Today, we feature one of Zidicircle’s entrepreneurs, Caitlin Seandel, the proprietor and CEO of Kuungana Technology.
We asked Caitlin a series of questions, whose answers we hope you, our Zidicircle community, will find enlightening, insightful, inspiring and motivating.
Q: What is the name of your business?
Kuungana Technology.
Q: What does your venture do?
We help micro-businesses operating in the informal sector in East Africa grow while uniting a fragmented financial sector. We do this through our value-added and scalable technology.
Q: What is the history of your business?
It starts with my background. I have work experience in teaching English abroad in Phnom Penh, tech sales experience for a start-up in San Francisco, and worked as a program manager for a CBO microlender in rural Eastern Uganda. It was there that the idea for Kuungana took hold.
Q: How did the idea for Kuungana Technology come about?
Kuungana is Swahili for unity, which is exactly what we do; unite business owners with their business’s earning potential and through doing this we will be able to unite a fragmented financial sector.
Q: What would be your 3 key pieces of advice from your journey to fellow entrepreneurs?
1) Don’t doubt your vision.
2) When speaking with potential partners/investors/customers and they question you, don’t take it personally. Understand that this is a perfect time to learn. If there are misunderstandings in what you are trying to accomplish chances are you are not presenting your vision and process clearly.
3) Joy, fun + self-care are important. There are great times of uncertainty make sure that through everything you are taking care of yourself and finding joy even in the stress.
Q: What triggered you to take part in the Zidicircle Bootcamp?
The mentorship really intrigued me as well as having the opportunity to interact with other entrepreneurs.
Q: What have you learnt so far from the program and how have you applied the lessons learnt? Give examples.
Understanding how to identify early tech adopters and your angel users. This has helped Kuungana really hone in on who our ideal user is helping out with our sales strategy and product development.
Q: What‘s your highest business need at the moment
I am in need of an experienced banking industry professional in Kenya and East Africa. We are also shopping for a good mobile app developer
Q: Would you recommend the program to other entrepreneurs? Why?
If you are feeling stuck or having questions about what your technology should look like/do this is a great program for you!
It will help bring clarity to your companies’ vision and mission as well as what is needed from your service to make that happen!
Q: Do you have any advice for other starting entrepreneurs?
If you are excited about your vision and believe, just keep going. Even if you have to take a break, get back to it.
Q: How can interested parties find you?
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