Tag: 2023

  • Top Tips to Foreigners Wanting to Register A Business or Company in KenyađŸš©

    In the past, I have received e-mails from foreign prospects wanting to setup their businesses in Kenya after reading a past blogpost I wrote and or watching the video on How to Start a Business in Kenya. In the blogpost, I only outlined the steps one needs to follow in order to setup a business in Kenya.

    As a result of their enquiries, I came up with a post on Top requirements one needs to have in order to register a foreign company in Kenya.

    While this answered some of the questions, I still get requests for consultations from interested parties to demystify some of the things that are related to starting a business in Kenya as a foreigner.

    People develop interest to setup a business in Kenya for various reasons. The big question most of them have is; how do I get started with the process? What are the some of the things I needs to know before registering the business?

    In this blogpost, I will share top tips to foreigners wanting to establish their business in Kenya.

    Tip No. 1: Mandatory Requirements You Need To Have

    Business registration in Kenya is carried out by Business Registration Services (BRS). They have outlined some mandatory requirements that one needs to have in order to register a foreign business or company in Kenya. Here are key ones you need to have.

    • Valid Visa – You need to have a valid visa to stay in Kenya. If your have plans of setting up a business in Kenya and your Visa is about to expire, make sure your renew it to avoid penalties. Visit Evisa portal to learn more.
    • Investment Capital – If you are registering/setting up your business in Kenya as an investor, you will need to provide a proof of investment capital of $100,000. You are required to provide this in form of a bank statement. visit Kenya Invest Authority to learn more.
    • Local representative – If you have links to a Kenyan citizen who you intend to partner with in the business you want to register; then you will not need to provide proof of investment capital as mentioned above. This option works best for someone who does not have the required investment capital but still wants to setup their business in Kenya.

    Once you have these 3 items with you, you are now ready to setup your business in Kenya as a foreigner.

    Tip No. 2 : Registration of Business in Kenya is Done Online

    Most government services are now digitized in Kenya. You can start the process of registering your business online on the BRS portal. You will be required to sign in with your Ecitizen credentials. Click on sign up to create an account with Ecitizen before you login. This is where you will use your Visa to register.

    If you are registering an already existing company registered in your own country of residence, please make sure you have in handy a copy of the certificate and its registered office address.

    Tip No. 3 Think Twice Before Nominating a Lover You Met in Kenya To Be Your Local Representative😎

    Its no doubt that Kenyan people are warm and welcoming. One can quickly fall in love and forget everything. But when it comes to business, think twice before you consider nominating a lover you met in Kenya to be your local representative. Business rules do not recognize emotions when things go south.

    I have had cases of foreigners resolving to close their companies after they broke up with their intimate local representative. I do not advise anyone to set up a business in Kenya based on intimacy unless you have taken a step further and got married.

    And those are my 3 tips for foreigners wanting to setup their business in Kenya.

    I hope you found this article helpful. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

    Until next time bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on X @cheptiony and Youtube @cheptionymutai

  • 3 Legal Items You Need To Have On Your Business Website And How to Get Them

    In this video, I share with you 3 legal items one needs to have on their website to promote transparency.

    Watch video: 3 Legal Items You Need To Have On Your Business Website And How to Get Them
  • How To Encrypt A PDF or Microsoft Word File with A Password-Video

    Video: How To Encrypt A PDF or Microsoft Word File with A Password
  • How We successfully Launched a Kenyan Made Sauce Product After Covid Pandemic

    When the pandemic hit, many businesses struggled to survive. But for Daniel Mwaniki, an event organizer and co-founder of Golden Chef Limited, it was an opportunity to innovate and diversify. He and his team developed and launched their own line of sauce products, using their culinary skills and creativity.

    The sauces were a hit, and soon they expanded to other products, such as spices, marinades and onion garlic paste. Now, Golden Chef Limited is not only a successful event company, but also a thriving food brand that caters to different tastes and preferences.

    “We first started off delivering precooked samosas to homes. We were delivering it with a small sauce we made.”

    Our Sauce Products

    Daniel and his brother saw their home delivery service expand as more people wanted their sauce. That was when they decided to develop their own line of sauce product and get it to the market. But first, they went to Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) to get their sauce certified.

    “We had to go to KEBS to standardize our product. We came up with products known as Sweet and Sour Chilli, Sweet and Sour Dip, Barbecue Dip and Barbecue Chilli. Also, products coming up is Onion Chilli Garlic and Onion Garlic paste.” Says Daniel.

    Aside owning a line of sauce products, Golden Chef company also offers outside catering services and events organizing. Just after Covid lockdown in the year 2020, Daniel teamed up with his brother to start the business.

    “My brother is a chef, and I am an events organizer. We started by doing home deliveries. We came up with various packages for weekends. One could get a package of full chicken, potato chops, burgers, a bottle of wine delivered to them”

    Golden Chef Growth

    It’s now 3 years since they started their business and so far there is a lot of growth, there is so much progress. “Since we started, we have acquired our own equipment for hire. We hire out kitchen equipment’s. We have chaffing dishes, Sufurias, plates and we can cater for up to 500 people comfortably.” he quips.

    Daniel says one of the biggest challenges they are experiencing is delivery.

    “The challenge we are having right now is delivering our products. We are looking for people who can partner with us in delivering our sauces. We are grateful to God because covid was a blessing in disguise to us.  We were lost, confused but God came through for us. We started off with home food delivery services and now we are growing and doing events.”

    Message to Aspiring Entrepreneurs

    Daniel encourages all aspiring and existing entrepreneurs to take a leap and put their product idea in into existence. He says that the market space is enough for everyone.

    Daniel Mwaniki- Golden Chef Limited
    Watch Full Interview

    While Golden Chef has grown over time, marketing remains a challenge to their growth. “Some people haven’t familiarized with our products. That’s what we are working towards it every day.”

    He encourages Kenyans to buy Kenyan products and promote local businesspeople and thus grow the economy.

    Take Customer Feedback Positively

    As Daniel concludes, he encourages everyone in business to take feedback positively and use it to improve on their products and services.

    “We are open for feedback and criticism. If it’s a good thing, just tell us, we are open to anything.”

    If you are interested in Golden Chef’s products, you can reach out to them on all social media network @GoldenChef_Ke.   

    I hope you found this article insightful. What are your thoughts?

    Please share and let me know in the comments section below.

    Do you have a inspiring entrepreneurial story like the one of Daniel from Golden Chef? please send me a message on our contacts page here. I will be happy to come and tell your story.

    Until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on X @cheptiony and YouTube @cheptionymutai

  • How to Speed Up a Computer or Laptop That Slows Down When Connected to Internet

    Video- How to Speed Up a Computer or Laptop That Slows Down When Connected to Internet

    In this video tutorial I am going to show you how speed up a computer or a laptop that slows down when connected to internet.

    There are several reasons why a computer or laptop slows down when connected to internet. One of them is due to windows update. Another common reason is because of startup apps. So where do you start in order to fix your computer speed?

    Start By Checking Startup Apps

    This is the best place to start especially if your computer slows down when starting up. This is usually caused by apps you have installed in your computer trying to connect to their servers and check for updates. This applies to all apps including the ones that you have cracked or downloaded and installed from torrent sites.

    You will need to disable all these apps on start up. To do this go to start and type ‘task manager’ on the search bar. Alternatively, right click on the task bar below your windows and select task manager. On the window that opens click on startup tab. Here you will be able to see all the apps that opens when you start your computer. If you see an app that you rarely use but has high startup impact, right click on it and select disable on the drop down.

    Disable all apps that you know will not affect the operating system on startup. When you do this, you computer startup time will decrease tremedously owing to the changes.

    Also, the apps disabled will stop running on the background when there are not in use. If this doesent work, you can check the following step.

    Check If Your Windows is Updating

    All windows usually detect internet connection and attempt to update the operating system. This is done on the background. Your computer or laptop will slow down depending on the number of files being updated.

    To check if this is what is causing your computer to slow down, go to start and search for ‘check for updates.’ Click on it to open. This window will open where you will see all ongoing windows update.

    If this is consuming your mobile data or is slowing your internet speed, you can pause it till you finish what you were doing first then enable it again.
    Windows updates are necessary for security purposes.  If your computer is still slow after taking the actions above, try reviewing all the files you downloaded via torrents and unistall them. Most of them run on the background.

    To unistall unecessary software from your computer, go to start, and search for apps & features and click on it. From here, you can see all the apps installed in your computer. Click on the one that you do not recognize to select and click on unistall.  

    Not all files downloaded via torrent sites are good. Most of them come with virus of which the moment your connect to internet, it starts downloading and installing other softwares to your computer.

    I hope you found the video helpful.

    Until next time, bye bye and take care.

    My name is Cheptiony Mutai. Follow me on X @cheptiony.

  • How To File Company Annual Returns on Business Registration Portal Online

    Video- How To File Company Annual Returns on Business Registration Portal Online

    Video Transcript

    In this video Tutorial, I am going to show you how to file Company Annual Returns on Business Registration Service portal (BRS). Stay tuned.

    To file your company’s annual returns, go to brs.ecitizen.go.ke and login with your ecitizen account details.

    On your eBusiness dashboard here, to right of the business that you want to file returns for, click on view.

    On the new window click on maintain company on the top right. This new page will open. On this menu to the left, click on annual returns.

    The years that you have not filed the returns will display to the right under business details. Choose the and download the file that you will need to fill in order to file the returns.

    Mine is empty because this account is for a new company that was formed recently. Once you have completed filling in your returns, upload the file and click submit returns.

    And that is it on how to file company annual returns on BRS portal. I hope you found this video helpful.

    Until next time bye bye and take care.

    Follow on x @cheptiony.

  • Top 5 Kenyan Services You Can Access Online Today

    Watch Video – Top 5 Kenyan Services You Can Access Online Today

    Video Transcript

    Many Kenyan Government services are now available online following the recent launch by President William Ruto. You can access them anywhere as long as you have a good internet connection.

    In this video, I will show you my top 5 picks of government services you can access online. Stay tuned.

    • Tax Services

    You can access almost every tax service online from applying for a Tax PIN number to filling your tax returns. All tax services are accessible via the portal itax.kra.go.ke. To access this service, you must have a PIN number. You can access many features once you are logged in to the portal.  

    Aside downloading a copy of your PIN certificate, you can also make changes of your contact information and Tax address online. While some services are subject to approval, you are a rest assured that you will be served online without having to visit Tax offices for resolution. They have customer service hotline that you can call and get live assistance on your request.

    Most of their communications are done via e-mail. So if you have penalties as a result of not filling returns, Your Tax account administrators will send you e-mails reminding of the same so that you can fix it before its too late.

    When you login to your account, you can see everything regarding to your Tax account from past payments, your tax station, your tax obligations e.t.c.

    It is important to mention that companies can check validity of a PIN number or TAX compliance on the portal. Some people submit forged documents and itax portal offers a solution to this problem.

    • Business Registration Service

    If you are planning to start a business in Kenya, its recommended that you register your business name to make it legal. This is where Business Registration service (BRS) comes in. Government is now striving to get everyone to register their business for the purposes of accountability and tax compliance.

    Another reason why government is striving to register every business is for security purposes. They want to ensure that everyone is operating a legal business. You can access this service on www.brs.go.ke. To login, you will need to use your e-citizen login credentials.

    Once you are logged, you can start registering your business. Anyone can register a business online from local Kenyan residents to foreigners who are looking to invest in the country.

    The cost of registering a business varies starting from Ksh. 950 to 20,000. Visit BRS portal for details.

    It is important to note that you can initiate the closing of a company online.

    • Renewal of Driving license.

    Has your driving license expired? You can apply for renewal online. This service is accessible on serviceportal.ntsa.go.ke via Ecitizen. Aside the driving license, you can apply for other services like Drivers PSV badge, endorsement PDL, instructor license, smart driving license, personalized plates as well view records of the vehicles you own.

    • Apply for a Passport

    You can apply for a passport online for the first time or renew your existing passport. This service is accessible via the portal dis.ecitizen.go.ke. Additionally, you can make interstate pass applications, temporary permit application, evisa application, work permits, endorsements, student pass and special pass.

    Just sign up first on Ecitizen then login to the portal to access this service.

    • Apply for your birth certificate.

    Have you lost your birth certificate, or you don’t have one and you are required to provide one somewhere? Its now easy to apply for one online via dcrs.ecitizen.go.ke. To complete your application you will need to fill a form and then attach copies of;

    • Birth notification
    • National ID, passport
    • Scanned copy of parents identification documents.

    This service costs only 180 shillings. When your application is processed successfully, you will be notified via SMS.

    And those are my top 5 picks of Kenyan government services you can access online. There are over 5000 more government services you can access online. Just visit eciziten.go.ke and search for the service you are looking for.

    I hope you found this video helpful. Until next time, bye bye and take care.

  • How To Stop Spam Comments on A WordPress Blog For Good Without Installing Any Plugin

    Video Tutorial –How To Stop Spam Comments on A WordPress Blog For Good Without Installing Any Plugin

    Video Transcript

    If you are watching this video, it means you have a WordPress website and you receive a lot of spam comments on your blog sent directly to your e-mail inbox. How do you stop these autogenerated spam comments targeted on your WordPress blog? In this video I will show you the quickest way to stop these spam messages for good on your WordPress blog without installing any plugin. Stay tuned.

    To stop spam comments on your WordPress blog, login to your WordPress site as admin. From your WordPress user dashboard click on settings and select discussions.

    On the new page, you can adjust your blog comment settings. This is where you do the magic. For instance, if you are currently receiving e-mails when one posts a comment and is held for your moderation, and you don’t want to continue receiving them, hover your mouse to the section that says e-mail me whenever; then uncheck the box that says e-mail me when anyone posts a comment. When you do this, you will not receive e-mails when people post comments on your blog. This is very helpful if your site is connected to your work e-mail.

    But if you want to stop spam comments and only receive genuine ones on your WordPress site, ensure that every user is logged in to WordPress in order to comment. To do this, check on this box here that says ‘ Users must be registered and logged in to comment’ under other comments settings.

    This is the most important setting you need to change. When I did this one, I no longer receive spam comments on my blog like I use to with links to pornographic and gambling sites. I receive only genuine comments now.

    You can make other adjustments like avatars below here. When done adjusting your blog settings, click on save changes.

    And that is it, you have successfully stopped spam comments on your blog. Only serious users with a WordPress account can comment on your articles going forward.  

    I hope you found this video helpful.

    And until next time, bye bye and take care. Follow me on social media for updates each time I post a video. My name is Cheptiony Mutai. Thank you for watching this video.

  • How to Boost Your Communication and Productivity With These 2 Amazing AI Tools For Free

    When people hear Artificial Intelligence(AI), what comes to everyone’s mind is ChatGPT by OpenAI because many people are currently using it. From college and university students using it to do their homework, to bloggers using it to write blog content. AI is the new goldmine and is here to stay.

    Watch Video

    But lets shift our focus today a little bit and look at free AI tools that we have with us on our phones and computers. Many people just see them on their phone or computer but they don’t know how powerful they are.

    That’s what I am going to share with you on this blogpost.

    GOOGLE LENS

    Google lens is an app that comes preinstalled on every android phone. Many people don’t know how utilize it for productivity. When you open Google Lens on phone, it just start the camera and displays images from your gallery below.

    Google lens dashboard on a mobile phone

    On top just below the camera, you can see the menu tittles. These are things you can do with google lens.

    You can translate text from an image, you can search online using images, you can take photos of your homework questions and google will answer it for you, you can take a photo of a product and google will show you the price of the product on different outlets that sell it and with location setting enabled, you can take a picture of a signboard in the place you are in and google lens will tell you where you are.

    In this review, I will demonstrate to you how to simply copy text from an image using google lens without typing it. It doesn’t matter if the text was written by hand or typed; google lens will do the job of copying and converting it to typed text that you can edit.

    I have some notes hand written on my book here. Instead of typing them, we will use google lens to type it. So I will point the lens on the page where the text is, and google lens will highlight the text and prompt me to choose the action I want with the text selected.

    Hand written text ready to copy with google lens

    In this case, I will select ‘text’ menu then select copy text on the new window. The text will copied to clipboard. Open google docs or a word processing app on phone and paste it there.

    As you can see here the text is copied and pasted. From here I can easily edit.

    Another way you can copy text is from an image on your phone. Select the image with text that you want to copy. Google lens will select the text. Tap on copy and it will be copied to clipboard. From there, you can paste it where you want e.g. on google docs, on e-mail e.t.c.

    Copy tex from an image with google lens.

    Google lens has a total of six things you can do with it and will safe you a lot of time.

    BING CHAT

    When you install Microsoft Edge browser on your computer, it comes with Bing Chat. Bing is an AI-powered search engine owned and operated by Microsoft. Bing chat is an AI feature within the browser that works like ChatGPT but its free. No login is required.

    Bing chat appears at the far top right corner on the Edge browser. Click on it to open.

    Bing chat feature on Microsoft Edge

    Bing chat has three features; chat, compose and insights. This a a very powerful tool for anyone in the communications business.

    Bing chat features

    You can use this to write various communication messages like website landing page content, social media posts, cover letters e.t.c. To remain unique, always know which feature to use when.

    Since most people are familiar with the chat feature based on their past experience with chatGPT, I will explore the compose feature in order to give an idea of how AI can positively change the tone in which you communicate for good.

    When you open this feature, you will realize that it gives you 3 choices that you need to pick after keying in your idea on what you want it to write. Among these choices include tone, format and length.

    Bing Chat compose feature

    With compose feature you can write basically anything. Just type in the keywords of what you want it to write and chose the tone, format and length and Bing chat will give you the results.

    So far, from my experience, the compose feature does a perfect job. Just think of anything, and ask it to compose it for you. It will phrase it so well that you will be happy to post and share.

    Conclusion

    AI is a powerful tool that can help you create, communicate and collaborate. But it also comes with some challenges and responsibilities. You need to be aware of how AI works, what it can and cannot do, and how it might affect your audience.

    You need to use AI wisely and ethically, and make sure that what it presents to you reflects your intended message. Don’t rely on AI blindly. Always check, edit and improve its output.

    And that is it.

    Have you embraced AI in your communications? If not, what is preventing you from taking advantage of it. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

    And if you need professional help in building vibrant digital media and communication channels for your business that you can rely on, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here. I will be glad to help.

    Follow me on X and Youtube using the links below.

    Until next time bye bye and take care.

  • Examples of Practices To Attract Money in Todays World – Do They Really Work?

    The subject of faith, religions and beliefs is a debatable subject today depending on where in the world you come from. In the midst of the many different religious sects in the world, prosperity is the biggest selling ‘commodity’ used by evangelizers to spread their gospel.

    watch video

    With internet here with us, the religious industry is concentrated with all kinds of gurus claiming to show people the secret to ‘attracting money, making money gaining fame, becoming wealthy, e.t.c. They know that most people are constantly looking for new ways to make money thus they have positioned themselves to solve their problem of money using the practices they propose.

    For instance, in Africa, Christianity, Catholicism and Muslim religions are widespread. People will relate and trust an individual more when they introduce themselves as a born again Christian. But is this all that an individual needs in order to gain a following?

    Yes, if they use the right keywords common in most churches to command response from the congregation or followers like ‘praise God’ lord be with you you.. e.t.c. It is even more effective if the presentation is done on video. You and I know that anyone can start and build an audience through video online.

    With the keyword search for ‘making money or attracting money‘ among the most searched topics online today, one can easily become a victim of self made Gurus in that niche. More and more people will want to consume these content if they are coupled with biblical facts or ancient religious practices related to Christianity. The world we are living in right now is saturated with facts about religion. You can find answer to anything online.

    Below is a video of one Youtuber claiming that rubbing hands with gridded cinnamon and salt will help one attract money to their life. Have a look.

    This presentation is from a Catholic Reflections Youtube channel. If you watch the video from the beginning, the presenter starts by greeting the viewers in the name Jesus, then goes on to preach the word of God a little bit before introducing her topic of the morning ritual that helps one attract money.

    Do you think Christians are convinced by such presentations as hers? absolutely yes they are, but not all. Her target audience are Christians. If a Christian is looking for ways to make money and watches this video, he/she might be convinced.

    But, Is This True or Acceptable in Christian Faith?

    The answer to this depends on the religious sect you belong to and the region in the world you are coming from. For example, in the religion that I belong to, this will be categorized as idol worship which is forbidden by the 10 commandments in the bible.

    Exodus 20:3 says “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

    Shifting your believe in God as the provider and starting to believe in salt and cinnamon for financial breakthrough is not encouraged.

    This takes me to the next item in my list.

    Attracting Money With Money Plant

    Money plant is a succulent indoor type of plant that comes is various types. It is associated with prosperity and nourishment. Chinese Feng Shui practitioners think very highly about the money plant. People believe that if the person owning this tree can grow it and take care of it well, they will have even more good luck.

    Practitioners have clear instructions on where to place the money plant and how to attend to it for maximum benefits. e.g Placing in the south east side of your room means you will have high possibility of attracting more good luck to yourself. This idea is based on Feng shui compass.

    Having had money plant in my house in the past for close to 3 years, I think the claim is true as long as you believe that the plant will bring you good luck. Also, you must be around your home all the time to attend to the plant less it dies. If it dies, your financial luck dies. This is scary if you think about it deeply.

    Again, is this acceptable in the Christian or any other faith? Yes and No depending on how you support your argument. Plants are Gods creation and we have a responsibity to take care of them.

    Downsides of These Methods

    The two examples of practices I have shared with you above gives you a picture of how much influence some practices have on an individuals faith. If you search on Youtube, you will find several types of these videos including the Money plant presentations. The presenters make these practices look easy to the viewer or reader that one would not hesitate to practice them.

    However, practicing these without thinking about its downsides may get you in trouble in a long run. For instance, in the cinnamon and salt secret to attracting money, one is required to rub the salt and cinnamon on their hands every morning for them to attract money.

    What happens when you travel far away and forget the cinnamon at home and cant find some in where you go to? Will your attracting money powers die?

    On the other hand, it is believed that money plant will stop attracting wealth if one stops attending to it or if it dries up for lacking water.

    In life, you need to attract other things to your life apart from money. Does this mean you will have to practice something else to fulfil this purpose? Think about it.

    Now, lets look at the bigger picture.

    The Big Picture

    Keeping several things for various faith purposes in your house is overwhelming especially if you are a busy person. At some point you will forget some and the consequences of abandoning them will hit you back based on the faith you had in them.

    In a country like Kenya where most people are christians, catholics and muslims and have some things in common about God, it will be really hard to keep up with these practices of attracting money. In a long run if you practice them, you will find yourself the odd one out.

    Even though the question of faith is a very debatable subject across the world; the idea of believe in one invisible God still stands. We all have different believe histories. Some have retained their traditional belief in God while others have embraced the western model of believe because of the good that it comes with.

    All in all, the believe in one supernatural God as the source of everything is easy to practice. You don’t need to practice any of these things you see online that promises to solve your money problems. God and the faith you have in what you do and desire will help you big time. You are in this world for a purpose and God is there to help you fulfil that purpose.

    He will provide you with all that you need to fulfil the purpose as you have fun in the process.

    It all begins with staying open to learn about God. I wish you well in your journey as you seek to strengthen your faith.

    And that is it.

    I hope you found this post helpful? What practice or believe have you fallen a victim of in your journey of faith? share your thoughts in the comments section below.

    If you are looking for help to produce digital video content, let me know here.

    Until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on social media and subscribe to my blog for updates each time I share new content.