As time has progressed, so has the amount of mobile phone users increased in Kenya. A lot of people now have access to at least one mobile phone to make calls, access the internet, do business and much more.
As much as the phones are needed, phone accessories are of much necessity to these mobile phone users. These accessories include phone chargers, adapters, USBs, earphones, headphones, phone screen guards, phone covers for protection and much more.
With the high need for phone accessories, there is no doubt that the phone accessories business in Kenya is a rewarding and profitable one if done well.
You can decide to begin this business being a retailer or wholesaler of phone accessories.
Phone accessories retail business in Kenya
Here are some steps to consider when starting a phone accessories retail business in Kenya.
- Market Research: You need to make adequate research on the phone accessories market. Get to know what products to sell, how much to sell the products, your competitive environment and all other things that are essential for starting a business.
- Business Plan: This is a major step to be taken before the start of any business. This is basically the map out of your business. A good business plan includes the summary and goals of your business, a description of your products and services, your target audience and how you plan to reach them, a summary of your competitive environment, how you plan to operate, your marketing strategy and lastly, your finances. Having all of this in check, you are on the right path to a successful business.
- Business Location: It is no lie that the location of your business plays a big role in the marketing of your business. Strategically choosing the location of your business can increase your chances of having a large number of customers.
- Business Licenses & Permits: It is very important for any business to get the required licenses and permits to run a proper and legal business in Kenya.
- Get a Supplier: To sell phone accessories, you need to get a reliable supplier of the products you wish to sell. Ensure that products are of good quality.
- Stock Up Products: With a reliable supplier of phone accessories, you should then stock up on the products you want to sell. You should have enough products in stock in order to make enough sales.
- Advertise/Market: It is time to put your business out there. You could do this by making use of social media ads, flyers, billboards or word of mouth. This is an important step to not miss if you wish to have a profitable business and a large number of customers. A way to market your business is by having good branding and packaging. The way a package is received by a customer gives an impression of the business. It could be through the brand colours, materials used to package the items bought or simply the font of the information on the packet. Branding, if done well, can really help in advertising your phone accessories business.
Phone Accessories Wholesale in Kenya
As said earlier, you can also run a phone accessories wholesale business in Kenya.
This is slightly different from that of retailing as you would sell products in bulk rather than pieces. However, the steps to begin the phone accessories business remain the same.
To get products, you may have to go straight to the manufacturers of phone accessories to get access to a large number of products to sell in bulk.
Running a wholesale business costs less to start than that of a retail business as you don’t need to spend much on branding, packaging and even stocking up your inventory as you would be getting them for cheaper costs from the manufacturers.
Is Phone Accessories Business Profitable?
The phone accessories business in Kenya is profitable depending on the number of customers you get at given times. The more customers you get in a period of time would definitely increase the profitability of your business.
The location of your business plays a major role in the profitability of your business. A location in a city centre with less competition would for sure bring more profits to the business.
Also, setting a profit margin that is above the cost of capital would yield more profit to the business.
A tip to grow your phone accessories business is to take it online. You can reach a wider audience on the internet than in your city.
Having an online store, you would then need to make use of delivery service and logistic companies to deliver products to customers wherever they are in Kenya. Your store could be located in an urban area but have customers in the suburbs.
Cost of Starting a Phone Accessories Business in Kenya
With 50,000 KES to 100,000 KES, you can start your phone accessories wholesale or retail business in Kenya.
This amount should cover rent, inventory, business licenses and permits, advertising/marketing and any other extra cost required for the business.
You can decide to have your business on a small scale or on a large scale.
Here is an insight on the price of certain phone accessories that should most likely be in your inventory.
- Phone Covers – This protective casing prevents phones from damaging when they encounter an impact with a surface. In Kenya, the price of phone covers usually start from as low as 200 KES to 1,000 KES depending on the quality and brand of the phone cover.
- Phone USBs and Adapters – These two components usually make up phone chargers. Together, they cost from 100 KES to thousands.
- Phone Screen Protectors – These are also called screen guards. They mainly protect phone screens from damage and work hand in hand with phone covers. These can cost up to 1,000 KES.
- Earphones – These could be wired or wireless and capable of being connected to a mobile device through bluetooth. Their price ranges from 200 KES to 1,000 KES or more.
- Headphones – Similar to earphones but bigger, they can also be wired or wireless. They cost from 1,000 KES upwards.
- Selfie Stick/Tripod Stand – Mostly used by content creators, video makers and the likes, this is a good product to have in your phone accessories store. The price of this can be a few hundreds to over a thousand Kenyan shillings.
- Ring Light – This product serves as great lighting for pictures and videos for a lot of people on social media. They work together with tripod stands and selfie sticks. The minimum price for a ring light is about 1,000 KES.
There are a lot of other products out there that you can include in your phone accessories inventory. Having a wide variety of accessories in your store would definitely increase chances of more customers as you meet the needs of more people.
Asides phone accessories, you could include accessories for laptops and other electronic devices in your store.
