To raise the money for the establishment of Apple, Steve Jobs had to sell his Volkswagen. Blood and sweat alone do not build a corporate empire. It is impossible to overstate the necessity of capital for the launch of a firm. It is essential. Resources related to funding a business are among the most popular searches on the internet because of this need.
Business grants are given to companies in an effort to advance and enhance the general public’s socioeconomic well-being. They are provided if the issuing organization designates funds for a particular issue, such as youth or women empowerment. Grants are a crucial tool for starting a new firm. Grants can be used as start-up funds to explore business opportunities, as working capital for business plans, or in other ways.
Salad Alonya is the director of Egangath Limited, based in Isiolo and deals with poultry farming. The enterprise, which is under the AgriBiz program, started keeping poultry in 2020 and is now under the KCIC Isiolo business hub. It got a grant of up to 800,000 shillings from the KCIC AgriBiz program and used the money to expand the poultry house, added the number of birds, and bought poultry feeds. “Since we got the grant, our investment returns have gone up. Our profit margin has also grown compared to what we used to get back then,” said Alonya. Before getting the grant, we used to keep indigenous chicken which he underscored that they would take a longer time to reach the market stage and again had fewer profit margins. “Now we keep broilers which take a short time to mature and have better returns.” added Alonya
Poultry farming is now a promising business in Isiolo since the town is developing at a rapid rate. The presence of an airport, hotels and infrastructure in the region is slowly turning the once quiet town into a business hub. The AgriBiz program has helped Mr Alonya get into even bigger heights of business. “I appreciate KCIC for their efforts in supporting and funding such business,” he added.
Alonya also trains other small farmers and self-help groups, most of whom are his customers. He trains them on how to rear chicken from the brooding stage to the harvest stage. The training that Mr Alonya offers has made his businesses gain popularity in the region as farmers from different places are now beneficiaries of the training. He has also employed many other people both directly and indirectly. The biggest challenge in the business is the high cost of production. Alonya is hopeful the government will intercede and lower the cost of commodities. The enterprise plans to have a food formulation section to cut the production cost by half. The issue of cartels is also a major challenge in the business especially when it comes to the market and that is why they chose to remain focused until they can produce their own feeds and maximize on the profits.
