My Story As Published on the Business Daily

Eric Kinoti has worked his way up to become one of Kenya’s youngest self-made millionaires.

Behind his success lies a story of youthful determination. At the age of 28, he is the proprietor of the now popular Shades System East Africa, a firm that manufactures and supplies luxury tents across the region.

“I started Shade System Company four years ago aged 24 with only five employees and a seed capital of Sh60,000. I saw a business gap because this sector was predominantly controlled by non-Kenyans,’’ said Mr Kinoti in an interview with the Business Daily at his office in Westlands, Nairobi.

He sold eggs in the coastal town of Mombasa to raise capital. He could source for the eggs and sell them at a profit to local hotels and save his earnings.

He says a friend approached him asking whether he could provide him with a tent for a function and after several dealings with him, Mr Kinoti noticed that the business was thriving and also decided to give it a try.

But the Sh60,000 he had saved was not enough, he says. The logistics was a big headache and more cash was needed to see his idea take off the ground.

Out of desperation, he approached a shylock who gave him Sh2 million that set him on the path to success.

“I immediately hit the road doing marketing, for my new business and was powered by zeal and passion for self-employment. After two years of poor returns, things started to look up’’ he says with pride.

His first deal involved school supplies followed by a military tender that saw him pocket over Sh15 million. Buoyed by the unexpected development, Mr Kinoti knew there was no looking back.

He says the tents business is popular in Kenya but that competition is stiff.

“Customers are receptive to new trends in the market which have made us to diversify our products,’’ he says.

Mr Kinoti notes Kenya’s economic growth in the last few years had positively impacted his business, with multi-national companies setting base in the country.

He cites the growth of the hospitality and the construction sectors which are his mainstay.

Shades System Company buys raw materials and customises them according to the project specification and customer choice. The firm imports raw materials from Turkey, South Korea and sometimes uses locally produced ones.

A social man who links up with his peers and mentees on Facebook to offer advice on entrepreneurship, his face lights up as he reads some comments from his admirers: “You always make my day with your words on entrepreneurship,’’ writes Linet Nteere. “If you were to be given Sh2m now, what will you do with it?’’ asks Johnny Rasco on the social network.

“When you inspire these young people you are creating self-employment because this gives them the drive to make their dreams come true. Hope is important no matter the challenges,’’ he quips.

But demand for tents is mostly from the corporate world. Individuals only come when there is a family or occasional outdoor function.
He says corporates take most of his products for branding in a world where quality is paramount.

To meet their demands, firms must invest in machines and employ technical experts, something which he says his company has achieved.

“We provide restaurant canopies, marquees, swimming pool shades, garden umbrellas, branded gazebos, bouncing castles, carpark shades among others,’’ he said, naming some of the products they offer.

His company is well known in East Africa, with clients coming from as far as Ethiopia, Somalia, Rwanda, Congo, Burundi and Southern Sudan.

The company also gets tenders from non-governmental organisations offering humanitarian services in these countries.

“If you want to thrive in any sector, observe what successful people are doing and come up with a more unique structure and strategy that will sell you to the public as a brand. When you imitate what your role models are doing, you limit yourself, be different, ’’ he advises would-be entrepreneurs.

A marketer by profession, Mr Kinoti worked in a bank before he ventured into self-employment but insists that Rwanda is the best place to set a business in Africa.

“In Rwanda an entrepreneur can register a company within a day unlike in Kenya where there is a lot of bureaucracy when setting up and their business policies are also friendly,’’ said Mr Kinoti who has employed 50 people both directly and indirectly.

He maintains that brand awareness is a key factor that defines the success of an enterprise.

And he should know, for his company is now worth Sh150 million. His clients include East Africa Breweries, Toyota Kenya, the Department of Defence and Bata Company, among other respected institutions in the country.

His competitors include Kenya Tents Company, Kenya Canvas Company and Tarpo Industries.

What other secrets does he have for success?

“Be focused and keen to monitor emerging business trends both locally and internationally and compare how similar enterprises are performing in other countries,’’ he says. He cites strong teamwork and competent staff for lifting his company above the crowd.

It has certainly not been an easy walk for a man who was not lucky to be born with a silver-spoon in his mouth. Mr Kinoti has overcome a lot of challenges and adds that the memories of the past are still fresh in his mind. He recounts how he used to hawk eggs before he could go to work.

Highly demanding

“The manufacturing industry is highly demanding due to the capital required and I was forced to borrow from shylocks (informal lenders).

‘‘I cannot encourage any potential entrepreneur to borrow from these people because their repayment interests are too high and sometimes you can even lose your business to them.’’

Mr Kinoti maintains that Kenyan youths are innovative and that success comes from taking calculated risks. “Money is good but the idea comes first,’’ he says.

His role models include renowned business magnates Chris Kirubi and Donald Trump. According to him, the two have come up with strategies that do not necessarily seek to benefit themselves but to uplift the lives of people around them by creating job opportunities.

Apart from Shade Systems Company, Mr Kinoti owns Safi Sana Home Support Services Limited, a company that offers professional home and office cleaning services.

READ: Tent maker spots lucrative business in house cleaning

“We want to redefine the market and offer services that will take us to the next level based on quality,’’ he said Safisana trains and later employs the best performers.

Shade System is also set to open manufacturing plants in Rwanda and Malawi to widen its footprint in Africa.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP SPIRIT

As the dust settles and as the whole world gets to marry the fact that America gave an African-american a second term in office, we need to reflect on a few issues in the just concluded American elections in respect to the spirit of entrepreneurship.

Obama and Mitchelle

1. The black community, who until recently prefer being called the African-american community are roughly 16% of the American population. Had Obama concentrated on campaigning to this community, it could have been detrimental to his bid. He traversed all the races with a thorough campaign strategy.

As an entrepreneur, you need to widen your networks and the scope of thinking. Several entrepreneurs have a problem with trusting people from other communities and there are instances where I have visited many public places or offices only to be shocked that employees converse with their bosses in their local dialect. There are people who reason that doing business with other people from other communities is making that community rich. There is a whole load of business opportunities that you shy away from when you refuse to step out of your tribal confines.

Mr President

2. In his acceptance/victory speech, Obama showed his immense gratitude to his campaign team. He said in part, " To the best campaign team and volunteers in the history of politics, the best, the best ever, some of you were new this time around, and some of you have been at my side since the very beginning. But all of you are family, no matter what you do or go from here you will carry the memory of the history we made together and you will have a long-life appreciation of a grateful president."

Do you take time to appreciate the cleaner who empties your dustbin? Do you thank your secretary for working the extra hour just to finish a report? One human being, however good, cannot do everything in a company by themselves. You will need others and must appreciate their sacrifice and hardwork. By motivating your team and appreciating them you stand a chance of getting the best from them. The entrepreneurship spirit appreciates even the little things. The other day, one of my mentors and business partner, reminded me that maturity does not come by beginning to talk about big things, it comes by beginning to understand the simple things...like understanding the meaning of THANK YOU.

The 1st family

3. No person of colour had ever been elected president in america!

Never be bound by statistics. There are statistics that discourage many entrepreneurs from being ambitious and creative. There are several people who will discourage you from trying an idea of starting a business but that is normal, they are the same people who will praise you when your idea works and the very same ones who will rebuke you when you start facing challenges in your business. Use statistics to your advantage, let them guide you to achieve greater goals but not to discourage you. Yes, a man of colour had never been elected president of America, but Obama was elected, not for one term, for two terms!

10 Things Successful People Do Differently

A Saturday morning different from the rest. No Nairobi traffic jams,no matatu hooting but just the coastal breeze we all love.Its from the swaying of  palm trees maybe. Yes, in Mombasa. Greetings from the coastal people for that matter!

It is one of those mornings you realize you have been reading business overnight and slept with a promise to share some of the gained knowledge! I personally like talking,writing  and reading about successful people. What do they do differently? How do they do it? Why do they do it? Here are some gathered tips on how these individuals operate. Feel free to add,critic or even comment after your read.

1.They create and pursue S.M.A.R.T. goals.
Successful people are objective.  They have realistic targets in mind.  They know what they are looking for and why they are fighting for it. Successful people create and pursue S.M.A.R.T. goals.

S.M.A.R.T. goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.

2.  They take decisive and immediate action.
Sadly, very few people ever live to become the success story they dream about.  And there’s one simple reason why:

They never take action!

The acquisition of knowledge doesn't mean you’re growing.  Growing happens when what you know changes how you live.   So many people live in a complete daze.  Actually, they don’t ‘live.’  They simply ‘exist’ because they never take the necessary action to make things happen – to seek their dreams.

It doesn't matter if you have a genius IQ and a PhD, you can’t change anything or make any sort of real-world progress without taking action. There’s a huge difference between knowing how to do something and actually doing it.  Knowledge and intelligence are both useless without action.  It’s as simple as that.

Success hinges on the simple act of making a decision to live – to absorb yourself in the process of going after your dreams and goals.  So make that decision.  And take action.  For some practical guidance on taking action I highly recommend Getting Things Done.

3.  They focus on being productive, not being busy.
Tim Ferris says, “Slow down and remember this:  Most things make no difference.  Being busy is often a form of mental laziness – lazy thinking and indiscriminate action.”  This is Ferris’ way of saying “work smarter, not harder,” which happens to be one of the most prevalent modern day personal development clichés.  But like most clichés, there’s a great deal of truth to it, and few people actually adhere to it.

Just take a quick look around.  The busy outnumber the productive by a wide margin.

Busy people are rushing all over the place, and running late half of the time.  They’re heading to work, conferences, meetings, social engagements, etc.  They barely have enough free time for family get-togethers and they rarely get enough sleep.  Yet, business emails are shooting out of their smart phones like machine gun bullets, and their daily planner is jammed to the brim with obligations.

Their busy schedule gives them an elevated sense of importance.  But it’s all an illusion.  They’re like hamsters running on a wheel.

The solution:  Slow down.  Breathe.  Review your commitments and goals.  Put first things first.  Do one thing at a time.  Start now.  Take a short break in two hours.  Repeat.

And always remember, results are more important than the time it takes to achieve them.

4.  They make logical, informed decisions.
Sometimes we do things that are permanently foolish simply because we are temporarily upset or excited.

Although emotional ‘gut instincts’ are effective in certain fleeting situations, when it comes to generating long-term, sustained growth in any area of life, emotional decisions often lead a person astray.  Decisions driven by heavy emotion typically contain minimal amounts of conscious thought, and are primarily based on momentary feelings instead of mindful awareness.

The best advice here is simple:  Don’t let your emotions trump your intelligence.  Slow down and think things through before you make any life-changing decisions.

5.  They spend time with the right people.
Successful people associate with people who are likeminded, focused, and supportive.  They socialize with people who create energy when they enter the room versus those who create energy when they leave.  They reach out to connected, influential individuals who are right for their dreams and goals.This is simple; Focus on people who add value to you,avoid those that deteriorate your value!.

6.  They work outside of their comfort zone.
The number one thing I persistently see holding smart people back is their own reluctance to accept an opportunity simply because they don’t think they’re ready.  In other words, they feel uncomfortable and believe they require additional knowledge, skill, experience, etc. before they can aptly partake in the opportunity.  Sadly, this is the kind of thinking that stifles personal growth and success.

The truth is nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises.  Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow emotionally and intellectually.  They force us to stretch ourselves and our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first.  And when we don’t feel comfortable, we don’t feel ready.

Significant moments of opportunity for personal growth and success will come and go throughout your lifetime.  If you are looking to make positive changes and new breakthroughs in your life, you will need to embrace these moments of opportunity even though you will never feel 100% ready for them.

7.  They keep things simple.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” -Leonardo da Vinci  once said. Nothing could be closer to the truth.  Here in the 21st century, where information moves at the speed of light and opportunities for innovation seem endless, we have an abundant array of choices when it comes to designing our lives and careers.  But sadly, an abundance of choice often leads to complication, confusion and inaction.For instance, if the purchasing decision is tough to make, most people will just give up.  Likewise, if you complicate your life by inundating yourself with too many choices, your subconscious mind will give up.

So what is the solution? The solution is to simplify.  If you’re selling a product line, keep it simple.  And if you’re trying to make a decision about something in your life, don’t waste all your time evaluating every last detail of every possible option.  Choose something that you think will work and give it a shot.  If it doesn’t work out, learn what you can from the experience, choose something else and keep pressing forward.

8.  They focus on making small, continuous improvements.
How do you eat an elephant?  Answer: One bite at a time.  This philosophy holds true for achieving your biggest goals.  Making small, positive changes – eating a little healthier, exercising a little, creating some small productive habits, for example – is an amazing way to get excited about life and slowly reach the level of success you aspire to.

And if you start small, you don’t need a lot of motivation to get started either.  The simple act of getting started and doing something will give you the momentum you need, and soon you’ll find yourself in a positive spiral of changes – one building on the other.  When I started doing this in my life, I was so excited I had to start this blog to share it with the world.

Start with just one activity, and make a plan for how you will deal with troubles when they arise.  For instance, if you’re trying to lose weight, come up with a list of healthy snacks you can eat when you get the craving for snacks.  It will be hard in the beginning, but it will get easier.  And that’s the whole point.  As your strength grows, you can take on bigger challenges.

9.  They measure and track their progress.
Successful people are not only working in their job/business, they are also working on it.  They step back and assess their progress regularly.  They track themselves against their goals and clearly know what needs to be done to excel and accelerate.

You can’t control what you don’t properly measure.  If you track the wrong things you’ll be completely blind to potential opportunities as they appear over the horizon.  Imagine if, while running a small business, you made it a point to keep track of how many pencils and paperclips you used.  Would that make any sense?  No!  Because pencils and paperclips are not a measure of what’s important for a business.  Pencils and paperclips have no bearing on income, customer satisfaction, market growth, etc.

The proper approach is to figure out what your number one goal is and then track the things that directly relate to achieving that goal.  I recommend that you take some time right now to identify your number one goal, identify the most important things for you to keep track of, and then begin tracking them immediately.  On a weekly basis, plug the numbers into a spreadsheet and use the data to create weekly or monthly trend graphs so you can visualize your progress.  Then fine-tune your actions to get those trends to grow in your favor.

10.  They maintain a positive outlook as they learn from their mistakes.
Successful people concentrate on the positives – they look for the silver lining in every situation.  They know that it is their positivity that will take them to greatness.  If you want to be successful, you need to have a positive outlook toward life.  Life will test you again and again.  If you give in to internal negativity, you will never be able to achieve the marks you have targeted.

Remember, every mistake you make is progress.  Mistakes teach you important lessons.  Every time you make one, you’re one step closer to your goal.  The only mistake that can truly hurt you is choosing to do nothing simply because you’re too scared to make a mistake.

So don’t hesitate – don’t doubt yourself!  Don’t let your own negativity sabotage you.  Learn what you can and press forward. Also dont hesitate to follow me on twitter @itskinoti as you also like my facebook page Erick Kinoti for more of these.

MY VISION FOR THE YOUTH

I am one year shy of reaching 30, I definitely belong in the youth bracket. The other day as I watched a documentary on the people of Uganda, who elected a 19 year old lady as a member of parliament, I felt so happy. African journal presenters stated that statistics show that around 80% of the people of Uganda are below 30 years. This, I believe is relatively the same across East and Central Africa.

Safisana Home officer doing some cleaning

I see this as a very good niche and therefore, anyone who produces a product that targets these population will hardly go wrong. The youth to me, have a better chance of knowing what their counterparts would like to consume as a product or a service. Social media has even made it easier to reach this group of people. My vision is to see the youth taking up this challenge and creating jobs for themselves and employing their fellow youth. It has always been easy for me as a young C.E.O to understand my work-mates in my two companies, Shade Systems E. A. Ltd and Safisana Home Services. We jell very easily and this has seen the fire in these two companies keep burning even during the hard times.

Safisana is a young company and there are several opportunities that I have seen with this brand. In the next few years, I hope to see Safisana provide several home solutions that include an online platform where families will be able to search for and find different home service providers. When offering the home support services, our team at Safisana has witnessed several families consulting with us about several home services and products. what if we gave them the option for searching for all these on an online platform and finding them, yet being assured that the people on the platform have been vetted and confirmed as the best in such solutions? Safisana will have to vet and ensure that no fraudster advertises on this platform.

There are several other ideas that I shall be sharing with you soon.

If you give the youth fish to eat, you do not help them much. when you teach them how to fish and encourage them to launch their fishing nets into the lake, you help them more.

Visit the Safisana website on www.safisana.co.ke and that of Shade Systems E. A. Ltd on www.shadesystems.co.ke

ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS- MY JOURNEY AS AN ENTREPRENEUR; WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW.

There is a myth that entrepreneurial success is all about innovative thinking and breakthrough ideas. Here's what success truly means.  
I've been an entrepreneur since I was in primary boarding school in Abothuguchi boarding primary school where as much as I was the best student in my class, topping in almost all the subjects, I used to sell sweets and biscuits and salt!!!!!! You will be shocked, yes salt! My former school mates can attest to these. We used the salt to make our morning porridge tastier. One spoonful would go for a1bob,’biscuitos’ for 1bob when selling the 300 pack carton which I was getting at ksh.130 per carton. This was roughly like 15years back. Nkubu High school is where my life turned to be not only the most disorganized student but also I relegated to an average in my academics. Interestingly, I continued with my entrepreneurship spirit which was guided by my short term vision of getting cash to finance my alcoholic life .I can comfortably say that this is  where my alcoholic life started. I used to sell ‘ngumu’,‘avocadoes’, ‘ mugaca’ name them. It was neither rosy nor sustainable because of the objectives of doing the business. After High school due to the nature my dad’s business, I became his sales representative, distributing bread for a commission of 1bob per bread.......Why all these information? Entrepreneurship is a long journey! Recently, many people have wondered where I get all these ideas to start these business ventures. This has motivated me to come up with what it entails to make a successful entrepreneur.

But what else does it take to succeed as an entrepreneur, and how should an entrepreneur define success? In my entrepreneurship journey, I have come up with some rules that I would advise other upcoming entrepreneurs to try......

RULE NUMBER 1: INVOLVE GOD  AND KEEP HIM  FIRST
When I started Shade Systems(E.A) Ltd,  I registered it as shade systems Kenya but because My self-esteem at the moment was low, I  had to look for a partner who would be a beautiful lady to cut deals on my behalf. Instead of involving God I trusted human beings. Things became very tough especially because of the empty promises by prospective clients it was. Here I was with a lady but no returns. It was some difficult 2 years I have ever experienced. That is why in 2009, I took leap of faith and decided to go on my own and involve God in whatever I did. Involving God in my operations my strengthened  my  vision, and determination was constant...I have seen God turnaround situations that are impossible in the eyes of human being ....involve God in all you do. According to the bible he says that he knows and has plans for you........and also he is not a human being to lie to.


RULE NUMBER 2: ENTREPRENUERS ARE RISK TAKERS
Take calculated risks. The higher the risk, the higher the returns. I had ksh.60, 000 when I decide to settle. It was in 26th October 2009 when I found an office. The landlady had asked for Ksh.10000 as the rent and 50000k as the goodwill. Reason being the office had the furniture and a computer. My monthly expenses were about 60k for the company and myself another 60k.Though it was very difficult, it gave me the spirit of thinking Big. So I had to work for a profit of 120k and more. For instance, If you rent a 5k house, you will be working for a 5k limit. If you rent a 20k house, you will be working to get the 20k.

RULE NUMBER 3: STAY AWAY FROM SHYLOCKS

In the first quarter of 2010, my business had started to do well. I was very excited and carried away by the move. This saw me end up in the shylocks.(I felt I needed more money to take up big deals) I was to repay at a weekly, fortnight or  monthly period  and with high interest rates of about 30% to 100%. Shylocks are opportunists very inhuman. It was one of the biggest blunders in my entrepreneurship journey; I spent a lot of sleepless nights my health deteriorated used to panic a lot. Each and every time I saw their calls I would freeze! It went from worse to worst. My households were auctioned and most friends ran away. But I was left with God! Something surprisingly, the passion and determination never died. Lesson learnt; learn to manage your resources and make them productive. There is no shortcut. Instant cash is just like a gamble!

RULE NUMBER 4: BE PASSIONATE

Be passionate about what you do and follow what you are trying to achieve.
That means you’re willing to sacrifice a large part of your waking hours to the idea you’ve come up with. Passion will ignite the same intensity in others who join you as you build a team to succeed in that endeavor. And with passion, you and your team together with  your clients are more likely to believe in what you are trying to achieve. Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion!

RULE NUMBER 5: BE FOCUSED 

Great entrepreneurs focus intensely on an opportunity where others don’t see anything.
This focus and intensity helps in eliminating wasted effort and distractions. Stay focused on the mission.

RULE NUMBER 6: HARDWORK, DISCIPLINE,COMMITMENT & PERSISTENCE
Success in entrepreneurship  comes only from hard work.
We all know that there is no such thing as overnight success. Behind every overnight success lie years of hard work and sweat. People with luck will tell you there’s no easy way to achieve success--and that luck comes to those who work hard. Successful entrepreneurs always give 100% of their efforts to everything they do. If you know you are giving your best effort, you’ll never have any reason to regret. Focus on things you can control; stay focused on your efforts, and let the results be what they will be.


RULE NUMBER 7: BE PATIENTThe road to success is going to be long, so remember to enjoy the journey.
Everyone will teach you to focus on goals, but successful people focus on the journey and celebrate the milestones along the way. Is it worth spending a large part of your life trying to reach the destination if you do not enjoy the journey? Does the team you attract to join you on your mission also enjoy the journey? Wouldn’t it be better if all of you had a great time of your life during the journey, even if the destination is never reached? Success is a journey, celebrate the small achievements you meet on the way; they  will eventually change your perspective on success.

RULE NUMBER 8: TRUST YOUR INSTINCTIVE FEELING. BE ILLOGICAL
There are too many variables in the real world that you simply can’t put into a spreadsheet. Spreadsheets spit out results from your inexact assumptions and give you a false sense of security. In most cases, your heart and gut is still your best guide. The human brain works as a binary computer and can analyze only the exact information-based zeros and ones (or black and white). Our heart is more like a chemical computer that uses fuzzy logic to analyze information that can’t be easily defined in zeros and ones. We’ve all had experiences in business where our heart told us something was wrong while our brain was still trying to use logic to figure it all out. Sometimes a faint voice based on instinct resonates far more strongly than overpowering logic.

RULE NUMBERT9: BE FLEXIBLE 

You have to continuously learn and adapt as new information becomes available. At the same time, you have to remain persistent to the cause and mission of your enterprise. That’s where that faint voice becomes so important, especially when it is giving you early warning signals that things are going off track. Successful entrepreneurs find the balance between listening to that voice and staying persistent in driving for success--because sometimes success is waiting right across from the transitional bump that’s disguised as failure.

RULE NUMBER 10: TEAMWORK
Rely on your team. It’s a simple fact: No individual can be good at everything.
Everyone needs people who have complementary sets of skills. Entrepreneurs are an optimistic bunch, and it’s very hard for them to believe that they are not good at certain things. It takes a lot of soul searching to find your own core skills and strengths. After that, find the smartest people you can who complement your strengths. It’s easy to get attracted to people who are like you; the trick is to find people who are not like you but who are good at what they do--and what you can’t do.

RULE NUMBER 11: EXECUTION, EXECUTION, EXECUTION.
Unless you are the smartest person on earth (and who is), it’s likely that many others have thought about doing the same thing you’re trying to do. Success doesn’t necessarily come from breakthrough innovation but from flawless execution. A great strategy alone won’t win a game or a battle; the win comes from basic blocking and tackling. All of us have seen entrepreneurs who waste too much time writing business plans and preparing Power Points. I believe that a business plan is too long if it’s more than one page. Besides, things never turn out exactly the way you envisioned them. No matter how much time you spend perfecting the plan, you still have to adapt according to the ground realities. You’re going to learn a lot more useful information from taking action rather than hypothesizing. Remember: Stay flexible, and adapt as new information becomes available.


Everybody has a conscience, but too many people stop listening to it. There is always that faint voice that warns you when you are not being completely honest or even slightly off track from the path of integrity. Be sure to listen to that voice.

Success is a long journey and much more rewarding if you give back.

By the time you get to success, lots of people will have helped you along the way. You’ll learn, as I have, that you rarely get a chance to help the people who helped you, because in most cases, you don’t even know who they were. The only way to pay back the debts we owe is to help people we can help--and hope they will go on to help more people. When we are successful, we draw so much from the community and society that we live in that we should think in terms of how we can help others in return. Sometimes it’s just a matter of being kind to people. Other times, offering a sympathetic ear or a kind word is all that’s needed. It’s our responsibility to do “good” with the resources we have available. 

Measuring Success
I hope you have internalized the secrets of becoming a successful entrepreneur. The next question you are likely to ask yourself is: How do we measure success? Success, of course, is very personal; there is no universal way of measuring success. What do successful people like Bill Gates and Mother Teresa have in common? On the surface, it’s hard to find anything they share-; and yet both are successful. I personally believe the real metric of success isn’t the size of your bank account. It’s the number of lives in which you might be able to make a positive difference. This is the measure of success we need to apply while we are on our journey to success.

SAFISANA HOME SERVICES ON BUSINESS DAILY

Like I had promised you last week, the interview that I had with Evelyn Situma at our offices in Westlands, Jimkan House 4rd floor last week is in the newspaper today. Grab your copy of the Daily Business to appreciate the birth of Safisana Home Services Ltd.

Photo by Diana Ngila NMG

You can also get to read the article on the Natiuon Media Group by following this link HERE I have a strong belief that with proper marketing and positive publicity, a company can be a force to reckon with. That is the approach that I would wish that safisana takes.

You can also view the video that was captured during the same interview below.

MEETING MEDIA PERSONALITIES

Today morning I got the chance to host two media personalities who were quite interested in knowing how Safisana Home Services Ltd was conceived and even how I introduced it into the market. This was a great opportunity for me to once again share with Kenyans on the spirit of entrepreneurship and how consistency has helped me to come through my challenges.

Safisana Staff

Evelyne Situma of Nation Media Group was quite shocked to learn that the brain child behind this company is a man. Well, I explained to them how a lady would come to clean my house thrice a week and I often had a problem trying to explain to her to be quite professional in her work. I was convinced that there were several other Kenyans out there who were having the same challenge. I decided to look at this GAP as an OPPORTUNITY that was waiting to be fulfilled, something that needed a solution.

 
I do not wish to delve so much into the interview since it will be a repetition when in appears on the dailies sometime next week. My message to you as an entrepreneur or someone wishing to be an entrepreneur is that people choose to look at situations differently, some will see a difficult problem and complain while others will see a gap and offer the solution.

Where are you?

Please remember to LIKE our Safisana Home Services Page of Facebook