Even as many of us claim capital is the main obstacle to starting a business, there are many businesses people start with as little as Ksh1,000.In business what you need is an idea…money would come. Here in Kenya, profitable business that demand capital upwards of Ksh1,000 but not above Ksh10,000 can be listed as below:
- Manicure & Pedicure
In my estate, there are individuals, actually men, who go round our houses to market their services. These people do manicure & Pericure.Over time, they have gained hundreds of customers who demand the services at least once a month. What surprises me is that the products they use for their work cost less than Ksh1,000.
When you do manicure & pedicure business, you can choose to rent a room or move from one house to the other to serve your clients.
- Selling Eggs ,Sausage &Samosa
You may look down at people selling boiled eggs, samosa and sausages, thinking that they are living from hand to mouth, but truth is, they make more money than a primary school teacher.
Capital required for starting this business is less than Ksh5,000.
- Hawking
Hawkers, especially those in Nairobi, are a happy lot. When it’s difficult to get enough income to do high cost business, start small and one of the best business options is hawking.
There are many challenges of being a hawker but when you select the right items to hawk and position yourself well, you won’t think of looking for employment.
Hawking business does not have fixed capital requirements…with Ksh2, 000, you can launch the business.
- Selling Indigenous vegetables in Nairobi
Indigenous vegetables include saga,managu,mchicha and sukuma wiki.The demand for these vegetables has increased exponentially over time and the scarcity of the vegetables is biting. Traders who are able to get the source of these vegetables rake in Ksh1,000 to Ksh5,000 daily in profits.
Before you embark on indigenous vegetables business, you should first identify the source and location where you won’t struggle to sell your products. Some of the best estates in Nairobi include Embakasi, Kawangware,Githurai and Donholm.Target areas where majority of the residents are Kisiis,Kikuyu and Luhya.
- Selling Chapati and Mandazi in Estates
You only need one 2kg banking flour, 2kg of charcoal and 1kg of cooking oil to launch this kind of business. Most estates nowadays prefer buying chapati/mandazi from the streets. It’s therefore a good opportunity for those with little cash to engage in mandazi /Chapati business
- Cleaning carpets, clothes and houses
In Nairobi, you don’t need any capital to start this business. You only need to move from one house to the other inquiring whether there are people who want their clothes and carpets washed…there are thousands of clients in Nairobi.
- Selling fruits
Mangoes, oranges and Bananas are some of the best fruits to sell in Kenya.In Nairobi, for instance, you can make as high as Ksh 10,000 per day from mango business. What you need is to take a matatu to Ukambani, identify reliable sources who will regularly supply you with the fruits.
