Hands up if your goals in life are to be your own boss, run a successful business and create employment for other youths?
Attaining such goals, however, is no walk in the park. Regardless of your natural abilities, talents, and ideas, if you are not willing to develop your skills, build your connections and learn what is takes to succeed in the business you want to engage in, then, you might as well forget about it.
Entrepreneurs are the movers and shakers of the world economy. They are the innovators and business leaders that come up with new ideas and business processes which provides solutions to existing problems in our society.
Kenya and Eldoret to be particular has a growing crop of new entrepreneurs with brilliant business ideas and a ready market for it.
Still, there is a lot of challenges to overcome. Most emerging entrepreneurs have to deal with the lack of startup funding, mentorship, training and business incubation. Luckily, Eldoret has a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem that is ready to guide you from idealization to product launch, set you up with potential investors and help you learn the ropes in your business niche.
Such organizations are:
Startup Grind, Eldoret
Startup Grind is a global startup community designed to educate, inspire, and connect entrepreneurs. Their main sponsors are Google for Entrepreneurs. The Eldoret chapter is directed by Ayuma Shikuku who is passionate about serving entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Startup Grind organizes monthly events that feature local innovators, founders, investors and educators who share their experience and lessons they’ve learned in building their success. Through this events, entrepreneurs can find mentorship, seek funding, connect to partners and network with other entrepreneurs.
Startup Grind, Eldoret has hosted business moguls like Buzeki, Dr. Julius Kipn’getich, Margaret Komen and Dr. Bitange Ndemo among many others.
To learn more about Startup Grind, check out their website
EldoHub
EldoHub is a technology, entrepreneurship and innovation hub. This social enterprise is led by Chepkemoi Magdaline who is a computer scientists with a passion to use technology to solve the challenges we have in Africa, a software developer and an educator.
EldoHub targets young, energetic, innovative and creative individuals, to provide them with working space and a platform to interact, network with their peers and share ideas.
EldoHub incubation center is being set up in the new wing of KVDA plaza and will be operational by May – says Chepkemoi Magdaline
Aside from providing workspace, Eldohub also hosts monthly forums aimed at equipping the youth with necessary skills to enable them to think out of the box, formulate and implement ideas that can solve local problems experienced in their surroundings and to make Eldoret an innovative region.
So far EldoHub has had six monthly innovation forums, and they also hosted the Hour of Code, Eldoret chapter.
We link innovators and founders to potential investors, and we are working on a rotational funding. We also mentor them from ideation to a product that sells. – adds Chepkemoi Magdaline
Learn more about EldoHub through their website and check out the following events happening this weekend (March 25th 2017)
Satellite Spaces (Office Suites)
Another huge challenge for young companies is finding the right space to run a business. Renting an office space per-meter-square can be costly not to mention investing in furniture, the internet and other office essentials.
Satellite Space are providing solutions to these problems for startup companies in Eldoret. This Office suite located in Elgon View provides co-working spaces, private offices, shared conference facilities and of course as is typical with all co-working spaces; the coffee pot never runs dry.
For just Ksh 300 as day, Ksh 1000 a week, Ksh 3000 a month you get a desk, full speed unlimited internet, dedicated telephone line, access to the conference facility and other shared areas. Moreover, you also get to network and collaborate with other smart entrepreneurs sharing the same workspace.
Check out Satellite Spaces Facebook page for more details
Sisibo Hub
Sisibo Hub is an ecosystem of entrepreneurs, mentors, innovators and investors. They work with other partners (including the ones mentioned above) to create an enabling environment for local startups to thrive. Startups accepted by Sisibo Hub are provided with technical training, mentoring and coaching, business advice and links to investors.
Events as Sisibo Hub include; Code Breakers, Turubai Art Festival, Codezilla Hackathon, Social Media Meetup and ICT4Dev.
Learn more about Sisibo Hub by visiting their website
Bottom Line
You have everything you need to conceptualize that brilliant idea into a product or service that people need and want. The organizations mentioned above are dedicated to helping you kick start your entrepreneurship dreams or get your startup going.
It’s now up to you to reach out and get involved.
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