Startup Kenya

New colloquial words usually originate from a mutation or amalgamation of existing words. Take Waflash for example I know that most of you have probably never heard of this word but it carries deep significance for me. Long long ago, in a galaxy far far away (...just had to use that, it's for the lulz) I shared an office with an otherwise affable chap called Wafula. Now I say otherwise because Wafula had a serious weakness... read on. Based on my limited business knowledge at the time, I knew that there were only two ways in which a company could maintain a positive cashflow: 1) increase sales 2) cut costs. Wafula however only believed in number 2, while I was a rather strong proponent of number 1. I came to realize just how strong of a disciple Wafula was of the cost cutting dogma one sweltering February afternoon. You see in our office arrangement, Wafula would pay for electricity while I catered for the internet. Since we were sub-tenants, the main tenant would pay for the

This post is dedicated to @kenyangetter . It's always nice when your ramblings are appreciated. 10 years is a short time in technology. When I got my first Airtel line (it used to be called KenCell those days young ones) the provider did not even have SMS as a service. They did launch it a few months later by the (very clever) name YesMS (for those who don't know the slogan for Kencell was Yes!). However you could not send an SMS from Kencell to Safaricom for a long time after its launch but on the bright side an SMS only cost Kes. 5.00. This was way cheaper than the appx. Kes. 30 per minute (billed per minute!) call charges one would incur for calling at that time. With Kenyan's peculiar calling habits under attack, SMS became the preferred mobile communication means. Millions of text messages were transmitted across providers' networks and the providers milked this revenue source by keeping the rates virtually unchanged over the years. It was not long before

Amid the hullabaloo of Osama’s killing and the crippling fuel shortage that hit Nairobi, a shocking announcement sneaked its way into the paper yesterday without anyone making too much a fuss about it.  It was reported that the National Cohesion and Integration Commission has been monitoring text messages and internet-based communication for any clues of hate speech and incitement. Surprisingly though this news does not appear on the front pages of any of the main media houses websites this morning. As if to allay the obvious concerns on privacy, Commissioner Halakhe Waqo “assured phone users that adequate steps have been taken to safeguard individual privacy unless it breaches national security and peaceful co-existence “ Seems harmless enough so far. But then Commissioner Waqo went on to say: “We do recognise that privacy is very important for an individual but public security and safety is much more important. We want to pin down that breach in public safety and security,”

This morning I woke to a full page advert in the dailies announcing that Safaricom had launched a new data tariff for KSh.2 per minute billed per second. Instantly several questions popped up in my mind, many of which were gratifyingly answered by @kachwanya's and @mkaigwa's excellent posts. The concept of per minute browsing readily intrigued me because of my rural cyber cafe exploits as well as my general interest in Safaricom's data products . Before I could devise a strategy on how these new tariffs would impact my internet hungry businesses, I decided to give it a test trial. I figured a 10 minute session (presumably worth KSh. 20) should be sufficient to answer questions about speed and reliability. Below are the results of my test trial, which I should warn are not scientific and it would do well for you to carry out your own trials. 1. Deciding that a 3G modem would get the job done best, I first made sure that my bandwidth balance was expired. This was done

Tom ran the numbers again, furiously punching the enter key on his keyboard as if to determine a different outcome. There was a slight decrease of Ks. 22,000, hardly enough to make a dent on the Ks. 1.8m fiscal hole he was staring at. He had been at this for six hours now and no matter which way he tried to slash costs, it was painfully obvious that unless he made some drastic changes, his business was headed for bankruptcy. Leaning back in his leather chair his eyes glanced up from the monitor to look out through his glass partion to his personal assistant Maryanne. She had been very loyal to him these difficult past six months, but even from his desk he could see that she was spending her time on youtube, probaly looking at baby videos since she was a new mother. The volumnious work load that had inspired her recruitment and six others seemed to dry up the minute they set up their desks. Tom had figured it was just a bad month and things would change, but half a year later, the s

Please see some NGO jobs in Kenya below. I am only re-publishing this so please do not contact me for details on the various positions as I would not know. Job Title - ELRI Project Final Evaluation Consultant, Kenya Closing Date -  20 Mar 2011 Organisation  - Horn Relief URL Address  -  http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/res.nsf/db900SID/OCHA-8ERGZG Job Title - Chief of Party, Somalia/Kenya, Kenya (Based in Nairobi) Closing Date -  25 Mar 2011 Organisation  - International Business & Technical Consultants, Inc. URL Address  -  http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/res.nsf/db900SID/OCHA-8EQR58 Job Title - Accounts Assistant, Kenya (Nairobi) Closing Date -  18 Mar 2011 Organisation  - International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs URL Address  -  http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/res.nsf/db900SID/OCHA-8EQ8B2 Job Title - Reproductive Health  Technical Advisor , Kenya (Nairobi) Closing Date -  03 May 2011 Organisation  - International Rescue Committee URL Address  -  http://www

The indecipherable expression on a young man's face as his business partner threatens to sue him for everything is definitely the best scene of Andrew Sorkin's The Social Network. Mark Zuckerberg just stares at his best friend Eduardo Saverin who is flipping out after being screwed out of their business.  Jesee Eisenberg potrays  Zuckenberg the youngest (self-made) billionaire in the world ($6.9B as at Oct 2010) who built facebook into a network of 500 million friends but lost his only friend along the way. No, this is not a how-to get into your business partners pants post. Rather I want to talk about the little considered but very important relationship that you have with your business partner  and how to balance the pursuit of profit with keeping the friendship going. I cannot overstate the importance of maintaining a healthy friendly relationship with your business partner. As Eduardo found out, the minute the friendship starts deteriorating, so goes the business r

My friend Roger clearly remembers those particular words from the telephone call. After many days anxiously spent waiting for it the bank had called him that sweltering December afternoon. The call effectively put a nail in the coffin for Rogers’ fledgling insurance agency. Twelve months earlier, Roger had started his business with unbridled and unstoppable optimism. He quit his well-paying but stressful job as a marketer in a large company, much to the distress of his pregnant wife.  But Roger quit because he had a dream. He dreamed of giving his unborn son everything he ever wanted. He dreamed of an end to the despondent dependancy on his pay cheque. He dreamed of hours of relaxed recreational family time. Driven by a lucid, Technicolor vision of his dream Roger took a one million shillings loan from the bank to start his agency, only to have the bank take it from him one short year later. The auctioneer came the next day, a greasy-faced, pot-bellied, squinty eyed man wearing a

While consulting for our online company registration service, Incorporator I find myself answering the question "What is the difference between a sole-proprietorship and a company?" Anybody who is considering starting a business must consider what type of business structure is needed for his or her particular situation. In Kenya there are three types of structures that one can use to start their business. 1. An LLC, or Limited Liability Company 2. A sole proprietorship 3. A Partnership A Sole-proprietorship and a Partnership are registered through the same manner (Form BN/2) with the exception that a partnership has more than one owner and although not necessary, entrepreneurs are advised to register a partnership deed as well. In this article all references to sole-proprietorship also include partnership. Understanding the advantages and disadvantages of each structure is important when deciding which one you want to use for your company.

In the January of 2002 a young man found himself battling against frustration and despair as he saw his barely four month old company go up in smoke. It was his first real business venture and he had sunk all of his meagre savings into it, only to find himself unable to convert his enthusiasm into sales. Four months without a single sale he only had well worn shoes to show for his effort. When he started the business, he thought he had it figured all out. He had bought a mobile phone and a decent second-hand computer and sublet a small office in town. He listed down 500 prospects, wrote an introduction letter, and proceeded to call and visit the prospects. Four months and several disappointing calls and visits later, he had only managed to see a handful of prospects and none were yet to give him any business. Meanwhile his landlord was on his back asking for rent and he had run out of money to make telephone calls. He had no option but to close down his fledgling busine

It seems even giants can be rattled. Since Bharti/Zain welcomed the birth of Kenya's second republic with the lowest call charges across mobile networks, their counterparts on Waiyaki way (Safaricom) have been as busy as bees. I can now exclusively reveal through my inside sources the happenings at Safaricom these past three weeks, some of which are utterly shocking. 1. Shutting down the Facebook Page Even before Zain introduced their game changer tariffs, the official facebook page for Safaricom http://www.facebook.com/#!/SafaricomLtd?ref=ts was peppered with negative comments from users. After Zain's tariff launch however, it seems people went full time on #chukifm on the Safaricom facebook page, complaining on every single comment from Safaricom. Sample some posts from users below: "...as long as u guys stil continu stealin our credit usin ur unlimited internet shit,u suck in evrthn u do.actualy,u stink!"  "MASAA YA KUIBA...i want my 21 mb of free da