Finding a perfect location when starting a business can be challenging for most Kenyans who seek to venture into entrepreneurship.
Little-known to many, police stations provide Kenyans with an opportunity to make money given the influx of people who visit the stations on a daily basis and the officers who work and live in the stations themselves.
Here are some of the businesses Kenyans can venture into next to police stations and make some good and clean money:
1. Cyber Cafe
Cyber Cafes can be lucrative ventures for Kenyans who want to invest next to a police station. This is because of the heavy paperwork required when an individual is reporting a case, being processed, or seeking release from police cells.
More often than not, people are asked to make copies of official documents such as P3 forms, National Identification cards, driving licenses among others. This also explains why photocopy shops next to the stations thrive.
2. Food Joint, Wines and Spirits
Mini hotels popularly known as vibandas can thrive next to a police station because of the high human traffic that flocks police stations daily.
Reporting cases or seeking the release of a loved one can be a tedious process that takes time. Having such eateries, therefore, provides a place for people to take a break and eat before embarking on the journey back home or going back to the stations. Food joints near these facilities serve a relatable menu including tea, mandazi, chapati, beef, matumbo, beans commonly known as madondo or mboco and ugali. You can still go ahead and add nyamachoma and mutura, which are equally loved by law enforcement officers.
Apart from Kenyans who go to report cases or bail their friends and loved ones, police officers themselves frequent such eateries because of their tight schedule. Many if not all, have not time to go back to their houses to prepare food whenever they are hungry.
Wines and spirit shops also thrive in such areas because of the beehive of activities around those areas. Apart from ordinary citizens, officers also look for areas where they can unwind and drain their fatigue, after long hours in the office, on the road controlling traffic.
3. Mobile Money Shops
In most places across the country, you will often find mobile money shops such next to the stations. From depositing to withdrawing money, Kenyans are often required to pay fines and bail money when seeking release for some offenses.
Additionally, people often have to walk long distances looking for mobile money services because of the high demand for these services.
Also, most people are often concerned about their security when they want to deposit or withdraw their money. Having such shops next to the police station gives entrepreneurs an upper hand because of the assurance of security.
4. Legal Brokerage Services
If you have been to or near a police station, you probably have noticed how people gather in groups outside police stations because they are stranded on what action to take when somebody is apprehended. This is mainly because of lack knowledge of their rights or law that govern police apprehension.
Having offices that offer legal advice to people who have been apprehended and their families can be a lucrative venture especially when they do not have a lawyer to represent them.
Additionally, this could also offer an opportunity to connect people to lawyers who can help them when processing their cases. However, such a business venture requires people who are well vast in the law such as lawyers.
5. Barbershop and Salons
Popularly referred to as Kinyozi, having a barbershop can be lucrative for most business people given the standards of grooming that is required of police officers. Male officers shave their hair and beards regularly as they are required to have short hair while they are on duty.
Additionally, the barbershops can also target the local community around the stations as some of the police stations in the country are located next to institutions of learning that require students to be well-groomed during school hours.
Today, the National Police Service also allows female officers to plait their hair, do manicure and moderate panel beating of their skins. Such officers will definitely need somewhere to do these quick fixes.
6. Accommodation Services
Due to the long and endless process of processing and bailing out individuals, many people end up leaving the police stations late in the evening or even deep into the night and that makes it difficult for them to head back to their homes.
Therefore, providing a place where people can spend the night can be a lucrative venture to invest in for new entrepreneurs.
Additionally, people traveling during the night always want to seek accommodation in places that guarantee their safety, and lodging next to stations guarantees them that.
Police officers, for those who do not reside within the precincts of police stations find private accommodation around for convenience. Rental houses near a police station can therefore be a quick sale.
7. Taxi
Offering taxi services next to a police station can also be a money minting venture given the number of people visiting or leaving the stations.
Due to the long processes in the stations, people may prefer traveling back to their homes in a comfortable car when they can rest easy and travel much faster. Families may also opt to use taxis because of their numbers hence making this venture lucrative. Others opt for hired transport services for the security especially where they are involved in sensitive cases that may put their lives in danger.
