By Manasseh Adina — Web Developer
How to start a profitable online business in Kenya
With the Kenyan economy taking a turn for the worse each day, how to start a profitable online business becomes a lingering thought and desire in the minds of almost every citizen. Is it capital-intensive? Is it easy to pull off? Can just anyone wake up one morning and start it off? These are amongst the answers we’ll take a look at in this blog. Let’s begin!
Top 7 online business ideas (with startup costs & quick checklist)
In order to start an online business in Kenya, it is advisable that you ponder the kind of business you’d wish to run. This is important because starting off with the right business idea places you in the right market, a concept that gets you closer to winning even before you acquire stock and customers.
Below are a few examples of profitable business ideas you can explore if you’re thinking of not only owning but also running a remote online business in Kenya:
1. Ecommerce Store
One of the best online business ideas to have, especially moving into 2025, is to run an ecommerce store. Take advantage of the rapidly increasing online shoppers who seek convenience in buying products from the comfort of their homes and workplaces. You can take it a step further by offering delivery services to your store, so that your customers don’t have to worry about how their purchased goods will get to them.
To set up an ecommerce store, here are some of the aspects you’ll need in place:
- A fast and functional ecommerce website. WooCommerce is an open-source ecommerce plugin for WordPress that has remained at the forefront of its field by providing efficient ecommerce platform services.
- A delivery service platform. Pick Up Mtaani is a reliable door-to-door delivery service company based in Kenya that supports online retailers in delivering products to their customers at an affordable price.
- A customer care team. Your customers will need a dedicated team that remotely handles their inquiries, sales, and occasionally complaints.
- A digital marketing team. Your ecommerce platform will greatly benefit from having a professional team that actively promotes it on digital platforms. This works to grow and improve your online brand.
You can enroll for some of the best digital marketing courses in Kenya and stay ahead of the pack by personally building your business’s online footprint.
Profitable Ecommerce Business Ideas:
- Food and Consumables
- Baby Clothes and Baby-related products
- Alcohol Beverage products
2. Online Food and Beverage Delivery Service
Kenyans love convenience above everything else. This creates an opportunity to start an online food and beverage delivery service that delivers amazing food straight to their doorsteps. Currently, Uber Eats and Glovo are two of the top dominant players in this sector. With them setting a precedent, you can benchmark their business models and learn a thing or two about setting up your very own.
In addition to food, the rapidly growing supplier market is the alcohol beverage delivery sector. There’s no doubt that alcohol sells high on Friday to Sunday, and especially at night. With youngsters craving for a nice time of drinks and memories, there exists an opportunity to set up shop and supply B2B and B2C with alcoholic beverages.
Beverage Delivery Industry Players To Benchmark From:
3. Freelancing
Freelancing is a hot topic in Kenya right now, particularly among the Gen Z generation. The opportunities in freelancing enable these young minds to work freely and remotely, selling their skills and expertise to clients worldwide. Despite having the freedom to dictate terms of engagement, freelancing still proves to be a rather tough environment to pursue, given its reliance on one’s reputation.
The following are examples of freelancing skills and platforms best known to offer great work opportunities:
- Online Writing
- Graphic Design
- Website development
- Digital Marketing
- Virtual/Productivity Assistance
These are skills that one can acquire through both formal and informal learning, including both taught and self-taught courses. For instance, Digital For Africa has, for a long time, offered reputable training in digital marketing and WordPress Web Development. This can be a great place to start from if you’re looking to learn and improve your professional skills.
To get started with freelancing job opportunities in Kenya, create an account with the following platforms:
4. Online Education and Tutoring
A majority of the young professionals are spending resources in time and money to upskill their expertise. Starting an online education and tutoring business can be an excellent way to tap into this market. With modern technology advancements, you can record course videos, share PDF notes, and even offer one-on-one consultations from the comfort of your living room. All you need is a fast internet connection and a reliable power supply.
The following are examples of dominant online education and tutoring platforms that you can create an account with and get started with tutoring:
5. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate Marketing is a pretty smooth way of earning an income without actively seeking it. To illustrate this point more effectively, let’s use Digital For Africa (D4A) as an example. As a company, we offer a 2 Day training course on Digital Marketing. The course costs KES 15,000, and in addition, each enrolled client receives a complimentary 30 Day mentorship that begins immediately after the training.
In an effort to enroll more clients, we offer an incentive to anyone worldwide who uses all available legal and ethical means to refer a customer to our course. Once the customer pays 100% of the course fee, we compensate a 7% commission reward to the referrer.
In this case, Peter, who has a friend called John, can earn KES 1,050 by referring his friend John to our Digital Marketing course in Nairobi. Peter becomes an affiliate marketer working with Digital For Africa.
The following are examples of affiliate marketing platforms you can explore to get started with earning a passive income:
6. Digital Content Creation
With the rising trend of social media platforms like TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube, among others, there is a huge untapped market for digital content creation. Think of it this way: You walk into a Casino and receive KES 50,000 worth of gaming coins. No matter which game you play, you are guaranteed to win.
In addition, the next time you walk back in, you get the KES 50,000 again, and the cycle continues. My question to you is: How many times will you visit the Casino and play?
Fast forward, the Casino is any digital platform. A website, social media platform, podcast, you name it. By creating digital content, you are continually filling your container of brand awareness. You can never lose or go wrong! In 24 months, you’ll have established a strong digital media presence that not even President Ruto’s taxes can shake you down.
7. Digital Marketing
Digital Marketing is the practice of reaching out to potential clients and customers through digital channels with the aim of converting them into loyal purchasing customers.
The world’s first online commercial transaction happened in 1999. The purchase was made between two friends, where one sold a CD to his peer. The exchange was made through an encrypted digital channel where the seller shared his card details securely.
Ever since 1999, electronic commerce has evolved from E-commerce to ecommerce and even eCommerce. While the noun undergoes alterations, the value concept remains the same. The exchange of goods/services for value between buyers and sellers on digital platforms. Digital Marketing plays a key role in this evolution, guiding the parties involved in effective and efficient commercial transactions.
The following are common disciplines in Digital Marketing that you can explore as a professional service provider:
- Social Media Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization
- Content Marketing
- Email Marketing
As a digital marketer, it is important to decide which model of e-commerce you’re more comfortable working in. The following is a list of known e-commerce models in Kenya:
- Business-to-business
- Consumer-to-consumer
- Business-to-consumer
- Consumer-to-business
Why Start an Online Business in Kenya
Kenya’s online market is experiencing rapid growth. According to Kenya’s Digital Report, more than 22.71M people will use the internet in 2025. With the internet, technological advancements, and mobile connectivity, it is becoming increasingly easier to reach a wider range of potential customers while running a profitable online business.
Reasons why you should start an online business in Kenya:
1. Legal & tax checklist for Kenyan online businesses (2025)
Starting an online business in Kenya requires a very minimal effort. To get started, you are required by law to register your business name with the Business Registration Service. This procedure is estimated to cost approximately KES 950 as of 2024. The system for registering business names in Kenya is online.
2. You choose a business model that favors your preferred working hours
You have the freedom to create your preferred working business model or adapt to one that has worked for existing businesses. One significant advantage of an online business model is the potential for 100% automation, where you don’t have to lift a finger to complete a sale.
You can design automated procedures that guide customers from the moment they visit your digital platform until they make payments and receive their delivered goods/services. One of the easiest ways of achieving such automations is through establishing an automated e-commerce website.
3. You will be location independent
The untold beauty of an online business starts from the non-compulsory need for a physical office. This not only allows you to work from any desired location but also reduces infrastructure costs, such as purchasing office furniture, printers, and even monthly rental charges for your premises. You can skip all these costs and simply work from your own house.
4. You will walk a path that connects you with other bright business owners
By dedicating your time and effort to establishing an online business, you are bound to attend entrepreneurship seminars, workshops, and events. These are social capital-rich opportunities for you to network with fellow business owners and share ideas that create impact. You might be surprised by how a majority of your closed sales will stem from relationships built through such opportunities.
How To Start a Profitable Online Business in Kenya
Perform market research
It is essential to understand the market that will consume your product and service. Conducting market research as your first step towards starting an online business in Kenya enables you to gather as much information as needed about your individual end consumers to effectively sell to them.
You want to know where your buyer spends their time, how much disposable income they have, what pain-points they face regarding your solution, and much more. It is also in this period that you segment your customers and classify them into related groups. This will give you a competitive edge when it comes to generating marketing campaigns.
Settle the Legal requirements
Decide whether you want to start with just a business name or go the full route with a registered company.
