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Notes from the bleachers at the National Youth Convention ‘08

An extraordinary session of the The National Youth Convention opened yesterday at the Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi. The theme of the largest gathering of Kenyan youth this year, was the reconstruction, reconciliation and reform.

Speeches by the organisers centered on the need for the youth to be more proactive in Kenya. Kenyan youth were accused of saying nothing when each election resulted in the appointment of leaders who do not have their best interests at heart. Now is the time to fix the wrongs of the past, the convention delegates were told. They were asked from now on, as leaders, to consider themselves as engines of change and to challenge the status quo.

Regarding entrepreneurship, nominated MP, Hon. Rachel Shebesh decried the slow pace of the National Youth Policy Draft being tabled in parliament seven months into the current parliament. She also advised the youth to be cautious about the proposed method of grassroot elections for the National Youth Council. Reminding the delegates of how the Maendeleo Ya Wanawake elections had in the past been manipulated by the political class, Shebesh told the youth to ensure that the election method would be inclusive and representative.

How can you have a Ministry with no policy?

The governments commitment to improving the welfare of the youth was called into question.

The Youth Ministry was termed as being there solely for “PR” purposes. Being toothless, not only does it operate without any policy, but it is there to hoodwink Kenyans of the governments commitment to the youth. Furthermore, the same Youth Ministry does not even have the creation of jobs for the youth under its mandate.

The youth fund was also termed as a “shame”, which brought loud applause from the delegates. Many participants decried the fact that they had no access to the funds and were even unaware of the process to receive the funds. Some asked, why is the government force-feeding the youth to be entrepreneurs? Why spend all those years in school in order to be given Kshs. 10,000 to have a boda boda business?

Our view is that if the fund is going to make any real impact in the lives of youth entrepreneurs, it should:

• ensure that ALL youth nationwide have access to information about the fund, skills on how to apply for the funds, and close access to the financial intermediaries.
• The fund should not only target groups. That in our view is grossly disrespecting the youth of Kenya. As Hon. Kabando wa Kabando who was present at the convention said, repayment of loans was over 90%. That intimates that the youth are not out just to be given money and not pay it back. Why lie? Why should one have to go find other youths in order to be given a pepper corn amount that will only just barely put any enterprise on the ground? Why? …

Well, Hon. Raila Odinga who also attended said that the fund needs to be adressed. Kenyan youth entrepreneurs, let’s make sure it is!

Kenyan youth UNITE … in Obama-speak: YES WE CAN!

The Secret to Less Anxiety Over Business Cash-flow

To reap any significant earnings from your enterprise, you need to plan your business spending and a budget is crucial to business success.

Before mapping out spending, it is important to start with a forecast of expected incomes. This can be in terms of sales revenues, consultancy fees etc. To develop your forecast, first look at your past business income history (for instance sales revenue of the last year). This gives you an indication of what you can reasonably expect in the next year in terms of income.

It is also vital to take to take into account the factors that influence how much money your enterprise makes. For instance, in a clothing store, sales of jerseys will not be as high in the hottest month of the year. In case you don't have such records, start today by recording your sales and expenditure daily. At the end of the month, use this to forecast your expenditures for the next month, and so on. This process also allows you to get a clearer picture of what products or services are popular amongst your clients.

After looking at projected income, you need to look at several factors in the process that culminates in the received income. This is where you take into account materials required for production and inventory levels. At this point, you also need to forecast your labour needs based on expected production and how much you are expected to pay them.
Don't forget to add important costs such as marketing, rent, and the cost of upgrading or purchasing new equipment. If you borrowed money to start up or expand your business, you also need to include this amount as income and outline how you intend to repay the debt as a projected expense.

You can now complete your budget in the form of a budgeted income statement which consolidates all revenue and expense estimates you have made. There are a large number of free budgeting tools online that can take you through the budgeting process.
Budgeting is vital because if one sticks to it, the looming threat of financial loss diminishes. Once you have a track record of sales and expenditures, you are better placed to know when the low seasons in your business occur and budgeting helps you, to take steps to sail through them relatively unscathed.