THE RACONTEUR: HOW TO ATTEND BUSINESS MASTERCLASS WITHOUT GOING TO HARVARD ~ MY ENTREPRENEURSHIP JOURNEY: SERIES 1 ~ EPISODE 9

Having strong business skills can make a big difference in the growth of your entrepreneurial venture and your overall economic empowerment. I've personally benefited from more than ten entrepreneurship training programs in the last two years, and they've equipped me with a wide range of skills like planning, managing finances, marketing, leadership, and adaptability. These skills have been incredibly valuable in helping me overcome the unique challenges I face as an entrepreneur.

There are numerous organizations that offer free programs specifically designed to empower female entrepreneurs in Kenya. These programs aim to help women make informed decisions, efficiently manage resources, access markets, and run their businesses effectively. Unfortunately, not all women who could benefit from these programs are taking advantage of them.

Some women might see these opportunities but never apply. Here's why every entrepreneur should consider applying to these programs:

√ Some programs require you to have certain legal documents like a registered business, Tax PIN & Compliance Certificates, bank accounts, and necessary business permits. If you've been running your business without these legal requirements, applying for these programs can serve as a motivation to get your business in proper legal shape for future opportunities.

√ Certain programs ask for specific business documents such as a Problem Statement Canvas, Customer/User Persona Template, Lean Canvas, Business Model Canvas, SWOT Analysis Template, Impact Statement, Capacity Assessment Tool, Psychometric Tool, Pitch Deck, Board Charter, Team Profile, and more. Preparing these documents can help you learn and improve your business as you research and practice.

√ Some programs, once you're accepted into a cohort, provide extensive training in various aspects of business practices, including strategy, innovation, planning, marketing, operations, finance, and talent management. After completion, they continue to support you through mentorship, networking events, and potential funding opportunities. They often connect you with other valuable opportunities from their organization or other partners.

If you're looking for business masterclass programs, follow social media handles of the following and be on the lookout when they announce openings:

1. SOMO Africa Entrepreneurship Bootcamp & Accelerator Programme

2. C8 Ignite Entrepreneurship Programme: Wadhwani Foundation/StartUp Savanna/GrowthAfrica

3. HerMeNow (HMN) 2023 Bootcamp: Bloom

4. RevUp Women Initiative 2023: WISE/Visa Foundation/AfriLabs

5. Building Resilience Against Climate and Environmental Shock (BRACE): African Food Changemakers

6. JAMII Femmes: Women in Africa & CocaCola Foundation

7. Grow Your Business (GYB): African Management Institute (AMI)

8. SHE Stars-See Her Empowered Program: Yunus Environment Hub/GiZ/Absa

9. Circular Economy Catalyst (CEC): Adelphi, IKEA, & SEED

10. Road 2 Growth (R2G): Cherie Blair Foundation for Women

11. XcelHERate Entrepreneurship Challenge: SNDBX International/ Bizell

12. Catalysing High-Impact Entrepreneurship in Africa: Jasiri

13. 2023 MEST Africa Challenge: VC4A

14. She Wins Africa: IFC/ World Bank

15. The Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE)

16. African Women Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP)

These programs can be game-changers for your entrepreneurial journey and help you unlock your business's full potential.

THE RACONTEUR: HOW TO WIN A GRANT WITHOUT WRITING A PROPOSAL MY ENTREPRENEURSHIP JOURNEY: SERIES 1 ~ EPISODE 3

When opportunities begin to come, they come so quickly, in such great abundance, that one wonders where they have been hiding during all those lean years. In a remarkable turn of events, the year 2023 unfurled with an astonishing array of opportunities, each arriving in swift succession. The JAMII Femmes Initiative, the Somo Africa Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, and the IDEA Africa Initiative Pitching Bootcamp all graced my path within the span of a single January. It was as though the universe had gathered its most promising ventures and presented them to me on a silver platter. In this convergence of opportunities, January became a pivotal chapter, marked by a whirlwind of growth and professional transformation. The year had barely begun, yet its opening act was already a testament to the boundless potential that awaited.

This story is about receiving a grant without going through the rigorous process of proposal writing. That is how JAMII Femmes, an Initiative started by Women In Africa (WIA) and The Coca-Cola Foundation in 2022 to support 20,000 African women entrepreneurs over the next three years, enrolled me in their 3-month program and awarded me a Grant last month (July 2023). 

The JAMII Femmes initiative aims to increase the impact of African women entrepreneurs on the African economy and support the creation of innovative solutions for sustainable development that will contribute to positive change in Africa by improving the quality of life of tens of thousands of people. 

The Call for Application criteria set forth by JAMII Femmes seemed custom-tailored to harmonize with my aspirations as an emerging Climate Action Champion and devoted advocate of the Circular Economy. I had this an unwavering zeal to intertwine circular pathways with initiatives that strive to get the most value of the resources we have by keeping them at their highest utility, for as long as we can. 

My business, Urban Organic Farming - Caryle Enterprises is a smart-climate agriculture initiative that recycles food waste using aerobic composting into organic manure for the production of African green leafy vegetables (ALVs) and fruit/medicinal tree seedlings.

Reducing food loss is our overarching goal. We are building a robust food waste collection and segregation system whereby we shall collaborate with local restaurants, hotels, vegetable vendors, and households to collect their food waste regularly for composting. Our demo farm is being established in the heart of Kisumu town, Western part of Kenya, to actively promote sustainable farming practices among the urban households by training and encouraging them to practice kitchen gardening and organically produce their own ALVs for consumption.

Undoubtedly, the timing of my acceptance into the JAMII Femmes program couldn't have been more opportune. As a wise soul once expressed, “the expanse of our knowledge, extending deep and wide, serves as fertile soil for cultivating innovative blooms, even within meticulously planned endeavors.” Despite my acquisition of masterclass business acumen through diligent study, relentless practice, and participation in diverse entrepreneurial ventures, the Honoris United Universities (HUUs) training, in collaboration with the JAMII Femmes Initiative, epitomized an unparalleled upskilling journey. 

With unwavering commitment, I dedicated approximately 37 hours and 37 minutes to conquer the trifecta of transformative modules encompassing behavioral intelligence, critical thinking, creativity and design thinking, communication, collaboration, and the art of entrepreneurship, all accomplished well before the deadline. Apart from earning 3299 points and 6 badges, I also deepened my faculty and expanded my horizon beyond expectations. 

So, how did I win a grant from JAMII Femmes without writing a proposal. Of course it wasn’t easy! As they say, “you can’t win if you don’t play.” I navigated through this program alongside the many tasks in my in-tray - the 1-hour every weekday Somo Africa Entrepreneurship Bootcamp program; the weekly 3-hour Violence Against Women (VAW) prevention essentials training; an intensive 30-day feasibility study consultancy in the month of March; training, facilitation & documentation for my clients who were pursuing the realisation of their respective career, business, & community goals; and day-to-day unpaid care work at home. As Zig Ziglar once said, “you were born to be a winner, but to be a winner you must plan to win, prepare to win, expect to win.” Planning to win this Grant is exactly what I did from the onset of this program. 

Seated alongside a young woman of remarkable intelligence and beauty during an illuminating JAMII Femmes Women in Agribusiness network session in April, she admitted to me her failure to complete the HUU courses. With one day to the deadline, I thought she was pulling my leg until the following day, a screenshot of her assignment conundrum landed in my inbox, asking for my assistance.

It made me wonder how one could truly lack the drive to embark on a journey laden with promise, one that beckoned rewards for simple tasks. The condition to win the Grant seemed straightforward: complete HUU courses within three months, actively engage in the WIA social network, and amplify the JAMII Femmes programs within the digital community. In the eloquent words of David Wood, echoing Michael Korda, "your chances of success are directly proportional to the degree of pleasure you derive from what you do." If winning a grant wasn’t her ultimate goal, then what was? 

JAMII Femmes was such a cut-throating competition that less than 10% of the participants in cohort 1 & 2 from the 3 countries (Kenya, Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire): received grants to support their business development and increase their impact on communities (600 entrepreneurs); benefited from a bootcamp to improve their skills and get coaching (60 entrepreneurs); and received a prize of $10,000 to support their projects (3 laureates). This means that hundreds of women who participated in this program were cut off. Reminds me of a poignant say – “if you hesitate to cross the stream, perhaps it's best not to wade in at all.”

Winning a Grant from the JAMII Femmes program was an achievement with a unique distinction – it was orchestrated without the customary ritual of proposal writing, a testament to the sheer potential that awakens when vision, determination, and unwavering dedication unite.

#proposal #womeninbusiness #JAMIIFemmes #entrepreneurship

THE RACONTEUR: HOW TO QUALIFY FOR AN ENTREPRENEURSHIP ACCELERATION PROGRAM. MY ENTREPRENEURSHIP JOURNEY: SERIES 1 ~ EPISODE 2.

After a successful application, I was accepted for the Somo Africa Buruka Entrepreneurship Bootcamp January Cohort 2023. Somo Africa supports micro and small business owners with everything they need to grow, be sustainable, and create more jobs in their communities. Somo envisions a world where local entrepreneurs are provided the resources - knowledge, financing and markets - needed to create real change.

The 12-week training program supported over 60 women entrepreneurs from Western and Coastal Kenya to acquire skills for growing their businesses. The classes took place online via zoom - 1hr every weekday, with in-person classes twice a month. Key areas covered included: communication, growth mindset, stress management, customer focus, and persistence. At the 12th week, entrepreneurs submitted their Business Plan and presented their Pitch Decks for acceleration program and funding. 

Marshall Thurber once said, “God does not give a lick of an ice cream cone without wanting you to have the whole cone.” Committing to the 12-week training, respectfully putting every learning into practice, developing and refining my business -Dignify Her - Caryle Enterprises Business Plan, and writing a Pitch Deck that I finally presented to a panel of Judges in the presence of my fellow entrepreneurs at the Somo Kisumu Hub on 1st April 2023, was the licking of an ice cream from a cone. In June 2023 when I received the pleasant news that I’ve graduated to the Somo's two-year acceleration program, it was like eating the cone too! 

~The 2-year acceleration program means that~

√ I am now a member of the Somo Community, a networking group of over 300 African entrepreneurs who interact daily through a WhatsApp platform. They say “It takes a village to raise a child,” but it also takes a village to grow a business. The Somo entrepreneurship network is a village that is going to help me forge ahead into entrepreneurship. Even Napoleon Hill agrees in his book “Think and Grow Rich“ - that no two minds ever come together without, thereby, creating a third, invisible, intangible force which may be likened to a third mind. Therefore, insights and contributions from the Somo Community is that intangible force that I’m going to rely on, to build and grow my business. 

√ I am going to receive financial support through a loan from Standard Chartered Foundation, facilitated by Somo. The funding is going to help us kickstart "Dignify Her" by employing young people to work in the collection and processing of textile waste, manufacturing of reusable sanitary pads using recycled textile waste, and distribution of the reusable sanitary pads to adolescent girls from poor and vulnerable communities through the support of our customers who are alumni of the schools where these girls go to, as well as corporates, organsations, and Kenyan government agencies/ departments & institutions that support sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) programs.

√ I am privileged to access business coaches and accountability partners from Somo. In Celestine and Faith, I have official mentors, business coaches, and marketing consultants rolled into one. Celestine, Faith and I mesh very well. We built a great deal of rapport and trust back in the days when I was attending the bootcamp training program, working in the accelerator program will only strengthen our mentorship relationship that we are very keen to build together. 

√ “Dignify Her” will be published in the Somo Invest website (https://www.somoafrica.org) for enhanced brand visibility. Branding, as Susan Baroncini-Moe aptly puts it, requires a certain je ne sais quoi that most entrepreneurs don’t have. Personally, I get insecure when I start thinking about branding because I’m never sure if I’m doing it right. Somo coming to my aid on this one task that I consider difficult and a murky territory to wade in, is such a relief.

√ As a capacity building consultant on Women Economic Empowerment, through my company www.techinvakenya.org, I will be able to curate the training content by sharing with other women entrepreneurs who are keen to build and grow their businesses. Furthermore, I got more clarity and a deeper understanding from Somo facilitators on topics such as calculating market size – the TAM, SAM & SOM (Jacob); calculating financial feasibility (Steven); and the art of storytelling & pitching (Jason & Collins). I am now able to competently articulate these topics when facilitating an entrepreneurship training.

If a small win is a concrete, complete, implemented outcome of moderate importance. Then a big win looks like all the things I am going to gain from the 2-year acceleration program. I know it is by grace, because out of the 60 participants in our cohort, less than 10 entrepreneurs qualified for the acceleration program. This could only mean that the Somo team and the pitching judges who evaluated my business saw a promising, scalable, impactful business that was worth supporting, or rather saw a dedicated innovator in me who gave it her all during the 12-week bootcamp for the ultimate goal - mentorship, coaching, networking and funding - the Somo Africa 2-year Acceleration Program. Isn’t that what every entrepreneur dream of? Yes! Because trying and striving doesn’t get you brownie points, only achieving does, and that is how to qualify for an entrepreneurship acceleration program! 

I want to thank Somo Africa for walking with me through this journey of addressing period poverty, while preserving girls dignity during their menstrual cycle, at the same time, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by recycling textile waste towards climate change adaptation and mitigation.

#entrepreneurship #accelerationprogram #bootcamp #financing #dignifyher #caryleenterprises #periodpoverty #menstrualhealth #srhr #emissions #emissionsreduction #ghgemissions #climatechange #climateaction