SIMPLE IDEAS YOU CAN START WITH LITTLE CAPITAL

 

You may not have millions of shillings in the bank to start a business, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have any options.

Let me surprise you.

There are so many ideas you can explore with next to nothing and make serious returns out of them.

All that is required of you is to provide the skills, work ethic and a bit of marketing. In short, that is what is called “sweat capital”. In the world of start-ups, “sweat capital” is worth more than monetary capital.

Enough of vague statement. Let’s get practical. Here is a run-down of 10 business ideas that require very little monetary capital to set-up.

Read through them keenly, take some notes and then go out there and do some deep digging and you are ready to go.

*MAKING HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY JAM AND SELLING (KSH.750 STARTING CAPITAL)*

This is an interesting idea because you can actually start it with less than the cash you spend when you take your girlfriend for a movie at iMax.

The more creative you are the more income you can generate from it. To start you will require some strawberries, sugar and lemons.

You will also need a sufuria (pot), mwiko (wooden stick) and some plastic containers for packaging. With just a little more perfection, you can actually secure a KEBS license and start supplying supermarkets.

If you can keep investing more time and creativity into this, there is no reason why you should not grow it into a sustainable business.

*Budget Breakdown*

*Strawberries – Ksh.250 per kilo

*Sugar – Ksh.100 for 500 grams

*Lemons – Ksh.100

*Packaging pouches – Ksh.200

*Transport expenses – Ksh.100

TOTAL – Ksh.750

One kilogram of strawberries will give you approximately 6 cans of jam each weighing 250 grams. You can then sell a 250 gram for Ksh.200 making at least Ksh.1,200.

Note that you can always expand your profit margins by planting the strawberries yourself.

*SELLING WALL PAPERS (KSH.1,800 STARTING CAPITAL)*

If making strawberry jam sounds more like a “mboche’s” idea to you, then you might want to put your in-born interior design knowledge to good use.

Most people live in houses with a dull paint done by their landlords. A number of them would like to have their interior looking better – but without necessarily repainting it.

This is where wall papers come in handy. You simply get ready-made wall papers either from local wholesalers or by importing from countries such as china.

*Budget Breakdown*

*Wall Paper Roll – Ksh.1,600 per 10 meters

*Other expenses – Ksh.200

TOTAL – Ksh.1,800

You can then sell each roll for Ksh.3,500 and include a Ksh.1,000 charge for installation.

That translates to more than double profit. The more aggressive you are, the more sales you can make and the more revenue you can generate from this.

*DISTRIBUTING BLACK COFFEE (KSH.6,600 STARTING CAPITAL)*

If you live in towns like Nairobi, I am sure you have come across some guys who distribute black coffee in matatu termini. Have you ever stopped to inquire how much they make per day?

Well, as it turns out, this venture is one of those “opportunities dressed in rags” kind of things.

For starters you will require a 10 litre capacity flask, some disposable plastic cups and well…a bit of hard work.

 

 

 

*Budget Breakdown*

*Thermos Flask – Ksh.5,000 for 10 litre thermos

*Disposable plastic cups – Ksh.1,000

*Sugar – Ksh.400 per Kilo

*Coffee – Ksh.200

TOTAL – Ksh.6,600

As long as you are willing to give it your best, there is no reason why you should walk away with less than Ksh.1,000 per day in profits.

How?

You might want to ask. Well, a 10 litre coffee thermos contains 65 x 150ml cups of coffee.

Sell each cup at Ksh.10 and you will make Ksh.650 per flask.

If you can make three trips per day – once in the morning and twice in the evening – then we can talk about Ksh.650 x 3 = Ksh.1,950.

Subtract cost of water, sugar and coffee and you realize you can make a cool Ksh.1,500 per day.

*MAKING JEWELLERY FROM BONES (KSH.1,010 STARTING CAPITAL)*

Carving jewellery out of beef and camel bones? Boiling bones? Collecting discarded bones from restaurants and slaughterhouses?

Sounds like a “chokora’s” job…right? Not until you realize how much potential it has.

Here’s the drill, you acquire waste bones, sharpen them with a circular blade and then smooth them with a sand paper.

You then boil them using hydrogen peroxide to remove oil. You then apply candle wax to them (in pattern) and then dye the bones for one hour.

Finally you design the bone into either a necklace beards, bracelets, rings or even earrings.

Visit YouTube.com and watch videos on how it’s done.

*Budget Breakdown*

*Bones – Free or purchase at a small price

*Hydrogen Peroxide – Ksh.500

*Blades and sandpaper – Ksh.500

*Candles – Ksh.10

TOTAL – Ksh.1,010

As with any other design business out there, this business rewards the creative mind. So if you are not ready to sit down for hours coming up with some nice concepts; don’t risk it.

If done right, this has the potential to make you a force to reckon within the multi-billion jewelry industry.

*CHIA SEEDS FARMING (KSH.10,000 STARTING CAPITAL)*

You will be surprised to hear how this little, wonder seed is causing ripples across the world.

In fact, just recently, chia wholesalers in Europe were sold out. Why?

Because the seed has many health benefits ranging from omega oil to protein supply.

With a fast growing market, you can take advantage of this opportunity to start a small farm. It grows in moderately warm areas with well-drained soil e.g. places like Nakuru, Uasin Gishu and Western Kenya.

Best of all, the crop thrives organically and you need no fertilizer or pesticide to sustain it.

*Budget Breakdown*

*Chia seeds – Ksh.4,000 for two kilos

*Farming cost – Ksh.6,000

TOTAL – Ksh.10,000

You only need 2 kilograms of it to establish a quarter acre. That will in turn give you a harvest of 75 kilograms after just 3 months. With each Kilogram fetching Ksh.2,000 on the market, it means you can comfortably raise Ksh.150,000.

*CAR BOOT SALES (KSH.12,000 STARTING CAPITAL)*

So, you have been fired yet you still have a personal car loan to finance. Don’t panic. You can convert that car into a business by making car boot sales.

It’s very simple, you identify a few fast moving goods, transport them with your car to crowded places or busy streets and sell from your car’s boot.

Some fast moving goods include chicken eggs, used toys, traditional vegetables and exotic fruits.

The benefit with car boot is that unlike a permanent shop, this one allows you to move from one place to another. You can also avoid a bulk of county council costs when operating this way.

*Budget Breakdown*

*Products to sale – As little as Ksh.10,000

*Fuel and car expenses – Ksh.1,000

Any other – Ksh.1,000

TOTAL – Ksh.12,000

*MAKING BEADED SANDALS AND HANDBAGS (KSH.3,870 STARTING CAPITAL)*

You need beads. A kilogram of beads goes for Ksh.370/= at Kariakor Market in Nairobi.

A kilogram is enough to make an entire bead handbag and a small pouch which you can sell for as much as Ksh.3,000. This represents a profit of Ksh.2,230.

You will also need to take a few days to learn the art of beading (around 4 days).

*Budget Breakdown*

*Beads – Ksh.370 per kilo

*Training – Ksh.3,000 (may vary)

*Needles & strings – Ksh.500

TOTAL – Ksh.3,870

Being in the creative industry, this business gives you the freedom to set the price. You can therefore rake in anything from as little as Ksh.1,000 per day to as much as you want depending on your entrepreneurial prowess.

*MAKING BEADS FROM SCRATCH*

You don’t just need to settle at the idea of making beaded sandals and handbags. You can actually make the beads yourself and supply them other fashion designers.

All you need is to acquire some polymer clay (the one used by urban kids to make mould) which you can use to mould different bead designs.

You can follow the link below for a step-by-step guide on how to go about this.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Polymer-Clay-Beads

Luckily, for you, there are not many Kenyans doing this and you can therefore take full advantage of the market dynamics.

Where do you get polymer clay in Kenya? Well, it is readily available in supermarkets and bookshops. Alternatively, you can import it in bulk.

*Budget Breakdown*

*Oven-bake clay – Ksh.100 per bar of clay

*Clay sculpting tools – Ksh.1,500

*Needles & strings – Ksh.500

*Polymer clay oven – Ksh.10,000

*Labour – Ksh.200 per laborer per day

TOTAL – Ksh.11,800

This is yet another venture that depends on one’s creativity. Returns may vary from as little as Ksh.1,000 per day to much more depending on economies of scale.

*PROCESSING AND SELLING NATURAL OILS*

You don’t need a whole factory along Mombasa road to start producing oils. You simply need to invest in an oil press machine and a few raw materials like avocado, macadamia, sunflowers and even chia seeds.

Things like avocadoes are readily available in most parts of the country and you can obtain them at throw-away prices. You dry them up and then squeeze them using the machine to produce pure, organic oil.

Once you get the oil, you can package it in bottles and supply to your clients. With the need for quality skin care and demand for 100% natural oil emerging, you can rival for a sizeable pie of this lucrative industry right from your living room.

*Budget Breakdown*

*Automatic cold press machine – Ksh.50,000

*Raw materials – Ksh.1,000

*Packaging – Ksh.5,000

TOTAL – Ksh.56,000

4 avocadoes can produce 50ml of pure oil. You can sell this oil for as much as Ksh.100.

Yet each avocado would cost you about 5 – 15 bob. A small set-up can produce and sell 1 litre of avocado oil per day – this loosely translates to Ksh.2,000 in sales.

The sales can increase further if you approach supermarkets and cosmetic shops in your area.

*BECOME A CLOWN*

Yes… what the heck! If everything else does not work for you consider becoming a clown.

All you need to do is acquire clown costumes. Then start approaching party planners – especially kids’ parties – and request to be hired as a clown or entertainer.

In the west freelance clowns fetch as much as Ksh.10,000 ($100) per hour. So why not try it locally and set your price depending on how popular you become?

You can expand this to include services like face painting, trampolines, puppet shows, animal mascots and so forth.

*Budget Breakdown*

*Clown costumes – Ksh.5,000 (Polyester)

TOTAL – Ksh.5,000

*Final Word*

As you can see, there is no limit as to what business you can engage in. With money as little as your relatives give you for pocket money, you can always start a business.

So don’t sit there and complain. Get up and do something.

Did you also know that you start trading in forex with as little as Ksh.500?

We have created a WhatsApp group called, *FOREX TRADING TRAINING*

In this group we are going to train and teach you for 20 days, everything you need to know about Forex Trading. We will also have discussions, questions and answers sessions in the group.

The training will start on Monday, 6th September 2021.

We have prepared a program or schedule on how our Forex Trading training will be conducted.

Our training will take 20 days (Monday to Friday, excluding weekends)

We will be educating/teaching you from 9.am to 2.pm by posting articles, images, PDF documents and videos. And from 2.pm to 7.pm the group will be open for discussions, questions and answers.

*NOTE:* The training won’t affect your daily schedules. You can access all the information posted in the training group at your own free time.

Also our Forex Trading training will be on weekdays, Monday to Friday, excluding weekends so that those who will be busy during the weekdays can catch up with our training over the weekend.

Below is a schedule of what will be learnt on each day of our Forex Trading training.

DAY 1: Introduction to Forex/Currency Trading.

DAY 2: What Is the Forex Market? (Getting Inside the Numbers and Getting Started with a Practice Account)

DAY 3: Who Trades Currencies? (Meet the Forex Players.)

DAY 4: The Mechanics of Forex Trading.

DAY 5: Looking at the Big Picture. (Currencies and Interest Rates)

DAY 6: Understanding and Applying Market News and Information.

DAY 7: Getting Down and Dirty with Fundamental Data.

DAY 8: Getting to Know the Major Currency Pairs.

DAY 9: Minor Currency Pairs and Cross-Currency Trading.

DAY 10: Training and Preparing for Battle. (Finding the Right Trading Style for You)

DAY 11: The Philosophy, Art and Science of Technical Analysis.

DAY 12: Identifying Trade Opportunities. (Developing a Routine for Market Analysis.)

DAY 13: Risk-Management Considerations.

DAY 14: Pulling the Trigger. (Making the Trade Correctly.)

DAY 15: Managing the Trade. (Monitoring the Market while Your Trade Is Active and Updating Your Trade Plan as Time Marches)

DAY 16: Closing the Position and Evaluating Your Results. (Closing Out the Trade and Assessing Your Trading Strategy)

DAY 17: Habits of Successful Forex Traders.

DAY 18: Rules of Risk Management in Forex Trading.

DAY 19: Great Resources for Forex Trading. (Books and websites)

DAY 20: Conclusion

To join our *FOREX TRADING TRAINING* WhatsApp group, it will cost you only Ksh.200.

This Ksh.200 is a small fee to enable you receive all the training about Forex Trading for 20 days.

You can pay Ksh.200 only by Mpesa to 0742304047 (Justine Nyachieo) or 0701711058 (Timothy Angwenyi) and we will add you to our *FOREX TRADING TRAINING* WhatsApp group.

Don’t miss this Forex Trading training. It’s a once in a life time opportunity.

Remember this training will be for 20 days and starts on Monday, 6th September 2021. Make your payment early to avoid last minute inconveniences.

 

By

Justine Nyachieo
Business Man & Mentor

Timothy Angwenyi
Business Consultant

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