Six established Kenyan entrepreneurs share tips for success
ENTERPRISE
Flora Mutahi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and founder of Melvin Marsh International (Nanjinia Wamuswa, Standard)
Flora Mutahi
Been in business for… I was employed for nine months before starting my own business.
Biggest business mistake I ever made…Failing to try because of fear and listening to others while I should have done what I wanted to do.
What I would tell anyone looking to start a business?
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People are your most important asset. Be slow to hire, take your time, carry out several interviews and get a professional opinion if you can afford it. When they join you, train them. Also clarify their job description, have regular feedback meetings which need to be two-way. Hire for attitude and you can train on aptitude! However, be quick to fire if it does not work out after doing the above. Most importantly, treat your employees how you would want to be treated.
THE STANDARD
BUSINESS
Flora Mutahi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and founder of Melvin Marsh International, during the interview. [Nanjinia Wamuswa, Standard]
Fifty-eight years after Kenya attained independence, gender parity, especially in the private sector, remains elusive.
Of the 62 listed firms on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), for example, there are only five female chief executives, with women accounting for 21 per cent of senior management positions.
“If we go at the rate we are going, we’ll achieve gender parity in 225 years … We really have to leapfrog,” Melvin Marsh International chief executive Flora Mutahi told The Standard.
Mutahi was recently announced as the First Female Chair of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) board since the group’s inception in 1959.