The August issue of the Entrepreneur magazine has a feature on the 500 fastest growing businesses in the United States between 1998 and 2006.
Compiled with the help of Corporate Research Board's database, the magazine evaluated 19 million businesses that were founded between 1998 and 2002, which businesses also had 2002 sales greater than $100,000 and at least $1 million in sales in 2006. What stood out for me in the feature was the sources of funds used in starting-up these successful businesses. Any budding entrepreneur knows that one of the biggest hurdles when it comes to starting your own business is accumulating adequate capital. Luckily for its readers, the magazine provided a break-down of the sources of funds used to start these fast growing businesses. Also provided was the amount of initial investment used to start the top 100 businesses. The biggest surprise for me was the fact that quite a few of the businesses started with less than $10,000 dollars capital and now have sales greater than $1 million. The main criterion needed to start-up with a sufficient kitty were :
A good credit history - The only way you can get financial institutions to lend you money by way of credit cards, bank loans or lines of credit is to prove that you are a good borrower. Having a bad credit history muddled with late payments, defaults, high debt or worse, bankruptcies is a sure way to get the banks to close the doors on you. If anyone agrees to loan you money, you'll pay a higher price thereby reducing your competitiveness and increasing the chances of business failure. A good business plan - To convince private investors and venture capitalists to shell out some money, you will need a detailed and convincing business plan. A novel idea could also substitute for a business plan and bring in the much needed funding to start a business. The more unique the business idea, the easier it is to raise funding. Like these 953 individuals, I too want to run my own successful business one day. A few years back when I hit the big 3-0 I set up a goal of being 'ready' to start my own business when I turn 40. My plan is to have at least $1 million to start whatever business I will have decided then. That of course depends partly on whether or not I get the courage to walk away from the comfort of employment and also on the feasibility of my intended business. My plan is to raise start-up capital from my savings and credit cards, augment it with borrowing from my 401k and a bank loan, and if need be sell a stake in my start-up to friends and family. The bottom line of course is that you want to spend the minimum time looking for capital and focus instead on growing the business and finding new clients. That said, I wouldn't wish to go for bank loans, venture funds or private investors as they are time consuming and yield the lowest amount of funding required to start a business. From the numbers in the report, I'd say anyone using their personal funds to start a business has a 50% chance of success. My message to all out there who want to start their own business, all the best wishes and may you go on to realise your dreams. I hope that in the coming years a Kenyan will be featured in the Entrepreneur magazine's 'America's 500 fastest growing businesses'. | 
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Structures ought to be in place for training Kenyans in business management, banks should be able to expend some of the excess liquidity in the market by taking a chance on people with good business plans and ideas ( amybe reduce risk by having an accountant assigned to every such project?)