By Dorcas Karuana,
Many people wish to earn more then what they are making now from employment. But very few do anything about it. The truth is that in this era of recession and outsourcing, your job is no more secure. Many people have seen unemployment or salary cut not to mention layoffs. Also many employers are not willing to add salaries since this becomes an added cost to the company even if the profits increase greatly. This means that your income is shrinking — but your bills aren’t.
Instead of complaining about your little salary which seems to get little increment, think of some side gigs that can help you gain some padding to your diminishing income. Working for yourself may not be easy, but a second job is for your better future. You can make extra money and enjoy all that life has to offer with your side hustle.
Here are various Small Business Ideas that both the unemployed and employed in Kenya can evaluate and venture into to make money for their families.
1. Making ornaments – For those who love decorations, making and selling ornaments would make a great business idea for them. One can make ornaments such as necklaces, bangles, or bracelets as well as anklets using readily available materials. It does not require a lot of capital to do this and it’s a good way to spend free time while as well making some extra money. You can do it from home and sell to friends, neighbors and people within that area
2. Cyber Café Business - This requires a little experience for one to start operating the business. One only needs to get a free room and obtain machines (computers) as well as obtain a license which is fairly affordable. Pays well and it’s a good way to spend free time.
3. Starting a bakery - For those who can bake cakes, mandazis and other bitings, it’s a nice business idea to make it a means of earning extra income. You can bake these items and sell them from your home or if you have a small extra room, you can make it shop and get a license. You can also supply these items to shops, cafes, restaurants, supermarkets e.t.c
4. Farming in Kenya - As long as one has a small piece of land outside her house, one can decide to plant vegetables such as kales, carrots, Dania, spinach and other greens. This way she can sell them to her neighbors or people around the area. No much experience is needed as learning is an everyday experience. Customers are guaranteed as long as your commodities are of good quality and as long as you have a good relationship with your customers.
5. Laundry business - One can start business of cleaning people’s clothes which does not require huge capital inputs. Only a small amount of cash is needed to buy soap and laundry basins and buckets as well as adequate water and pegs. This could be quite tasking but it’s a nice way of making extra income. Doing a perfect job wholeheartedly guarantees you that customers won’t be a problem. A good job helps maintain the customers as well as attract new ones.
6. Carpet cleaning and seats business - Most people are unable to clean carpets and marts at their homes. Starting this business is a nice way to make extra income. Soap and water is all that’s needed to get the business kicking and customers will come flowing if you do a good job at cleaning. No experience required just a little effort and will to do it.
7. Second hand clothes - This is a very profitable venture as people make random purchases as they impulse buy while on their way to their homes from work or as they pass by these second hand clothing stalls. Second hand clothes are fairly cheaper and affordable to most citizens. All one needs is a little capital to acquire enough stock as well as a strategically located stall to position her business.
8. Fruits salad kiosk - Fruits are healthy for your health, Kenyans love easy things, and most eat fruits for their lunch time meals, making fruit salad kiosk a creative business idea in Kenya. It’s a good business venture that would never go wrong as long as the fruits are of good quality and the kiosk is clean to keep away fruit fries. Little capital is needed for renting out a space and for purchasing fruits and dishes for serving the fruits.
9. Embroidery business - One can embark in sewing and making various items such as table mats, seat covers and other things and sell them off to people for use at their homes, shops, churches and so forth for decoration purposes. Nice marts and carpets are good and they make the house look beautiful and comfortable. All that one need is a license, a vacant room, sewing machine, threads, and scissors which are the basic items to get the business started.
10. Making cards for special occasions – There are many occasions in our day to day lives and it’s thus a nice idea to decide to make cards for special occasions and events. Events such as birthdays, graduations, weddings, exams and others call for this kind of business. Not much experience is needed because much of it calls for creativity and making use of the available resources such as waste paper, beads for making traditionally decorated cards.
11. Hawking - With a little amount of income, one can buy inner wares such as panties, undies and bras in wholesale and go selling in people’s homes. This is a great way to make extra money as there are nice profits in this kind of business and considering the fact that most people do not have that time to go buy such items. Bringing the items to their homes would be very convenient for them.
12. Start a music or movie library - This is very easy to startup and quite cheap. If you have a laptop or a computer all you need to do is buy blank cds to make movies and disks worth about Ksh 3000. You can burn music folders and movies and sell to people. It’s a very easy way to make money and little effort required. When you are not that busy you can engage in those online writing jobs where you are actually paid to write.
13. Start a salon in Kenya - As you all know everyone wants to look glam and beautiful. The hair being the first thing, to a stunning look for every woman around the globe. It would be a nice idea to startup a saloon with the basic equipment’s and ensure that it’s clean and well maintained. Employ an experienced person so as to provide quality services. With time, profits from the business can be used to expand and upgrade the saloon such that it offers other services such as facials, pedicures, manicures and full body massage.
0 comments:
Post a Comment