NO JOBS, BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN THIKA TOWN? JUST THINK AGAIN.

It is no secret that every informed person wants a piece of Thika Town. Its strategic location is a real blessing to its people and businessmen. Thika Town is heavily blessed with infrastructure that gives it a better start than most urban centres.

Shocking enough, Thika ails from widespread unemployment of its youth.... a big part of the populace that fails to identify massive opportunities within the town and its environs. I believe that it would be more rewarding for the residents of Thika Town if at all they could control investments in the town rather than being employed to earn a few thousands. 

It is quite normal for majority of people to fail to identify the abundance of local marketing opportunities right in their own backyard. Understanding your area is an important part of identifying opportunities in your community. 

Did you know that all the challenges and pressing issues that affect you within your places of work and in your residence can be a vehicle to provide opportunities? The small things that trouble you in your workplace and at home are most likely the same challenges that affect all your neighbours. Did it ever occur into your mind that this can end up becoming a life changing business venture?

When you think of the challenges people encounter when paying electricity or water bills, business licences, collecting mails, delivering small parcels etc, did you ever see that as a business opportunity? If you didn't, just wake up from your slumberland.

Do you know of an item that is usually in scarcity in town but is in plenty in your rural area or in the outskirts of Thika Town? If your answer is yes, have you ever thought about it as an income generation venture? If you haven't, then you are dead asleep.

Do you ever attend weddings, funerals, workshops, trade fairs etc that take place around? Actitivities such as the above allow community members to explore issues, opportunities and identify priorities. Such functions assist you to identify opportunities that will make the most difference in the community and present you with a unique business opportunity that people never thought about before. So, whenever someone offers for you to go out for a social event, a job offer, or any other social gathering, just stop and think.

Thika Town has a unique mix of housing types, groups of people and local characteristics. All those are business opportunities in their own rights.

Real opportunities  are those that we don’t immediately see. They come by at the most unexpected, mostly inopportune, times. We are so obsessed with other distractions or our own opinions that we normally miss the majority of opportunity that falls across our path. Real opportunities  are like the sales people that knock on our door, or call us while we eat dinner at night. We don’t want to open the door because we are irritated, we think we know how it is going to pan out, or we are too scared to say ‘no’ when they ask us a question.

One of the best ways to sharpen your business mind is by networking. Reaching out to other people with business interests and building a network of support with your peers through local business networking groups, trade associations or online communities will go along way in sharpening your business brain. 

Attending trade fairs organised by the county government and other bodies such as Thika District Business Association (TDBA), will go a long way to improving your quality of life. It can be a fantastic way to generate business ideas and advice. I therefore advice Thika people, especially the youth, to participate in existing business events and consider building their own community with a niche focus.

Such forums provide business training, networking opportunities as well as information on cheap sources of funding. They help you make crutial business contacts, identify concrete and tangible contracting opportunities for not only Thika clients, but also opportunities for minority-owned businesses across the nation.

Local networking events and participating in them helps one work out arrangements that benefits them with business knowledge, other entrepreneurship skills and how they can start a business for very little money.

With such business expertise, I believe that you are now good to go. You will use it to increase your ability to start your business, create jobs and improve your economic well-being. Start by working out your business image while making sure that your marketing collateral is impressive. It is always advisable to invest some resources in improving the image for your business.

Once you start the business, it is always advisable to keep on networking with other business people. Involve yourself in their activities and try imposing yourself into their systems. One of the best ways to position yourself as an authority in your field is by speaking to large groups. Speaking opportunities are abundant through trade associations, business meetings and conferences.

When you reach to that level, I believe that you are now on your way to the top of the business world and you will never look at Thika Town in the same lenses again.