Lamu Opportunity Intelligence
Start something
Most business advice starts with a business plan. This starts earlier: with whether a real person has the problem you think they have, and whether they would pay to have it solved.
Everything on this page is general educational material. It is not financial, legal, tax or investment advice, and Afrigender is not your accountant or your advocate. For decisions with money or legal consequences attached, speak to a qualified professional.
Working through an idea
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Name the problem, not the product
Write down the problem in one sentence, describing whose problem it is and how they currently deal with it. If you cannot name a specific person who has it, that is the first thing to find out.
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Talk to ten people who have it
Not ten people who like your idea — ten people with the problem. Ask what they do now, what it costs them, and what they have already tried. Listen for what annoys them, not for agreement.
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Work out what it costs you
Materials, transport, time, licences, and the things that go wrong. If you cannot say what one unit costs you to produce and deliver, you cannot price it, and you will not know whether you are making money until it is too late.
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Sell one, properly
One real sale to one real customer teaches more than a month of planning. It tells you what people actually object to, what they will pay, and what your delivery cannot yet handle.
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Keep records from the first shilling
Money in, money out, dated. A notebook is enough to begin with. Without records you cannot tell profit from cashflow, and you cannot apply for anything that asks for accounts.
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Understand what registration involves
Business registration, licensing and tax registration in Kenya have specific requirements that depend on what you do and where. Find out what applies to your situation before you need it, from the official sources rather than from hearsay.
The entrepreneurship learning pathway
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Sectors in Lamu
Lamu's economy is not one thing. These are the sectors this platform tracks. They do not offer equal opportunity, and the platform does not pretend otherwise — where the data eventually supports a statement about which sectors are actually absorbing young people, it will be published on the data dashboard with its method and limitations attached.
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