Kenya - Startup under 3 years old

Describe your project or startup in a few words

Blossom with Lela is an organic based company that shares a strong sense of commitment and passion to offer holistic preventive organic, herbal personal care products and maintain the echo system by training our producers on sustainable organic practices.

01.01 Describe your startup in more detail

Blossom with Lela is an organic based company that is dedicated to empowering the middle class urban community by providing wholistic preventive medicine, suppliments and personal care solutions. We offer a range of unique organic products which prioritizes affordability, sustainability and healthy living. Blossom with Lela uses nature's bounty to empower middle-class families. One way we do our business is by upcycling "waste" like overipe avocados into organic oils for supplements & personal care. Some of our product ranges includes, shampoos, lotions, soaps and conditioners all made with shea butter or some of our cold processed oils as the base. The other way we do business is by partnering with farmers to sell organic supplements like Honey, Chia Seeds, and cold processed oils which help combat modern lifestyle diseases. We believe that every household deserves to be chemical Free and Blossom with Nature's finest offerings.

01.02 What is the main problem you are trying to solve?

With the increase or urbanisation and population growth in Kenya, the demand for colour cosmetics has also risen. However, due to lack of regulation, the market is filled with about 80% of counterfeit products. Furthermore, genuine cosmetic products are too expensive for the population to afford. The population switches to the counterfeit products resulting in conditions such as lead poisoning, chemical burns, skin breakouts, hair thinning, and bacterial infections among others. Secondly, there has been an increase in lifestyle diseases among the general population. In 2018, it was estimated that about 60.3% of the urban population suffers from obesity and 19.5% of the rural population. It was discovered that majority of these issues are dietary related associated with increased consumption high calorie diets and lack of supplements. There lies a gap in providing these solutions in regards to offer healthier dietary options. I

01.03 Tell us the major benefits and/or advantages of using the product/service that your startup provides (at least 3).

We have two phases of our product rollout. the first phase has been to provide alternative skincare products and the second is to venture into alternative organic herbal/supplements for consumption. For the last two years we have experienced success with phase one and this has been the major benefits of using our products 1. We have seen 80% of women who use our skin care products get sorted out with their acne/psoriasis/eczema issues. We have received overwhelming testimonials for this. 2. 75% of our haircare product users have experienced hair growth and have also have seen a significant reduction in hair breakage. Which shows that our products not only promote hair growth but also promotes stronger hair. 3. All of our client based have said they no longer have headaches of having to buy extra products to add to their commercial lotions. This has reduced the headache of unprofessional product formulation to get a product that actually works for them. They only need to use our lotion

01.04 Please describe who exactly your startup’s product/service is aimed at serving. Who are the targeted beneficiaries?

The middle class community particlularly those who live in urban settings

01.05 When was your company established?

2022-01-07

01.06 Are you already selling your product/service?

Yes

01.07 How many other owners are there within your startup?

0

01.08 Among the other owners, how many are female?

1

01.09 Please describe the profile of the other owners within your startup (skills, experience, etc.)

The founder, Makena Njeru will be the acting CEO for the company. She has a background in biochemistry and experience in general operations and business management. Being, the founder, she is the vision bearer of the company and has the general idea of growth of the company. She will be responsible for setting the pace and will have a huge role in creating and setting up systems for the company.

01.10 If you have a website, a social media page (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin…), or app, please provide the link(s) here:

https://blossomwithlela.com/ https://www.instagram.com/blossomwith_lela/ https://www.facebook.com/blossomwithlela

01.11 Which industry best describes your project?

d) Primary commodities (food, drink, household and personal products)

02.01.01 My startup contributes to the No poverty goal

2

02.01.02 No poverty - Justification for my startup

As we provide these solutions to the general public, we seek to maintain the ecosystem by empowering our farmers. We seek to partner with farmers, by engaging local farmers through partnerships, trainings, connecting them to organic fertilizer companies and buying produce we need from them. Basically, we approach farmers either through the government or organizations involved with agriculture, partner and offer training on best organic farming practices and provide for them equipment for them to grow or nurture our products. We then buy the produce from them at affordable rates, process and market the produce to our target . The crops that will be of interest to us include: Cape Ash, Arrow roots, spices (cinnamon, Nutmeg, turmeric), Africanus Prunus, Stinging Nestle, neem and Maca among others. This will help them and empower them to fight against poverty

02.02.01 My startup contributes to the Zero hunger goal

3

02.02.02 Zero hunger - Justification for my startup

02.03.01 My startup contributes to the Good health and well-being goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.03.02 Good health and well-being - Justification for my startup

There has been an increase in lifestyle diseases among the general population. In 2018, it was estimated that about 60.3% of the urban population suffers from obesity and 19.5% of the rural population. It was discovered that majority of these issues are dietary related associated with increased consumption high calorie diets and lack of supplements. There lies a gap in providing these solutions in regards to offer healthier dietary options. In the recent past there has been an increased uptake of organic products to address this issue. Given that my business is directly tackling this issue through offering organic produce which help improve quality of life. Therefore, we are in the business of promoting good health and well being through the use of our products.

02.04.01 My startup contributes to the Quality education goal

2

02.04.02 Quality education - Justification for my startup

02.05.01 My startup contributes to the Gender equality goal

2

02.05.02 Gender equality - Justification for my startup

02.06.01 My startup contributes to the Clean water and sanitation goal

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.06.02 Clean water and sanitation - Justification for my startup

My business does not cater to this need.

02.07.01 My startup contributes to the Affordable and clean energy goal

2

02.07.02 Affordable and clean energy - Justification for my startup

02.08.01 My startup contributes to the Decent work and economic growth

7 - Strongly Agree

02.08.02 Decent work and economic growth - Justification for my startup

Given that my startup is a wholistic product based company that seeks to empower farmers as a CSR, we do believe that the partnership we have with them to produce for us what we need and buy from them/train them on best farming practices will ensure that they will grow economically. In addition, the business will employ a variety of people from different professions, this will provide the community with opportunities for decent work which will improve their livelihood.

02.09.01 My startup contributes to the Industry innovation and infrastructure

7 - Strongly Agree

02.09.02 Industry innovation and infrastructure - Justification for my startup

02.10.01 My startup contributes to the Reduced inequalities goal

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.10.02 Reduced inequalities - Justification for my startup

02.11.01 My startup contributes to the Sustainable cities and communities goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.11.02 Sustainable cities and communities - Justification for my startup

I believe our echo system seeks to address this goal. Our echo system involves empowering the farmers where we source our produce from. This ensures we always have the best quality of products to use. In addition, whatever we source we sell to our target market. This not only builds credibility for my business but also helps ensures that the both communities are sustainable and also offers credibility to our consumers.

02.12.01 My startup contributes to the Responsible consumption and production goal

3

02.12.02 Responsible consumption and production - Justification for my startup

02.13.01 My startup contributes to the Climate action goal

4

02.13.02 Climate action - Justification for my startup

02.14.01 My startup contributes to the Life below water goal

2

02.14.02 Life below water - Justification for my startup

02.15.01 My startup contributes to the Life on land goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.15.02 Life on land - Justification for my startup

Given that our products take from the environment. Our major goal is to ensure that farmers are empowered to plant more beneficial trees/ seeds that will help maintain the echosystem.

02.16.01 My startup contributes to the Peace Justice and Strong Institutions goal

2

02.16.02 Peace Justice and Strong Institutions- Justification for my startup

02.17.01 My startup contributes to the Partnerships for the goal

3

02.17.02 Partnerships for the goal - Justification for my startup

06.01 There are a large number of customers who already use a product/service very similar to the product/service we envision creating.

3

06.02 The product/service represents an entirely new type of product/service.

6

06.03 The product/service could be described as a new technology.

4

06.04 The product/service is an improvement on an existing product or service.

7 - Strongly Agree

06.05 The product/service could be described as an extension of a range of products or services.

7 - Strongly Agree

06.06 The product/service responds to a demand or need that has not been satisfied by other products/services.

7 - Strongly Agree

06.07 The product/service is a new version of an old product/service.

6

06.08 Justification for my startup

The research carried out on the business justifies the ability of the business to grow not only in Kenya but other regions due to the following reasons  There is demand for genuine authentic organic products. For instance, many of our clients toldus the reason they do not buy honey is because most of the honey available in the market has been tampered with. By partnering with farmers to help us produce good quality honey, we shall have a market advantage of showing our clients the authenticity of our product.  There is a viable market for Cosmetics and skincare products when offered by us will reduce the costs of skincare incurred by our clients  The business model will be centred on offering convenience in terms of offering home, office deliveries as well as pickup stations making the business easily accessible.  Good transport and communication network  There is an ever-increasing demand for organic products as well as awareness for healthy living.

06.09 Competitive Analysis

My Main competitors are the commercial skincare producers and commercial supplement producers. What makes me stand out from them is there are no chemicals used in my skincare products. Another thing that makes me standout is my model is basically from Farm to table which makes sure there is no contamination or addition of products particularly for organic suppliments like honey. This Makes sure that my clients are knowledgeable and can easily track what they are taking from me.

11.05 Are you initiating actions within your community to promote the role of female entrepreneurs?