Dennis Ngeno early realized that he has a burning desire to be his own boss and to decide independently what to do with his time and how to organize himself. The STEP program brought him one step closer to his goal: to be self-employed, running a very successful business.
Today, he owns a company that (among other services) takes care of the water provision at larger events. He identified this business opportunity during the STEP program by analyzing his own resources, the market conditions and potential customers. With this business, he did not only employ himself, but he also created jobs for three permanent employees. Depending on the season and the workload, he sometimes even employs up to six persons. Right now, he is still in school and runs his business from there. Once he is done with books, he plans to fully concentrate on his business. Furthermore, due to the previous success of his business, Dennis even aims to further expand the business in the near future.
He states, that the STEP program taught him (among others) the skill of risk evaluation, which he did not possess before. He learnt that entrepreneurship is about more than administration of capital, but also includes the consideration of different market factors, in-depth analyses of costumers and the specific target group, and the relationship of supply and demand. He also learnt how to address challenges and that it is mostly best to face them systematically. For an entrepreneur, it is essential to detect potential risks early enough to initiate counter-measures before a risk becomes life-threatening for the business. Dennis explains that the STEP program helped him a great deal in preparing for challenges, finding a way out of risky situations and planning far ahead, for example by writing a business plan.
Lastly, he has an advice for youths, who find themselves in a similar situation to his. He recommends not to be scared of new ventures. Starting with a small manageable risk can still lead to success. From there on, business risk as well as success can easily grow.