By Dennis Koech
Halima Shabani, joined SHINING Hope for Communities’ employability program in 2017.
She says: “I gained a lot of skills including the ability to dress accordingly, organize myself, develop a curriculum vitae and also the ability to communicate better. One thing I always appreciate for the employability training is that it opened my eyes to start seeing business ideas in my environment. I started thinking about starting a business!”
Halima would enroll in SHOFCO’s entrepreneurship and business skills training program in 2019 where she learnt customer care, branding, marketing strategies, business costing and record keeping.
“The training laid a foundation for me to establish my own business in 2019. I add value to groundnuts to produce roasted groundnuts and peanut butter,” Halima says.
Halima started her business with her KSh3,000 (USD30) savings and is currently supplying her community with the products. She also delivers the products to her customers from outside her community.
“I market my groundnuts and peanuts on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. They have greatly exposed my business and I even have customers from outside Nairobi,” she says with a broad smile.
Halima is also web development student in a college in Nairobi
“I prepare my products at night because I go to school during day time. I also get breaks during the day to deliver the products to my customers. Good time management has helped me a lot,” she adds.
During the COVID-19 period, her business has been affected. She says restriction of movement and fears of being infected with COVID-19 has been a threat to her business.
“People in the community still consume my products although demand has been a bit low. People have lost income and they are prioritizing other things. What has helped me is expansion of my customer base. I spend most of my daytime now delivering products to my customers within Nairobi,” she adds.
