Your business needs a little injection of AEP
If you’re a Kenyan entrepreneur working in the MSME sector, then you know how hard it is to keep a business alive in this market, leave alone sustainably growing it. Despite all the effort entrepreneurs pour into their businesses, Kenya is still losing 400,000 small businesses annually as reported in the KNBS 2016 survey.
Equipping yourself with the knowledge, skills, and tools to carry out business operations is one way to battle these grim statistics and remain among the surviving enterprises for a long time. The Advanced Entrepreneurship Program (AEP) plugs in.
AEP is offered by the Institute for Small Business Initiatives (ISBI) at Strathmore University Business School. The program has been developed and constantly improved over a span of 5 years. This was done after interacting with over 2,000 Kenyan entrepreneurs through interviews, consulting sessions, training, and research. This program was designed to address the most pertinent issues affecting small business owners in Kenya today. This makes it the most relevant program for entrepreneurs in the country to fuel sustainable growth of their businesses.
Not only are entrepreneurs taken through 13 classroom sessions on multiple topics including (but not limited to) Personal Development, Financial Management, and Business Strategy, they also get a chance to put into practice what they’ve learned by developing their business plans, receiving support from an expert through 2 customized feedback sessions at no extra cost.
We understand that entrepreneurs are busy people, and it is very easy to get suck in the weeds of operating a business. While this is true, it is also important for the entrepreneur to take a step back and review these operations from an outsider perspective. This is the opportunity the AEP presents. The ability to step out of your business, assess progress thus far, and strategize on a sensible plan of action going forward. Furthermore, you have an opportunity to do this alongside like-minded individuals who will challenge your ideas while helping you sharpen them to be more feasible with regards to implementation.
Beyond the class, entrepreneurs are encouraged to have an accountability partner with whom you share all your key learning from the sessions with. This can be a business partner or an in-session buddy. Together, you can ensure that you review the content and reinforce the lessons learnt. You can also discuss the various challenges both of you face as entrepreneurs, so you can grow your businesses together.
After 13 rigorous weeks of sharpening your entrepreneurial mind and skills, you also get initiated into the ISBI Alumni Association which is a pool of all entrepreneurs who have one through the ISBI training. The association is purely for establishing lifelong friendships and business networks of like-minded entrepreneurs. Cooperation is key to one’s success. In addition to thinking about how to increase one’s share of the pie, you could work together to make the entire pie bigger for everyone.
What are you waiting for? Sign up for the next AEP with ISBI Institute. What better way to start the year than working towards moving your business from good to great.
