If you run a business and are in need of mentorship from established entrepreneurs then you should consider applying for the second season of the Keroche Foundation Academy. The program dubbed ‘Hand-Up Initiative’ launched in 2014 is the brainchild of Keroche CEO Tabitha Karanja. The program addresses the knowledge and experience gap that confronts young entrepreneurs. The end goal for this program is to inspire, connect and guide the mentees towards overcoming personal and business challenges that they may face. However, only business owners or the ultimate decision makers are accepted into the academy. Here is what you need to qualify:
- Be the age between 21- 35 years
- Business should be more than 3 years old
- Business needs to be an innovative and compelling idea with a huge potential for growth
Employ more than (5) persons - Turnover of over 10 million shillings a year
- Legal registration:Provide certificate of registration or business name registration, Form CR12, Copies of ID and Pin for all Directors
- Tax Compliant:Provide PIN Certificate of Business, three years audited accounts, VAT registration if applicable, and Tax Compliant Certificate
- Proof of Existence –Not more than 3 photos showing – all staff at business premises, products and services and an operational picture showing people at work
- Your business plan (present and future)
- A new or better approach to a business opportunity and a clear understanding of opportunity
This criteria obviously locks out young business that are newly registered or yet to be registered. To resolve that the Keroche Foundation Academy will create networking forums that will help the businesses.
Here are the 2016 PROGRAMME DATES:
Applications: April 15th – May 20th 2016
Short listing Process: May 21st – 28th, 2016
Final Mentee Selection: May 31st 2016
Site Visits: June 6th – 10th 2016
Academy Dates: June 19th – 30th 2016
Mentoring and Assessment Period: June 2016 – Feb 2017
Gala Awards & Graduation Ceremony: March 2017
Some of the successful applicants of the season 1 of the program include Irene Wanjiku CEO, Rexe Roofing, Joan Kanja of Regimental Forcequip Supplies and Andrew Kio of Blackjack Jeans. To apply for the program click here and watch the video below for more information.