Eldoret is expected to hit the headlines this week when a medical doctor from the town officially launches an online marketing platform he invented a fortnight ago dubbed Chirowa Online.
The online market is aimed at bringing millions of SMEs as well as other businesses under one roof.
Dr Calvin Nyakure, said that Chirowa Online will also allow any user to quickly, easily, refer, compare and lower businesses marketing costs.
The medic is targeting over seven million small business people across the country through the website.
“This is because almost a half a million businesses fail every year due to lack of markets and unconducive business environment to costs. Chirowa market would like to change that and help traders reach millions of customers to increase profitability hence high incomes,” said Dr Nyakure.
In an exclusive interview with eldoretleo ahead of the official launch of the website scheduled for this Thursday in Eldoret Town, Dr Nyakure indicated that the online business platform is the future of those engaging in businesses.
“This kind of business platform is not going to discriminate on any person regardless of their social status. It targets both small and medium enterprises and also the blue-chip companies because I know they want our services too,” explained Mr Nyakure.
The name Chiro Wa is derived from two Kenyan words which mean, ‘Our Market’. Going by the slogan ‘buy and sell anything anywhere.
“Chirowa Online is about three months old and is already commanding daily visits of one million people and more than 1, 000 registered vendors,” added Dr Nyakure.
He however singled out, the high costs of marketing businesses and lack of good will from county governments as one of the major challenge he is facing.
“It is unfortunate that most of our county governments do not see business as a means of creating wealth or creating employments for the youths. Counties are out to milk businesses which are upcoming and not seeing us as development partners,” he said.
He further said, “Another challenge is advancing technology which keeps on changing daily, technology which we have today might not be resourceful tomorrow forcing us to embrace new technologies by continuously doing research for different tastes.”
He noted that Chirowa Online has been accepted in the market if their social media statistics is anything to go by.
“I continue to welcome people to join us because this is the future of doing business in this country. After the launch, we have reach all the seven million businesses to register them on this platform,” he said.
According to Mr Nyakure, the business platform also allows the registered business people do work from home hence not incurring high rent in urban centres.
To do business on the online market according to Mr Nyakure, one has to take a photo of the product he/ she intends to sell then upload it on Chirowa Online by registering with Sh100 to have the account registered before a potential buyer finds the commodities.
“This is a paperless type of doing business. It is a moving business where one has to create an online office or shop by uploading pictures of their products to reach millions of potential buyers. One can even sell the goods in Uasin Gishu while in Mombasa. It is developed in Kenya and run by Kenyans. It is an environmental friendly business that is out to manage waste and help in environmental conservation,” explained Mr Nyakure.
According to a survey released a week ago by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), approximately 400, 000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMESs) did not get to celebrate their second anniversary in the last five years, high marketing costs being one of the many culprits.
