Starting a Successful Micro-Enterprise in Kenya

Imagine not having access to education, and think for a moment about the consequences for your life. How to make a living and where to live? How to feed your family and pay the bills?

Globally, an estimated 63 million children are not attending primary school and one in four girls suffer educational disadvantage. Agatha, now in her forties, used to be one of these girls. Meet her in this video and learn how she managed to start a small business after participating in the Hilti Foundation’s Basic Entrepreneur Training.

At the Hilti Foundation, we believe that everyone is entitled to lead a self-determined life. That’s why in 2017 we started together with our partner Hand in Hand International the Basic Entrepreneur Training (BET). The program’s goal is to enable members of so-called self-help groups within 9 to 12 months to start a micro-business and generate sustainable income by selling products to third parties. Since many of the participants have never learned to read and write or do the math properly, the training methods are rather interactive: Pictures, flip charts, posters, and role-playing are the appropriate tools for teaching simple entrepreneurial skills and accounting literacy.

Agatha has particularly benefited from the business development module and livestock training. And she has big plans for the future. Just like her, the program has already helped more than 16,000 women and men in Kenya and Tanzania to escape extreme poverty. They have learned to develop skills, start micro-businesses and earn a decent income, so they can afford a better standard of living.