Comments on: M-Commerce http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/m-commerce "A black market is a free market operating against the wishes of the state." –Harry Browne. Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:42:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=8226 By: kenyanentrepreneur http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/m-commerce#comment-29059 kenyanentrepreneur Mon, 29 Oct 2007 02:09:41 +0000 http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/?p=922#comment-29059 Ksh 10,000 is what? $150 dollars!! are those boxers lined with gold? the problem I found in Kenya is that the expensive things are not necessarily of good quality and I couldn't understand why people were paying so much for them (maybe it's cheaper than having to travel abroad and buy them) A martini bar in Nairobi would be nice. hmmm. I have to keep thinking

Ksh 10,000 is what? $150 dollars!! are those boxers lined with gold? the problem I found in Kenya is that the expensive things are not necessarily of good quality and I couldn’t understand why people were paying so much for them (maybe it’s cheaper than having to travel abroad and buy them)

A martini bar in Nairobi would be nice.

hmmm. I have to keep thinking

]]> By: don http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/m-commerce#comment-28620 don Fri, 26 Oct 2007 20:46:22 +0000 http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/?p=922#comment-28620 http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3889&Itemid=5843 The above article will answer your questions. -10,000 for a pair of boxers! -Increasing the cost of haircut from 800 to 1000 so as to "reduce" the number of customers There is a middle class in kenya. Seeing that you don't have inventory, you can test as many diverse products as possible.

http://www.bdafrica.com/index......temid=5843
The above article will answer your questions.

-10,000 for a pair of boxers!
-Increasing the cost of haircut from 800 to 1000 so as to “reduce” the number of customers

There is a middle class in kenya. Seeing that you don’t have inventory, you can test as many diverse products as possible.

]]> By: kenyanentrepreneur http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/m-commerce#comment-28328 kenyanentrepreneur Thu, 25 Oct 2007 12:31:58 +0000 http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/?p=922#comment-28328 Don: Yes - that is a good idea and you are right: I don't like inventory. So then, the only question that remains is WHAT to sell. I learnt this through my first business failure (you must be able to gauge demand for the product before you roll it out). Then of course, what can the majority of Kenyans afford to buy? how many people have disposable income to spend on non-essential goods?

Don:

Yes – that is a good idea and you are right: I don’t like inventory. So then, the only question that remains is WHAT to sell. I learnt this through my first business failure (you must be able to gauge demand for the product before you roll it out).

Then of course, what can the majority of Kenyans afford to buy? how many people have disposable income to spend on non-essential goods?

]]> By: don http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/m-commerce#comment-27910 don Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:26:59 +0000 http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/?p=922#comment-27910 KE Here is a business idea... Travel around east africa and look for goods that you believe can sell in kenya. Create a catalog and give it away at these traffic jams that people are complaining about. Now people can order and pay for the goods, you just transfer the order ot the manufacturer and keep a %. Start with lower priced items until people trust you and then increase to higher prices. No utility costs, no office rent, no employees (order processing should be automatic), sell advertising in the catalog to further reduce costs and the best part NO INVENTORY... which I know is your sticking point.

KE
Here is a business idea…

Travel around east africa and look for goods that you believe can sell in kenya. Create a catalog and give it away at these traffic jams that people are complaining about. Now people can order and pay for the goods, you just transfer the order ot the manufacturer and keep a %. Start with lower priced items until people trust you and then increase to higher prices.

No utility costs, no office rent, no employees (order processing should be automatic), sell advertising in the catalog to further reduce costs and the best part NO INVENTORY… which I know is your sticking point.

]]> By: don http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/m-commerce#comment-27908 don Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:18:31 +0000 http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/?p=922#comment-27908 About CS Monitor : hmm... m-pesa stands for mteja-pesa and not mobile-pesa. And there is a bank behind this service (not local) but I forget the name. So i'm not sure about this article from a technical perspective. As I was telling a couple of friends sometime back, safcom is the most profitable company in east africa and more profitable than the next 3 company combined.... That will be petty cash as compared to what m-pesa will do. We are talking 1 million customers in less than a year in one country and they currently have 8 million customers. Plans are already underway to enable diaspora to send money home ($1 billion business). Then lets bring in east africa and more SME's getting into this. It is scary.

About CS Monitor : hmm… m-pesa stands for mteja-pesa and not mobile-pesa. And there is a bank behind this service (not local) but I forget the name. So i’m not sure about this article from a technical perspective.

As I was telling a couple of friends sometime back, safcom is the most profitable company in east africa and more profitable than the next 3 company combined…. That will be petty cash as compared to what m-pesa will do.

We are talking 1 million customers in less than a year in one country and they currently have 8 million customers. Plans are already underway to enable diaspora to send money home ($1 billion business). Then lets bring in east africa and more SME’s getting into this. It is scary.

]]> By: KE http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/m-commerce#comment-27842 KE Tue, 23 Oct 2007 12:54:06 +0000 http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/?p=922#comment-27842 Waiyaki Thanks for that article, very interesting.

Waiyaki

Thanks for that article, very interesting.

]]> By: Waiyaki http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/m-commerce#comment-27751 Waiyaki Tue, 23 Oct 2007 04:00:32 +0000 http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/?p=922#comment-27751 Not sure if you saw this article on CS Monitor: http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1012/p01s03-woaf.html?page=1 This is about M-Pesa

Not sure if you saw this article on CS Monitor:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/.....tml?page=1

This is about M-Pesa

]]> By: don http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/m-commerce#comment-27065 don Fri, 19 Oct 2007 17:57:28 +0000 http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/?p=922#comment-27065 E-commerce is a wash, not enough computers and they are too expensive. Mobile is the computer of africa, that space you must watch, but to get into that game you need financing to the tune of millions. So the chances of an enterpreneur (pun intended) playing is very small, unless you invest in safcom and hold (ok no more stock predictions). As Ngozi mentioned... "All these businesses need capital" At the end of her presentation about how business are growing. With a favorable economy people have and will continue to start businesses (i mean alot of businesses) and as the middle income market grows, these sme will need to invest in infrastructure to grow. Capital will be required regardless of the space. In closing... I leave you will the following thought An sme will need capital to enable M-commerce in the business ;)

E-commerce is a wash, not enough computers and they are too expensive. Mobile is the computer of africa, that space you must watch, but to get into that game you need financing to the tune of millions. So the chances of an enterpreneur (pun intended) playing is very small, unless you invest in safcom and hold (ok no more stock predictions).

As Ngozi mentioned… “All these businesses need capital” At the end of her presentation about how business are growing.

With a favorable economy people have and will continue to start businesses (i mean alot of businesses) and as the middle income market grows, these sme will need to invest in infrastructure to grow. Capital will be required regardless of the space.

In closing… I leave you will the following thought
An sme will need capital to enable M-commerce in the business ;)

]]> By: KE http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/m-commerce#comment-27035 KE Fri, 19 Oct 2007 15:30:21 +0000 http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/?p=922#comment-27035 700,000 already? - wow! I read earlier you said you thought the future for africa was in financing sme's. I think the future is in E and M commerce.

700,000 already? – wow! I read earlier you said you thought the future for africa was in financing sme’s. I think the future is in E and M commerce.

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