The amount of profit to get from a business in Kenya depends on location, the size of your business, number of customers, debts, efficiency, time and the level of your business. There are businesses which are more profitable during festive season while others generate more income when schools are in session.
If you are planning to start a business in Kenya, below is the average profit you expect to generate regardless of location:
| TYPE OF BUSINESS | PROFIT PER MONTH(KSH) |
| Posho Mill | 30,000-100,000 |
| General shop | 20,000-50,000 |
| Juice blending | 10,000-50,000 |
| Cake baking | 50,000-200,000 |
| Salon | 20,000-150,000 |
| Shoe shining | 20,000-100,000 |
| Blogging | 30,000-100,000 |
| Bookshop | 50,000-200,000 |
| Day Care | 30,000-100,000 |
| Grocery | 40,000-100,000 |
| Electronics Shop | 50,000-300,000 |
| Movie Shop | 10,000-30,000 |
| Kinyozi | 10,000-50,000 |
| Furniture business | 50,000-200,000 |
| Bodaboda | 15,000-30,000 |
| Matatu | 30,000-100,000 |
| PlayStation | 50,000-200,000 |
| Mitumba business | 20,000-50,000 |
| Boutique | 30,000-100,000 |
| Car Wash | 50,000-300,000 |
| Taxi Business | 30,000-70,000 |
| Fast food restaurant | 40,000-150,000 |
| Wines and Spirits | 30,000-50,000 |
| MPESA Shop | 10,000-50,000 |
| Chemist | 50,000-300,000 |
| Cereals Business | 30,000-60,000 |
| Hawking | 10,000-50,000 |
| Butchery | 20,000-80,000 |
| Poultry farming | 10,000-100,000 |
The type of business in this case matters a lot. If you start a chemist, expect to make more money than someone running an MPESA shop. Location is also paramount. For instance, Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru and Kisumu are the best places to start any kind of business because consumption rate his high. The size of business also affects profit. You can’t compare the profit of someone keeping 20 chicken with another one keeping 5,000 chicken.
There are also businesses which come with high risk, like matatu and MPESA shop. The profits from these businesses depends on the level of risks one is exposed to,the lower the risks the better.
Owning a bookshop is good only when schools are in session. The profits from bookshops have plummeted over time due to the accessibility of the internet—people access books online.