How Project Management Training Can Bring Sanity to Kenya’s Jua Kali Sector

If you can’t run, you don’t need more shoes. You need more training.

That’s the predicament Kenya’s Jua Kali sector is in. Many lament that they don’t have enough capital and sufficient infrastructure. However, looking at the tonnes of already exiting opportunities and resources that are routinely squandered, you’ll realize that training might be needed more than capital and infrastructure.

Project management training, in particular, would be extremely valuable to your small “biashara”...

1. Stop the quail business thing – Learn to select and prioritize the right projects

Every now and again, a shiny new business idea comes along and Kenyans flock to it. Even right now, looking at the shops lining our streets, you can see how everyone seems intent on doing what everyone else is doing.

Did you, at any point evaluate whether what you’re doing is actually profitable and sustainable?

Did you evaluate the risk and potential for growth?

The moment you put money into something and it fails, you would have lost the opportunity to invest in a much more sustainable and viable alternative. Yes, we can talk about learning from failure, but how much money do you have in your bank account to help you bounce back from that loss?

Comprehensive project management training could save your business from going under. You would have the skill to evaluate and select the most viable project, based on a detailed assessment of your resource capacity. Even if everyone you know is minting millions from the hardware business, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll also succeed, especially if you don’t have sufficient capital, knowledge of the business or access to potential clients.

Too many people hurriedly jump into new businesses, only to close shop soon after when things don’t work out. Instead of this costly trial-and-error approach, why not take time beforehand to narrow down your options to the most viable project with the greatest potential for success.

2. Such low productivity for so much work – Optimise resource usage and measure productivity

Despite the high labor force, there’s a dishearteningly low productivity in Kenya’s informal sector.

Even without advanced machinery, you can apply a whole bunch of improvements to reduce wastage, improve safety and cut out risk. But you would first have to identify the problem – that’s the tricky part. You need the skills of a project management professional to identify and track productivity killers.

Too often, when faced with low productivity and the consequent reduced profitability, entrepreneurs choose to bring in additional projects to make up for the shortfall – instead of fixing the productivity issue. Why would you break your back juggling 4 or 5 projects, each bringing in a miserly Kshs. 10,000 per month, instead of improving the productivity of one or two projects to bring in Kshs. 100,000 per month?

Worse still, informal Kenyan businesses are notorious for poor documentation, which denies them the opportunity to track down productivity issues. By recording every aspect of the business, you have a better chance of detecting exactly what makes things better and doubling down on it, while you eliminate the negatives.

Some issues are hard to detect just from observation and you might need a trained eye to uncover various problems that can gradually tear down your business until it collapses. When the problem becomes visible, especially when long-term clients start leaving, it might already be too late.

3. Why always so small? – Set up a strong foundation to scale up

We all know that shop that has become a landmark in your neighborhood – always the same friendly face behind the counter and the same pitiful collection of merchandise on the shelves.

If you’re wondering why such small “biasharas” never grow, think about this: Is it possible to build a skyscraper using the foundation laid down for a bungalow? Absolutely not.

We are often encouraged to “Just start anything and let it grow slowly.” However, if you don’t do it right from the start, it might never grow. With expert PMP training, you can identify the most suitable projects to undertake, evaluate the feasibility and efficiently develop them to maturity.

You would have a much easier time getting financial support from lenders if you have a well-organized setup. And you might not even need extra financial help, since a well-organized, cost-efficient setup would produce greater profits that can be invested back for future growth.

Ultimately, the success of any project you undertake, whether big or small, would depend on how well you manage it. Small self-owned businesses require such project management skills even more, considering that the sole business owner has to personally deal with every aspect of the entire project.