MARKETING
Startups Explosion : A New Age of Entrepreneurship . Is Kenya Ready ?
By Geoffrey Sirumba
If you look around carefully , you will notice an increase of ‘ New Businesses ’ with impressive Go To Market Strategies and well-oiled marketing kitties . Most of these businesses are app-driven and have some sort of foreign backing . Try digging deeper , and you will find that they have culturally diverse employees and have attracted the greatest talents around . Their working environment looks completely different from what we are accustomed to , from their dress code to office space , you can tell from their employees that they are happier than our average employees .
The famous catchphrase TGIF is part of their working culture . It ’ s not uncommon to see the staff grab their favorite cold drink within their workstations , something unheard of in most corporates unless of course you are working for a marketing agency or doing quality control for the brewers .
From a conversation point of view , it got me curious , and I started my research on the difference between a startup and a small business . The most preferred definition is the one put forth by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Steve Blank in 2010 ; where he refers to a startup as “ an organized form to search for a repeatable and scalable business model .”
According to Blank , however , not only is a startup looking to find and execute their business model , but they ’ re also looking to do so quickly and in a way that significantly impacts or disrupts the current market . Now that we are clear on the difference between the two , I would like to share my experience so far . However , for this article , I will refer to my venture as a small business willing to scale up and join the coveted league of startups .
New Mission
I recently ventured into the e-mobility space in Kenya , where I sell e-bikes . Currently , this sector has attracted players such as Opibus and Basigo with numerous locallyowned entities coming on board .
The idea to set up an e-mobility business started as a joke , considering the skyrocketing price of fuel in our country , I imported my first electric bike for personal use . This was around the same time COP 26 was happening . After the arrival of my e-bike , I started receiving a lot of enquiries from passers-by , and eureka ! The idea of Green Mobility was mooted .
“ Going by previous studies , most small businesses do not proceed to their second year . Thus , the majority are born from the innate desire of the owners to be self-employed or make extra cash on the side with no clear growth strategy , business plans or operating manuals .”
Being a marketer by profession and a green consumption ambassador , I saw an opportunity to start a green business . To set the ball rolling , I created a mutually beneficial working relationship with the biggest players in the e-mobility business , and I was able to get my e-bikes supplied from reputable vendors .
I have since created a distribution mechanism with businesses that are able to give me robust distribution of the products . We have created a local aftersales team that can handle customer queries . The major challenge I have faced so far is insufficient funds , but the market response has been impressive .
Startups vs . Small businesses Innovations
One of the most important differences between startups and small businesses is product or service innovation . A small business does not make any claims as to being unique . As such , their businesses are easily replicable . Innovations are the most important things for a startup . Startups are meant to create something new and to improve what already exists . For example , the likes of Uber saw a gap in the way taxis are hailed , Airbnb saw an opportunity in people renting out rooms in their homes etc .
Instinct For Growth
One of the biggest differences between a startup and a small business is the instinct for growth . As mentioned above , startup founders aim to significantly impact and disrupt the current market with their startup business idea . Meaning , they ’ re not looking to maintain
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