3 tips for business success: lessons from young entrepreneurs

Ivy Akii, a lifelong Scout, runs a community organization in Kibera, the poorest district in Nairobi, Kenya, that empowers teenage mothers by teaching them how to be entrepreneurs. Her organisation, Gingko Africa, provides a network and socio-economic skill building.

We visited Gingko in June 2022, where we met Ivy and eight young women who were reviewing their first month of business. After much hard work, they had managed to sell nearly enough products to cover a semester of school fees!

They sat in a circle and started filling out sticky notes for different categories:

• What worked well? What should they continue doing?
• What didn’t work well? What should they change?
• What did they learn?

Through their discussions, the group discovered three key factors to entrepreneurial success, which they wanted to share so that more young people could benefit:

Tip 1: Be Confident

Confidence will drive your success. You need to believe in yourself if you expect others to believe in you!

At Gingko, the young women learned to identify what makes them wonderful and unique. They grew in solidarity together and developed confidence in their abilities, goals, and products.

By approaching their networks with certainty, they found that their teachers, friends, and neighbours were eager to support them in their entrepreneurial endeavours. It also helped them feel more independent and envision long-term success.

Tip 2: Be Prepared

As every Scout knows, you must be prepared. For the young women, this meant being ready to answer questions from potential buyers about their product, such as why should someone buy from them? What makes them unique? Why should someone buy their product over another one?

The young women at Gingko were ready with answers to almost every question they were asked or hesitation given. For example: Why are they unique? They are a group of young mothers learning to make a livelihood for their families. Why should someone buy their products over others? Their products are made from recycled or natural materials, and they come with a story inside.

Lastly, if someone wasn’t interested in buying their product, it was important not to take it personally. Their product or service isn’t for everyone, and that’s OK as there will be someone else.

Tip 3: Be Flexible

Things never go exactly as planned, so you need to be flexible and willing to adapt plans to suit different circumstances – both good and bad. When things become challenging, your confidence and preparedness will help you adapt.

The young women at Gingko found that there was great worth in enabling customers to feel involved. They asked customers for new ideas and were willing to implement changes to maintain good relations. This encouraged repeat business and helped the young women sell more products.

“In Scouting, we are constantly trying new things and spending a lot of time in camps. This builds adaptability and resilience,” explained Ivy, who trained many of the young women along with her team.

Peer networks - like Scouts, Gingko, or sports teams - are great for fostering adaptability, because members can look out for each other and introduce different problem-solving approaches.

Bonus tip! Get funded

Projects often need funding, known as seed money, to get started and sustain themselves. By applying the tips above to write a great funding proposal, you can get donations, grants, or loans for a community project.

Ivy crowdfunded through the Scout Donation Platform, a fee-free donation site for Scouts to raise money for projects. She also received funds from the Global Youth Mobilization through Local Solutions, which invests directly in young people’s innovative ideas to tackle community-based challenges.

Even in the most difficult circumstances, young people are finding creative solutions - like entrepreneurship - to create more equality and end cycles of poverty. 

Share your Story

Are you implementing a project to help create a better world? Share your story at Scouts for SDGs! There, you’ll also learn more about how Scouts are addressing the biggest challenges of our time through action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).