Olivia Decker is a Kenyan living in the Netherlands. She is the founder of Bendera, an E-commerce platform that specialises in African products. Olivia is part of the Zidicircle Diaspora Entrepreneurship Bootcamp 2020
The story behind the venture name and idea
Bendera means flag in Swahili. A time for African products/expertise to fly high.
With so many quality African products coming to the market with no common platform to find them, it was time.
What the venture does
Bendera is an E-commerce platform that specialises in African products. To the seller, Bendera provides a more targeted audience for their products. To the customer, Bendera is a one-stop shopping site for reliably sourced quality African products.
Some of the product categories are:
- Organic Tea/coffee
- Superfoods (Moringa, baobab etc.)
- Art and Home Décor
- Accessories (jewellery)
- Clothes.
Bendera’s history
Olivia as the founder of Kenya Hub, a community platform that supports start-ups and East African Entrepreneurs in The Netherlands, Bendera will give them a common platform to sell their products, giving them more visibility and accessibility to their products.
Olivia’s 3 key pieces of advice from her journey to fellow entrepreneurs
- Put the right structures in place for your business.
- Find the right people (with integrity) to work with
- Be open to constructive criticism.
What triggered Olivia to take part in the Bootcamp
I was especially interested in product costing & pricing and Financial administration.
Learnings so far from the program and how Olivia has applied the lessons learnt
To immediately apply what you learn. I came to class with a business idea that I now hope to launch before March 2021. I am actively speaking to Entrepreneurs to source the best products for Bendera based on feedback I got from the Market research class on what customers actually want and are willing to pay for.
The Bendera we hope to see in 3 years
Bendera being the No. 1 website for buying quality African products in Europe. Working with reliable African businesses and ensuring the supply chain to the customers works efficiently.
Experience with the Bootcamp
The program offers the foundation of running a successful business through topics that will cost you money, time or your business when ignored or not properly managed. I highly recommend this program to other entrepreneurs.
Advice for entrepreneurs in the diaspora
Interact with other Diaspora entrepreneurs and build a network that works for you.