D . E . A . R MSME Business profile
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The businesses are in a variety of sectors including : Service , Orange economy , Fashion , Beauty , Manufacturing , Agribusiness and food .
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These businesses are small scale with an annual income of $ 10,000 but present great potential to grow as we witnessed throughout the program .
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The businesses are startups with a majority of them being 3 years and under and a few over 5 years .
Successes of the D . E . A . R MSME Programme include
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From our class on Formalizing your business , we have received feedback that 64 % of our participants have registered their businesses with KRA and some are in the process of registration . This gives the businesses an opportunity to scale their businesses , have access to market and receive funding from financial institutions .
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62 % of our businesses recorded that their business developed additional product offerings as value additions to their current offerings . For example , Susan Ndinda of Umbyless Hair products has added Beard oil and cream as an additional product to her beauty products range after discovering that she already has the raw materials used to create her other products and after conducting market research .
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51 % of the businesses recorded an increase in their number of employees as a result of the program
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50 % of the businesses recorded an increase in their number of customers within the duration of the programme as seen in the figure below . This was as a result of improvement of quality of their products , change of pricing structure , streamlining distribution , investment in new equipment thereby increasing production levels and diversifying their markets .
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70 % of the participants migrated their business to online trading using social media and about
10 businesses have created websites after the NO Code masterclass which will enable them to advertise and trade online .
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Throughout the programme , we collaborated with various organizations to mentor , advise and provide opportunities to the MSMEs to access finance , and adopt and integrate digitization into their businesses such as e-commerce and digital financial solutions that can become enablers to help female-owned MSMEs . From the programme , 11 participants were able to create pitch decks and pitch to our judges and 1 participant Sheila Njeri , who is in agribusiness has managed to receive a funding of 2000 € funding and others are in further conversations with the financial institutions .
At the end of the programme , the participants received a certificate , one-year membership at Kayana and 6 months freemium use of Passport to Business eLearning platform . They also become a part of our Alumni and UK Kenya Tech Hub ’ s community where they will have access to any opportunities available for SMEs .
We are currently planning country wide roadshows which features activities such as : Our signature networking event , Candid conversations Circles for Women in Business , Kenya Cottage Industry Expo , Kayana Women in Retail business which will give us an opportunity to assess the needs of the Small Businesses in the region and thereby curating programs and activities that will be impactful .
We also have a Calendar of activities and trainings geared towards business growth . To access this calendar and information on future programs , visit our website www . kayana . org or our Socials at : https :// linktr . ee / Kayana _ kenya
Kenya Cottage - DEAR Edition 5