Ota Business Strategy Workshops: Kisumu Edition
Ota successfully ran its second series of Business Strategy Workshops for women in creative enterprise in Kisumu City. The 3 workshops organised in partnership with Goethe-Institut were hosted at LakeHub, a technology and innovation hub for entrepreneurs; techies; investors and creators in Milimani area, from Wednesday 30th October to Friday 1st November 2019.
Kisumu-based women business owners and women leaders with a growing business in creative value chains which include fashion and apparel manufacturing; digital content; TV & film; decorative home and interiors; live music and events were invited via HEVA and partner social media channels to register free for any of the three workshops on Eventbrite.
Day 1 kicked off with Financial Management for Creative Businesses Made Easy run by Wakiuru Njuguna, HEVA Fund’s Investment Manager. During this workshop she led attendees to think through changing the approach of the creative practitioner towards the finance aspect of the business, resulting in improved operations and higher revenue. Sub-topics that were tackled involved a step-by-step approach to approaching finance for upcoming businesses, how to manage accounts, assessing the true price of products/services, approaching friends and family for investment and getting your first outside investor.
Post-workshop, attendees who wanted a personalised consultation on finances and accounting management were invited to register for free one-on-one sessions the following morning.
Sunny Dolat, Production Designer, co-founder of The Nest Collective and HEVA Fund's Creative Strategist ran Day 2's workshop on Creative Strategy and Product Development. This workshop explored how to think about creative business growth, and how to have the best product or service range possible, to see improved operations and revenues. The value derived from this interactive session enabled present female entrepreneurs to demystify how to: decide on what they want for their businesses beyond growth and numbers, package user-entered product and services, assess if the conceptual product reflects the sold product, as well as create a productive and healthy working environment.
On 1st November Olivia Muia, HEVA's Communication Officer, covered Social Media and Marketing. The session kicked off with an understanding of strategic marketing communications and laying the foundations for effective communication before diving into social media. The latter focused on best practices for creative businesses to increase their reach on Kenya's leading social media networks i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp. This interactive session shared know-how on the best way to market products to target client bases, choosing and optimising the best platforms, choosing quality and cost-effective content and responding to both positive and negative feedback/ interactions. Olivia's session was followed up by free one-on-one personalised consultations on the next morning, for those who desired it.
We are thrilled to have engaged with the dynamic early-stage creative community businesses from the lakeside! The demand to take them into other regions is rising and we can't wait to do just that next year.
