By Kevin Oswago
The world has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic outbreak to an unprecedented extent.
To curb the spread of the infection that has already taken hundreds of thousands of lives worldwide, governments are imposing various lockdowns and travel restrictions on their citizens.
This has put a stop to many economic activities and has led to a spike in unemployment all over the globe.
Travel, tourism and hospitality sectors have been hit the hardest but many other small businesses are suffering the consequences as they simply do not have the funds to keep afloat.
In order to survive this tough situations, youth have adopted small businesses. An interview with Purity Atieno from Kibera revealed this.
Atieno, who is a first born in a family of eight, is a proud industrious and hardworking young mother who despite all the odds had a high expectations of graduating this year with a degree in Social Work and Community Development at Mount Kenya Universty.
Purity is a common face at Olympic bus stop. Every day she carries coffee-filled Nescafé branded thermo flask which she uses to serve her customers.
Franchised by Nescafe a service in which she renders without discrimination to her clients, she attest that she started the business four months ago using a small amount of money from her savings.
With a small amount of Sh3,700 which was her starting capital, she has seen her business expanded to include fried ground nuts as a complement. She says that in a good day, she sells more than three flask sof coffee.
Within the short period of time, she has been able to map all the potential areas and mastered her customers taste and preferences.
Challenges are part of any business and hers is not an exception. She says that so many people have ventured into the same business and competition is now high. Another challenge is high price of the ingredients. Insecurity is also one of the challenges in slums.
She says there are areas she cannot dare to reach because several youths are jobless and can rob her of her hard-earned cash.
She emphasizes that it is very easy to start a small business but maintaining it is hard. She said very small amount of money can generate a lot if one has identified the gap to be filled in the market.
She concludes by urging her fellow youth to get out of their comfort zones and find something to do that generates income and stop relying on employment that may never come.
