NOTES FROM A WEBINAR BY MR. SIMI, KCB PLATINUM, RUPAS MALL BRANCH.

GUEST: MR. ELIJAH SIMI, MANAGER KCB PLATINUM, RUPA MALL BRANCH.

HOST: MOSES GITONGA, YOUTH IN BUSINESS AND AN AVIATOR.

AUDIENCE: THE YOUTH DRAWN ACROSS ALL WALKS OF LIFE.

TOPIC; UNDERSTANDING FINANCIAL LITERACY, ASPECTS ON BUDGETING, DEBT MANAGEMENT AND

WEALTH ACCUMULATION.

He started by stating that the youthful age is the age of definition where you define yourself for the
future. He mentioned the fact that there are many gaps that needed to be filled, hence gave a
reflection from proverbs 20:29, I ADMIRE THE STRENTH OF THE YOUTH AND THE GREY HAIR OF THE
OLD. He then gave another reference from the bible from the book of timothy, DO NOT LET ANYONE
LOOK DOWN ON YOU. From this he emphasized that GOD wants youths to become brave and to
glorify HIM and serve humanity with our GOD given abilities.

Who is an entrepreneur? Here he engaged with a few participants who gave their opinions on what
comes to mind whenever an entrepreneur is mentioned. Some definitions stated an entrepreneur as
a risk taker, others as somebody who has ability to create while others defined an entrepreneur as a
naturally motivated individual with the ability and skill to transact.

He then continued with various ways how youths can identify business opportunities and mentioned
the fact that we have different talents and skills, opportunity lies within what we have and it only
takes effect if we monetize our skills. Opportunity as well can be found when we identify niches
around us. Here he gave an example where his doctor friend supplies vegetables and greens to his
colleague doctors who come late from work. He grows them on a subsistence scale within his home
garden area and supplies them door to door. From this, the doctor has built a brand other than
being a doctor. In times of crisis lies opportunity. This phrase as he stated emphasizes that when
people complain, squeeze the opportunity to fill the gap hence identify the value and start.

Another instance of identifying opportunity is in the power of education, where he stated that
education gives an opportunity to interact with people, connect and as well helps identify gaps as
new knowledge expands capability to solve problems.

After identifying an opportunity, build a brand and package it nicely hence brings it out with
excellence. He gave a relation to bakers’ point located at RUPA MALL, ELDORET, where a cake might
be so small but the way the package is attractive, it brings the value of the cake so high. Customers
buy the brand, anybody can make a cake but not everybody can bring out the excellence in an
attractive package. Another aspect he mentioned was a business cannot succeed without a network.
A customer is the only boss in a business. A customer can fire the manager or any other employee by
simply spending his money somewhere else. Give customers value for money.
For a successful business, the aspect of planning helps in budgeting and seals loop holes where
money is spent on unnecessary expenses. At times business is very heart breaking but a well laid out
plan helps a business become versatile to changes such as economic shocks, demography or even
political.

Lastly, he gave insights on savings where, he mentioned having a savings culture that is friendly to
your budget needs and as well one that will help meet your objectives on a timely.