A kiosk is a despised SME, but a profitable venture if managed well. Some of the most prominent traders we see today started from a kiosk.

Whether you’re a beginner trader or just a youth looking to start hustle-free self-employment, a kiosk is a business to invest in with confidence.

Why start a kiosk business?

Let’s start with the initial financial requirements. You don’t need millions or hundreds of thousands to start a kiosk. You can comfortably start a small kiosk with as low as Ksh.30k.

One more thing. A kiosk business involves low operating expenses. It’s easy to set up. You don’t have to rent an expensive house. You can allocate 6k to rent (including deposit).

I have a friend who runs a kiosk in a 4k small rented house. He’s doing wonders in his small business.

Business registration you can do later, say after six months. It’s possible to run an unregistered kiosk for that time until your business is established.

However, your survivability during this period will depend on your ability to reason and negotiate with the taxman.

Now we look at flexibility. Take a walk through your neighborhood and see where kiosk operators run their shops. You’ll notice this type of business is highly flexible in terms of location.

You just need a small space in a supermarket, mall, transport hub,……..anywhere.

In a town setup, where renting a business house commands significant expenditure, consider workarounds.

For example, identify a small corner inside your room and set up your startup shop there. The idea works well.

Of significance is the presence of high traffic at the chosen location.

You can easily modify, move, and adapt to changing situations without incurring huge expenses.

But there is also the aspect of scalability. A kiosk comes with numerous scalability benefits including giving the operator a strong foundation for future growth.

Once you learn the game, you can expand your product niche and introduce additional services to your clients.

For instance, I’ve seen guys who run a mobile repair business inside a kiosk shop. These are two different niches, but the former fits well into the other.

Do you fear taking huge risks? Start a kiosk business.

You see, a kiosk has far fewer and simpler operations than a large wholesale shop. It’s a low-risk, hustle-free business.

As a new entrepreneur with limited sources of capital, you want to avoid taking huge risks. Investing in a kiosk gives you a safer entry point and less bureaucracy to deal with.