marketing to get customers fast. The good thing is when starting you don’t need a physical office you can operate fully online and only do meetings on the customer premises.
How To Make Money From The Business
The 1st way to make money from the business is of course by selling scents.
To attract customers, you can offer the diffusers for free this is because the scents are refillable and you can make your money by refilling the scents. Alibaba is a good place to get these diffusers for cheap.
Get scents that you refill every month that way you have some recurrent income.
Once again, if you want the finer details of this so you can implement it before someone else does, I recommend checking out this detailed resource.
3. Amazon FBA / Jumia Dropshipping
FBA means fulfilled by Amazon. In a layman’s language, it’s where you sell your goods on the Amazon website. The good news is that you can do this from Kenya.
To start you need a product that you can sell on Amazon. The trick here is to get a fast-selling product that you can buy for cheap and sell for 10X profit or more on Amazon.
Daily use products are a very good start like cutlery, but a lot of research is required in order to avoid deadstock. Also, remember Amazon majorly serves the American market so look for a product fit for that market.
Cost
The starting capital will be determined by the type of product you choose. Also, start with a small quantity of that product and scale as sales come in.
With as little as ksh 100,000 or even less, you can start an Amazon FBA business. The best thing is that you don’t even need to register a company or business here in Kenya to start.
This same process can be replicated with JUMIA.
With Jumia, you just need to know a place where you can get goods for cheap and post them on Jumia for a profit. You don’t need to buy the goods prior.
Another advantage is that you can post multiple products and therefore increase your chances of making more money.
4. Farmers Choice Stockist
In the morning at home or a hotel when you eat sausages, bacon, or even smokie pasua you’re most likely consuming a farmers choice product.
They usually sell their products through stockists. This basically a small farmers choice shop but owned by you. Farmers Choice will supply you with all the products to sell from sausages, bacon, smokies, ribs, chicken etc.
What sets a Stockist apart from let’s say supermarkets is the fact that stockists are usually cheaper than supermarkets so don’t be afraid to set up where there’s a supermarket nearby.
Cost
For starters, you will need a decent shop to trade from and also get all the relevant trading documents from the county of operation i.e. food handling certificate, business licenses, etc.
Secondly, you will need about 2 freezers to store your products. The good thing about farmers choice products is that they have a very long shelf life while refrigerated. In addition, famers choice (The Company) will assist with branding and a bit of marketing of your shop.
Farmers Choice requires an initial investment for stock of around ksh 300,000. You will then need an additional ksh 300,000 for fridges, shop rent, and licenses, and other miscellaneous expenses.
Therefore, with around ksh 600,000, you can get started with being a farmers choice stockiest.
How To Make Money From The Business
With this business, you need to sell as many products as humanly possible. Therefore, when selecting a shop location look for a shop with high foot traffic.
You can also approach nearby hotels, smokie vendors, and even mini-marts. That way you establish several repeat customers who you can sell to daily in addition to the walk-in customers.
You can also offer deliveries where people place orders by calling or via WhatsApp and you deliver to their houses.
5. Digital Marketing Agency
All businesses discussed in this article have one thing in common. They all need customers, the easiest way to get customers today is through digital marketing.
By establishing a digital marketing agency, you can help different businesses get customers online.
To get started you need to take a course in digital marketing, these are available online and are pretty cheap to buy. Once done you need to keep yourself updated on the latest news and trends in the industry as things online change rapidly.
Cost
A digital marketing course on Udemy can set you back ksh 3,000 to ksh 5,000. Alternatively, you can get free courses on YouTube. However, YouTube courses are usually shallow and you might need to watch very many videos before you can fully understand the concept.
Once done you can now offer your knowledge to different businesses and help them set up successful digital marketing campaigns at a fee.
This means you can literally start a digital marketing agency with little to no capital.
How To Make Money From The Business
Help businesses curate successful digital campaigns at a fee.
You can come up with a retainer model where clients pay you a retainer to work with you every month.
After working in the industry for a while you can also create a digital marketing course and sell it on platforms like Udemy or on your website.
6. Faceless YouTube Channel
Just as the title suggests a faceless YouTube channel you post videos without you in them, you don’t even have to talk. These are ideal for travel videos, day in the life, walk-around videos, etc, the ideas here are endless.
Costs
Straight off the bat, you need a device that can record high-quality videos you can use a phone or even the Meta Smart glasses.
A good camera phone like an iPhone, Samsung, Oppo, etc, will set you back around Ksh 80,000 to over ksh 200,000.
Secondly, Y’ll need a quality laptop for editing your videos before posting, a good second-hand laptop will cost anywhere between ksh 50,000 to ksh 100,000. If you go for a new laptop expect to spend somewhere between ksh 100,000 to over ksh 200,000.
Lastly, you will need an editing software, most have a free option but I’d advise you to go for the premium option in order to get all the features.
How To Make Money From The Business
Firstly, you can make money from YouTube, which pays you for showing ads in your videos.
Secondly and most lucrative, you can work with brands through sponsorships and brand placements.
Thirdly, you can sell your own products, i.e., T-shirts, jewelry, Mugs, etc. This will all depend on the type of audience that you build.
With a faceless YouTube channel focus on building a brand and a following, a huge one for that matter.
7. Sale Of Disposable Slippers
Disposable slippers just as the name suggests are slippers that are usually disposed of after you’re done wearing them, usually worn for a short period. These are ideal for hotels, hospitals, spas, salons, etc.
The advantage of this business is that you can sell to a single customer for as long as their business is operational and therefore you will only have to work hard looking for customers during the start of the business but as time goes by you can have a significant amount of return business.
Cost & How To Make Money From The Business
Disposable slippers can be found for cheap at Alibaba as low as ksh 100 per pair you can then sell them locally at ksh 500 or even more.
You can add value to them and increase the price by customizing them i.e. printing the customers logo on them.
With as low as ksh 100,000 you can kickstart your journey of selling Disposable slippers. Remember this is a business that you can operate 100% remotely and therefore keep your running costs on the low.
8. Award Ceremony
People love being recognized for their efforts be it in business, entertainment, or philanthropy work. Over and above recognition an award ceremony offers publicity to an individual or a business which is good for business.
To prosper in this business, you need to create a popular award brand, so popular that people will be super excited to be nominated for an award under your brand or even collaborate with you through sponsorship deals.
Cost & How To Make Money From The Business
Contrary to popular belief you do not need a lot of money to start an award ceremony. This is because due to the publicity around such a ceremony, you can always bring sponsors on board who will provide somethings for free or even offer money in exchange for publicity.
Therefore, you need around ksh 100,000 to register a business name, open a website where you shall carry out the nominations & voting and the rest to popularize the award.
One of the ways to make money from an award is through voting. Charge for votes! usually ksh 10 or ksh 20 per vote. Have as many categories as possible so that you nominate as many people/organizations as possible. The nominees will give your award free marketing as they post their nominations on social media and share with friends and family for voting.
The person with the highest number of votes wins but you can also add other criteria for determining a winner but votes have to form a bigger percentage of that.
Secondly, your sponsors will either give you money or offer some services for free, and therefore you get to save the money that would have been used in paying for these services. I have seen sponsorship deals where a sponsor contributes north of ksh 1,000,000 just to sponsor an award ceremony.
The idea here is to have a very popular award so that people are willing to pay for the votes or sponsor you as it will also give them publicity which is good for their business, so it’s a win-win situation for everyone.
9. Non-woven Bags Production and Customization
In 2017 Kenya banned the use of plastic bags in this effect a new industry emerged. The non-woven bags industry, one thing I haven’t seen so far is the customization of such bags. This is a low-hanging fruit and a business that can thrive very fast.
Businesses all over want to stand out from the rest and one way to do it is to give customers customized materials. 9 out of 10 times when you purchase a product from a shop, they have to pack the item for you in a non-woven bag and most times these are not customized.
You can customize bags for different businesses by printing their logos, and business information on the bags.
Cost
For starters, you need to get a machine for production and printing such a machine can cost between ksh 1,800,000 to ksh 2,500,000 from China.
You will also need to register a business and a premise to set up the factory, this can set you back another half a million or a million shillings.
10 Wall Plaster Rendering Business
When building a house, a lot of man-hours & money is used during the plastering phase. Well, the good news is that this can be cut down significantly by the use of a wall plaster rendering machine that can plaster an entire wall in seconds saving money and time.
Cost
A wall plaster rendering machine can cost anywhere between ksh 150,000 to ksh 250,000. That is buying and shipping to Kenya.
How To Make Money From The Business
I am sure if you walked outside right now you won’t have to go far for you to see a building coming up. You can make money by hiring this machine to people building. Given the way the machine can plaster a wall in a short period, you can lease it to a few different locations in a single day therefore increasing your earnings.
Hungry For More Ideas?
Conclusion
In conclusion, the ten business ideas discussed in this article highlight the diverse possibilities and business opportunities in Kenya. By tapping into them, you can not only achieve financial success but also contribute to Kenya’s economic growth.
As you embark on your entrepreneurial journey, remember that success in business often requires innovation, persistence, and a deep understanding of the local market. With the right approach and mindset, the potential for business success in Kenya is limitless.
Kevin Muya is an award-winning entrepreneur and the visionary Founder and CEO of Scepture Empire Limited. With a passion for e-commerce and digital marketing, Kevin has revolutionized online marketplaces in Kenya through innovative ideas that transform buyer-seller interactions.