Shop & retail owners
Stock, pricing and till discipline — know your real margin per item, not per guess.
Ksh-priced examplesMost businesses don't fail from a bad idea. They fail from the basics no one taught them.
Passport to Business is the launch programme for Kenyan entrepreneurs. One track takes you from idea, to a registered business, to your first hire, built on how real local businesses survived year one.
Five questions. About two minutes. No payment details.
Passport to Business is a Global Initiatives Inc. product developed for Kayana Create, for founders in Kenya and across East Africa.
Built for the way Kenyan small businesses actually run
Kiosks, salons, M-Pesa agents, boda traders and market stalls. The Launch Track speaks your language, prices everything in shillings, and uses examples from businesses like yours.
Service & mobile-money agents
Separate float from profit, register properly, and pass county inspections the first time.
KRA & county permitsNot sure where your business fits?
Take the free two-minute readiness check and get a gap report written for your stage.
Get my score, freeWhere is your business today?
Every stage has its own way to go wrong. Start where you are, fix the gaps that apply to you, and move to the next stage with a plan instead of a guess.
Idea stage
You have an idea, or a side hustle you want to take seriously.
Most common mistake: spending savings on stock before anyone has agreed to pay.
- Learn the language of businessPart 1, 9 lessons, about 1 hourFree
- Validate your idea before you spend a shillingPart 2, 3 lessonsLaunch Track
Launch stage
You're trading, or registering, and the first 12 months will decide everything.
Most common mistake: busy every day, but no idea whether the business is making money.
- Write your plan and forecast your cashPart 3A, 4 lessonsLaunch Track
- Find the customers, permits and support you needPart 3B, 3 lessonsLaunch Track
- Run the money side with confidencePart 3C, 2 lessonsLaunch Track
- Bookkeeping for micro and small businesses5 lessonsFree
Employer stage
You're ready to hire, or you already have your first employees.
Most common mistake: hiring on a handshake, then learning about contracts and deductions the hard way.
- Become an employer, and see where global markets fitPart 4, 3 lessonsEmployer Track
- Put it together and earn your certificatePart 5Employer Track
Not a pile of videos. A workspace for your business.
Every lesson in the Launch Track fills in part of your own one-page business plan, so when you finish the course, the plan is finished too.
- Your plan builds as you learnCustomer, pricing, costs and break-even, written about your business, not a textbook one.
- Watch your readiness score climbRetake the check at each stage and see which risks you've closed.
- Reminders on WhatsAppShort nudges when you stall, so life doesn't quietly end your progress at step two.
My Launch Track
One-page business plan
Njeri's Kitchen, lunch delivery, Westlands
- Who pays
- Office staff in Westlands who eat at their desk and spend Ksh 300 to 450 on lunch
- Price and margin
- Ksh 380 a plate, Ksh 165 cost, 57% gross margin
- Break-even
- 34 plates a day, six days a week
- Licences and registration
- Completes in step 3, lesson 2
Readiness score
76+28
Track progress
58%
WhatsApp
You're one lesson from finishing your licences section. Ten minutes tonight?
You're not short of information. You're short of certainty.
Free videos can tell you what a business plan is. They can't tell you whether yours will hold up.
Learning from free videos and blogs
- Advice written for other countries and bigger budgets
- No way to know which gaps apply to you
- You finish watching with nothing to show anyone
- Easy to stop halfway, and nobody notices
The Passport to Business Launch Track
- Built on real Kenyan businesses, priced in shillings
- A readiness score that shows exactly where you're exposed
- A finished business plan and a certificate you can show a bank
- WhatsApp check-ins that keep you moving to the finish
Built on real Kenyan businesses, not textbook theory
Every module draws on interviews with founders who got through year one, and the ones who almost didn't.
"I was selling every day and still broke at the end of the month. When I separated the till from my own M-Pesa, I saw I'd been underpricing every cup by twenty bob."Raised prices, and margin, in her second month
AchiengFresh juice kiosk, Kisumu
"The resources module told me what to register and in what order. I had my KRA PIN and county permit in a week instead of guessing for months."
BrianPhone repair shop, Nakuru
"Hiring my first two stylists was the scariest part. Now they have contracts, and I know what I owe every month before payday."
WanjiruSalon owner, Kasarani
Passport to Business
Readiness Certificate
Awarded to
Achieng Otieno
for completing the Business Launch Track and a reviewed one-page business plan.
A finish line you can show a bank
Completing the course isn't the point. Walking into a bank, a lender or a partner meeting with proof is.
- A one-page business plan, reviewed before it's signed off
- Your final readiness score, with the risks you closed along the way
- A certificate with a verification link for lenders and partners
One track, one price
Start free. If your score shows gaps, the Launch Track closes them in one go, without a new decision at every step.
Readiness check
Find out where your business is exposed.
Free
Always free
- Your Business Readiness Score and gap report
- Part 1: the language of business, 9 lessons
- Bookkeeping for micro and small businesses
Most founders start here
Business Launch Track
From validated idea to a plan you can take to a bank.
Ksh 5,500one payment
or two payments of Ksh 2,750. Ksh 7,500 bought part by part.
- Parts 2, 3A, 3B and 3C in one continuous track
- Your one-page business plan, built as you learn
- Readiness Certificate on completion
- WhatsApp progress check-ins
Employer Track
For founders hiring their first people.
Ksh 2,500add-on
Add it any time after the Launch Track
- Part 4: becoming an employer, and global opportunities
- Part 5: bringing your plan together
- Employer stage added to your certificate
Give your members a readiness score before they apply
Banks, chambers, county offices and youth enterprise funds can use Passport to Business to prepare entrepreneurs before they apply for a loan, register or join a programme. You get better-prepared applicants. They get a clear path.
- Banks and fintechsOnboarding for new SME accounts
- Chambers and SME associationsMember development
- Youth and enterprise fundsPre-application readiness
- Universities and TVETsEntrepreneurship clubs
Questions founders ask
Anything else, send us a WhatsApp during working hours, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Is the readiness check really free?
Yes. The check, your gap report and Part 1 cost nothing. You only pay if you decide to join the Launch Track.
Can I pay in instalments?
Yes. Pay Ksh 2,750 to start the Launch Track and the second Ksh 2,750 when you reach the halfway point.
How long does the Launch Track take?
The lessons add up to around two and a half hours. The rest of the time goes into your own business plan, at your own pace.
What will I have at the end?
A reviewed one-page business plan, your final readiness score and a Readiness Certificate you can share with a bank, lender or partner.
Who is behind Passport to Business?
Passport to Business is a Global Initiatives Inc. product developed for Kayana Create, based in Nairobi.
Find your gaps now, before they cost you your business.
Two minutes, five questions, and a clear next step for where your business is today.