Audio By Vocalize A local manufacturer of natural skincare products spent years perfecting her formulations and building a loyal customer base at home. One day, a retailer in Rwanda heard about the products through a visiting customer and searched online for the company. The search produced an inactive social media page, poorly lit photographs and a mobile number with no clear business name. There was no website, catalogue, business email or information about packaging and supply capacity. The retailer moved on to another supplier. The Kenyan business had a good product. What it lacked was discoverability. Many businesses remain invisible…
Author: By Lydiah Kiburu
Audio By Vocalize Traders at Soko Mjinga Market in Nyeri.[File, Standard] Trust is one of the most important assets that a business can build. It influences whether customers return, whether suppliers choose to work with you instead of your competitors, and whether larger opportunities come your way. In reality, trust is built through everyday experiences. It appears in simple questions people ask themselves when dealing with your business: Will this business deliver what it promised? Will it respond when something goes wrong? Can it be relied upon consistently? If the answer to these questions is yes, then the business grows.…
Audio By Vocalize Small businesses are no longer defined only by what they produce or where they are located. [File, Standard] Dear Business Owners, Over the past several weeks, this column has focused on a simple but powerful idea: that your business, no matter how small, does not grow alone. Small businesses grow through the systems around them. We have explored how your businesses are connected to a network of suppliers, customers, and larger businesses. We have seen your businesses can build trust through consistent behaviour, how data makes your businesses visible, and how networks create opportunities that go beyond…
Small business, big ecosystems: From insights to action: The next step for small businesses Published Date: 2026-05-04 09:53:09 Author: By Lydiah Kiburu Source: The Standard
Audio By Vocalize Consistency and reliability drive business growth and customer trust. [iStockphoto] If you want your business to grow, you are often told to market more, sell more, and reach more customers. That advice is useful, but it is not the full story. The full story is when marketing your products and services is combined with a business culture of consistency and reliability. The two sound familiar, but they are not the same. And understanding the difference can change how your business grows. Reliability is what people experience. It is what your customers, suppliers, and partners feel when they…
Audio By Vocalize Passengers queue with their luggage waiting for check-in at an airport . [iStockphoto] It is early morning at a busy airport check‑in counter. Passengers queue quietly, boarding passes ready on their phones, luggage stacked on trolleys. The departure board shows flights leaving within the hour. Suddenly, the check‑in system freezes. Boarding passes cannot be issued. Luggage tags cannot be printed. The line stops moving. At first, there is confusion. A few passengers glance at their watches. Others worry about missing their flights. Then a staff member steps forward and addresses the queue: “Our system is temporarily down.…
Audio By Vocalize The most expensive failures in digital businesses are not the system outages. They are moments of abandonment when customers feel exposed and alone. [iStockphoto] A senior manager takes two prospective clients to lunch. The conversation flows easily, and the meeting feels promising. When the bill arrives, he confidently hands over his payment card. The transaction fails. He tries again. It fails again. The waiter waits. The clients watch. Eventually, one of the invited guests quietly pays the bill. No complaint is raised. No scene is made. But something breaks in that moment. Confidence is dented. Trust is…
Trust determines whether customers will continue to use the digital service or even refer their friends to use it too. [Courtesy] Someone recently said that the thing they fear most is internet downtime. Reason being that most people’s daily routines are powered by technology. From hailing a taxi, to shopping online, attending virtual meetings, sending and receiving money, taking and paying back loans, buying insurance cover, paying school fees, the list is endless. Technology is a daily companion Many of the digital platforms offering daily relevant services start off successfully. Registrations rise and then consumer usage slows down. Customers quietly…