SAMPLE - PROJECT INTRODUCTION, PROBLEM STATEMENT & JUSTIFICATION

Problem statement & justification

More than one-third of Kenya’s population of over 40 million people is the youth (aged between 18-35 years) and a large number of them are out of school, abuse drugs, lack employable skills and earning opportunities. Unemployment makes them particularly vulnerable targets for recruitment into groups engaged in harmful and destructive activities, including violent extremism. Further, frustration due to lack of employment, education and opportunities for political participation and governance has created conducive conditions for recruiters to target the youth for radicalization into violent extremism. Recruitment activities by terrorist sympathizers often use monetary inducements to lure vulnerable youth to violent extremism by joining local gangs and fighting units.

Radicalization also relies on perceived historical injustices such as land grievances in the coast region and linking it to poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and political marginalization. For example, allegations state that the Mpeketoni terror attack of 2014 was carried out in an area believed to be predominantly inhabited by non-coastal communities. Most of the terrorist attacks in the country have been carried out by local youth radicalized and recruited by the ‘Al Shabaab’ terrorist organization. Further, in the past; the radical Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) declared that the coast region was not part of the republic of Kenya by using their “Pwani Si Kenya”slogan.

Although the threat of violent extremism has been associated with religious indoctrination, the real drivers include poverty, poor governance and the lack of opportunities for youth to escape the poverty cycle and achieve economic empowerment. They lack established sources of livelihoods and this makes them vulnerable to either radicalization or other manipulation leading to violent extremism.

Talented people, including the youth are found in every village and place. People with talents and special skills tend to establish a livelihood quite easily given that they produce creative products and services that people need at the local level. Over the years, there have been limited efforts to fully develop the creative industry to a level of being able to support our artists and artisans to fully engage and exploit their potential to attain financial freedom and contribute to the local and national economy in a significant way. Following this observation, this project is an initiative that seeks to support the youth to work towards attaining financial freedom by developing their creative skills, market linkages and helping them to be good, productive and responsible citizens of this country. The project seeks to use art as a carrier of the messages of change to attain peace, social change, wealth, stability and to liberate youth from the adverse effects of poverty. To a great extent, the project anticipates playing a significant role in reducing violent extremism as more and more youth are engaged in economic activities by using their gifted hands, voice, the written word and other talents. We also recognize that, the creative population in every society is extremely courageous, bold and very powerful in shaping public opinion as well as influencing social change.

Historically, the written word, music and visual arts have been used to influence faith and create solidarity as in the bible, the Quran and other religious books. Karl Marx inspired communism through his book ‘Das Kapital’ and the American founding fathers were inspired by the bible to develop an inclusive constitution and declaring the supremacy of God.  Further, President Obama’s Cairo speech helped the world to see the USA as a friendly nation once more, and reversing negative attitude on a global scale. South African music helped to sustain local and global support leading to the release of Nelson Mandela and attaining national freedom. In Kenya, Joseph Kamaru’skikuyu song ‘Mwalimu ni wooka muno’ successfully lobbied the government to reduce taxes in 1970s. “Unbwogable”, a song by a group called Gidigidi majimaji helped to push political excitement, momentum and euphoria leading to the birth of devolution and the new constitution in Kenya. Our national Anthem (which originated from the coast) is both a prayer and declaration of patriotism, national identity and so is the national flag, a symbol which is essentially a visual artwork.

The time for economic freedom for creative youth in the coast region is now.There has been no better time, our time has come! Our organization has over the years successfully used drama, theatre and poetry to drive positive change and to fight against HIV & AIDS, poor governance and to motivate youth and communities to develop resilience against political manipulation. By drawing from our experience working with creative youth, we have developed our capacity over time and we are very excited to undertake this project. 

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The days I produced leather goods

Very few people know this background! I was an artist since my days in primary school and as a small boy.  I learnt art and design in high school and later went for an undergraduate degree in design, majoring in industrial design. I loved the last bit…..we were only two students, the smallest class I have ever seen.  Our lecturers came from two prominent universities and therefore, one week, our class would be in one university, and then we go to the other one, especially for practical learning. In fact, once in a while, one lecturer used to ask us to accompany him to the bank to withdraw money so that we could have lunch together. You see, what a class!

One of my favorite course units was leatherwork. We learnt how to make sculpture using all types of materials, we learnt jewellery, plastics and glass works among many other stuff. I found leatherwork quite interesting and during my final product exhibition, I sold a lot of items and people ordered a lot more from me. It was quite an experience and this gave me something to start surviving on. I used to make leather wallets at night and sell them during the day. We did not have telephone communication as we know it today. We lived in the “P.O Box generation” and you could only use a public call box. Anytime I moved around town, I would ask people to buy my wallets and I always carried some good samples. If I got 5 new customers, then I would make 15 wallets. Every time I delivered a wallet to a customer, at least two of the colleagues liked it and also bought for themselves.

I would like to tell you something else. Just the other day, a former classmate called me to update me on what he is doing (including the number children he has). We talked about design industry, family life and finally he said to me….” I still have the wallet that you made for me. It is very old but I still have it”. Wah, that was something. I made that wallet exactly 22 years ago and he still has it up to this day. Mine was thrown away by my wife about 3 years ago because it was really old. It was hidden somewhere and I could not find it, I lost it that way. I did not kick her on the wrong spot though! There was something original about the wallets. I made two types of wallets, the plain and artistic. The artistic wallet had a nice decoration that was done using batik, a technique used in textiles. Let me tell you, the design was a real hit, the wallet was a great product.

Let me tell you something else, just one more time. I also designed and made leather backpacks. The design was inspired by a jet fighter’s seat, the one that injects out the pilot when things go haywire. As a small boy, I actually wanted to be a fighter pilot. As I grew up, I decided that was a small dream. It still excites me to this day, I can describe the features of the latest fighter jets and I also follow stories that involve the pilots, including rescue missions.

Now you understand the source of my inspiration for the backpack. I sold a few bags and I remember the price was KSH. 2,500 and only the guys who earned good money could afford. One of my customers was one guy called Bob Arina, the guy who conceived and tirelessly introduced premiere football league in Kenya.  He was quite a good friend, a real visionary and a mentor. I worked at his company while I was a student and for that reason I had more money than most of my classmates. He sponsored my final project in the university. I use to be the graphic designer for his company where I used to prepare illustrations and artworks for artists who used to carry out wall branding all over the country. We also printed T-shirts and sometimes we could print as many as 30,000 pieces in a week. Somehow, the artists used to earn more than most of us. Whenever they came from the field, they would be paid so much that the money could not fit in their pockets. The highest denomination at that time was a Ksh 200 note and so Ksh 50,000, the average earning per artist was a lot of such notes. Actually, the money could not fit in the ordinary pockets. On pay day, each person used to be dropped home because the cash was not easy to carry!

So, this is how my project sponsorship worked out! I requested to be allowed to go to do wall branding but the boss could not accept. It was quite boring sitting around the office, sometimes for two weeks without work. I explained that I needed more money but I was told…’just stay in the office”. Bob was a really good guy. He called me aside and asked me to state exactly why I needed to earn more money. I said I needed to fund my final project in university…..guess what! He asked me …’how much will you need? I told him I needed an extra Ksh 10,000 and he said…’I will give you Ksh 15,000….please stay here”. And I stayed! When there was no work, I would be asked to do some errands. One time, I was sent to collect a payment from one of the leading beer makers at that time. It was a real 2 million shilling cheque and I just put it in my shirt pocket. There was serious celebration in the office the moment I landed with big cheque; we actually closed early that day. Of course, I have never carried such a big cheque again to this day!

The life after university was quite different. When I went to ask my former boss for employment, I was surprised. Bob called me to his office and told me…’Julius, I will not give you a job. With what you know, I know you can start making products and making money. Just go and do that, I will not give you a job’. For days, I was very annoyed with Bob. My mind was just fixed and I was only looking for employment.  A time came and a company was helping to launch some products countywide. Bob asked me to develop display units and lighting systems. He also asked me to develop human traffic flows at all the indoor venues and also to roll out the project. That was one of my most exciting projects. We started at Nairobi the capital city, going to Kisumu, Eldoret, coast city of Mombasa and back to Nairobi with a big team of sales staff. For the first time, my pay could not fit in my pockets! This project demonstrated why I did not need regular employment but I could not see things in that manner as a young man. Bob’s company was called Outer limit and I designed the logo, all stationery and merchandise.

I went on to teach design at a college in Nairobi. Among other things, I helped students design products that were marketable. I still made leather wallets in the evenings and sold them during the day and weekends.  Infact,   I always had some in my backpack which I also designed and produced. My name almost became “leather man” and of course some people called me so.

As time went by, I joined a project that worked with people with disabilities. I was involved in product design, making prototypes, skills training, export marketing and I worked on joint projects with at least five foreign designers at any given time. Such designers were based in USA, UK, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Japan, Spain and other countries. We exported products to more than 22 export destinations and it was quite exciting. I designed jewelry, leather work, wood crafts and textiles. Once in a while, I would travel abroad to market products and collect market information for design work. I designed more leather products at that time than any other time in my life. My product design portfolio used to be over 1,000 items in a year. Digital photography started during my time and made it easier to present ideas and products to customers. I learnt digital photography. Someone had to come all the way from Netherlands to train us. Now, everything is digital. Recently, as I taught young graphic designers at a local university, I made sure that every student developed online portfolio to showcase their work.  Marketing my leather wallets would have been easier today during this digital era.

Hard times in business

Motivation is often given by reciting good stories, experiences and nice moments. I find it quite encouraging to motivate entrepreneurs by also sharing difficulties, the times when most of us felt like quitting. Yes, I say this because it comes a time when quitting seems to be the only and the only option.  I have been is such situations many times as business person. When we share stories of difficulties, it helps people to build resilience by being aware of and preparing for hard times.

If we only share good stories, many people, especially those venturing into business for the first time tend to think everything is easy. Such people tend to give up after a few real challenges. In my opinion, we need to help people in developing the ability to fight by telling the ‘war stories’. This reminds me of my time as a very small boy. My grandparents used to tell us stories about cattle rustling, raiding the maasai community and taking away cattle. They used to tell the stories so well that I looked forward to growing up and taking part in a cattle rustling expedition. We even had hero stories whereby a small boy would go, raid and come back with hundreds of cattle using supernatural powers. You can imagine what went into my mind every time such stories were told. In such stories, we learnt mostly how to manage crisis along the way; including how to report and account for the dead raiders! We were prepared to know that not all of us would come back alive after a cattle rustling expedition. What about enterprise stories? We surely need to tell the stories the same way. Business schools need to do the same. I occasionally remind people that fresh university graduate from a business school cannot sell boiled eggs or sweets in the street or their neighborhoods. Yes, the business schools do not prepare them for the battle!

For over 20 years, I have found wonderful products that cannot sell; especially products that tend to be ahead of their time. As an industrial designer, I tend to come into conduct with products that provide solutions to the public at a time when people are not ready to deal with the challenges. For instance, I once sold revolutionary low cost washing machines from Hungary. Another time I introduced mosquito traps into the market but they did not sell well. People would see how effectively the gadgets worked but only a few people bought. Then, one time everyone I knew started asking me for mosquito traps following a disease outbreak.  I also came across and started selling LED lights ten years before their time. I remember someone used to assemble them in Nairobi, some 500 km away and send them to me to sell. He bought the tiny LED bulbs in kilograms, assembled them on a circuit board and I designed how the lights would look like. Again, that did not work but ten years later, LED lighting became popular. These are just a few examples and I have done a lot of projects that closed down. Whenever I talk about them as an enterprise trainer, people always ask me ‘how come it fails and you are the teacher?” My usual answer is that the storm affects everyone and no one is immune to enterprise challenges. At times, closing a project is a good decision and that is part of the duty of business leaders.

At one time, during an election year 2017 in Kenya all small enterprises were struggling. Those with 3-5 employees went back to ‘owner operator’ status. In a lot of cases, businesses closed and those who provided services like trainers started operating from their houses in towns and in the villages. For those large enterprises, the challenge of taking care of large workforce became a real burden. In our case, we had three departments dealing with fresh fruit juice, commercial equipment rentals and trainings. The fruit juice unit was a nice juice parlour at a good location where we also provided mobile money transfers and agency banking services. Actually, we started agency banking as pioneer when people didn’t know what it was all about.

A few months to the election year, the rains started beating us. Distribution for mobile money service and agency banking was reaching its peak and the graph was going down. Almost every other shop became an outlet for such services but none of them was doing well.  Our performance dipped from over 100 customers to barely 20 in a day and we could barely pay staff so we had to exit that industry. We had lost 60% of our income and therefore we did not have a choice. One of our cashiers also took off with about 50% of our operation cash. The fresh juice unit suffered a real beating due to the reduced flow of customers. Within a short time, it became a ‘single staff’ business. What a scenario? Some of you can relate to this and even worse situations.  

Now, this is interesting! The trend in equipment rental business had a different story. Initially, we used to put men and women on the ground as sales persons. That traditional method of marketing was not very productive and the staff mainly spent time serving existing customers instead of winning new business. In short, they were not fighting the battle they were employed to fight simply because they were not ready to do so. On a pilot basis, we developed advertising content and published regularly on online platforms. Within weeks, the pilot experiment worked. From that time onwards, we went digital, fully online and even reduced prices by 20% because marketing expenses came down. We only needed one staff working from home as an independed delivery person. We never looked back and surprisingly, the bad year became our best time ever. Our income grew by more than 3 times and we kept on increasing capacity. What changed here? It is just the deliberate effort and choice to fight the battle in a different way. We always promise we can deliver in 20 minutes and we have achieved that many, many times. Actually, we are like a rescue service. Most people call us when in a crisis and thereafter become repeat customers.

I know as a business person, your challenges are not limited only to those highlighted in our experience as described here. At times of hardship, best thinking and ideas tend to come up. Those who work harder, putting more effort tend to find it easy when the storm is over. It is worthy trying harder and thinking harder when faced with hard times. You must ask yourself “is there something I can do online or is there new ideas for new business?” Most people I know, including my supplier for mosquito traps operate from home and they use online platforms like social media to market their businesses. Today, online public is a huge opportunity for every business person. It is very universal and non-discriminatory in nature. If you do not have an online presence, then you have no business in saying you are in business.

We have had our own troubles. A few times, a landlord would threaten to kick us out of a business premises. As if by a miracle, money would come in and save the situation. More than twice, a bank threatened to auction our equipment and household items because of loan repayment. Again, just a day before in every case, we found our way out of the problem. I learnt never to panic as hard times come and go.  We keep on looking for a business of the moment. Yes, an idea that can do well using current opportunities in the market. Our first attempt to sell mosquito traps failed because people seemed not to be keen on preventing malaria. At one time, there was an outbreak of Dengu fever, a terrible disease caused by mosquito bites. Then, it was the time to sell mosquito traps because the disease had no cure and people were now keen on prevention. Customers were coming even when we had nothing to sell. Some people preferred to prepay using our cashless payment platform and then call us to say why they had sent money.

Again, it is never over until it is over! Therefore, there is no need to quit when hard times come. Those who quit tend to quit too early. I have seen a lot of new shops opening and closing on their fourth month, especially where the premises are in a new building. In such cases, the first lots of businesses fail and close. The second generation comes and some survive. Most of the time, rent is usually high and a new place tends to attract among others, persons without business experience especially persons in full time employment who would like to do some business as a side hustle. Remember, if you really want to do business, you cannot do it entirely part time. Business is a fully time engagement, otherwise you are better off planting trees because they will still grow as you work for your boss. This is not to say tree planting cannot be a business. I have seen people growing fruit and trees and making good money. A friend of mine grows tomatoes and he calls them tree! He also grows green grams on a large scale. Apparently, he has a full time job that requires him to travel out of the country many times in a year. How does he do it? He has a team of people on the ground who knows what needs to be done at every stage of the way. He doesn’t employ any of these people and they are paid based on what they have done.

Do you have a team that you can rely on? You need to have one. Even one trustworthy person can make a lot of difference. When we promised we could deliver equipment in 20 minutes, we meant it. We needed delivery guys who knew they were doing more than ordinary work. In almost all cases, a customer would look for us when in distress. For instance, while in the middle of a presentation during a conference, a laptop or projector would malfunction. In such a case, a customer would quickly go online, search and hopefully find us and call us immediately. And within 20 minutes, a guy from our rapid response team would appear and sort out the problem. What a team! It requires dedication to do this sort of work. Everyone in our team knew and believed in the purpose and therefore worked with the same dedication as emergency service personnel.

When we started making a selling fresh fruit juice many years ago, fruits used to be very cheap. A kilo of passion fruit was Ksh 25 only compared to the current price of Ksh 100 and sometimes rises to Ksh 180 per kilo. Sugar was Ksh. 35 per kilo compared to the current price of Ksh 120. One mango used to be Ksh 8 compared to the current price of Ksh 30 per piece. Therefore, our price was Ksh 20 and we targeted the whole public when we started.  Along the way, we had to target customers who could buy juice at Ksh 100 per glass. How did we manage that? We realized that juice shops were dying away as times became hard in our economy. Customers who could afford juice at Ksh 100 bought is even when it rained. They also could afford to buy throughout the month while income patterns for low income spenders tend to show high purchasing power around the end of the month as they received salaries. We kept on making innovations in product development and there was something new every other time.