Free/Discounted Resources for African SMEs

Mentors:

SCORE: Find a free mentor in the US if you are looking to export. All retired entrepreneurs of very good quality. Hint: Use "Sales" and "Wholesale" as your search criteria.
VC4A mentors: Sign up and find free business mentors in Africa. I have found 2 good ones here.

Quickbooks: 50% off the first year
Odoo: 20% off the first year and 75% off for companies paying from Africa
Zoho (free credit link): Freemium. Kuzana community members get Ksh130,000 of free credits.
Doola.com: Use code REFERAFOUNDER10 for 10% discount. Includes software, bookkeeper, registration and annual tax filing for $2700 a year with the discount. For US C-corp and LLCs.

Google Workspace/Email: - free for 1 year and $300 free ad credits (be sure to do this first if you haven't already)

Sortd: – only works with Google Workspace
Zoho: - free credits here: https://www.zoho.com/startups/founders-registration.html?src=kuzana

chpter.co: - WhatsApp/IG commerce built in Kenya for Kenya. Start with Free plan.

SAFTA: - provides export quality control management so you get paid
Colead: - discounted membership to european import organization that provides certification help.

Infobip: https://startups.infobip.com/our-offering
AWS: $300 free credits (credits available once you sign up and request the free credits)

esha.ai: Find Equity/Debt/Grant funding opportunities. Free.
Sunlight.Reviews: Like Yelp or Google Maps for funders. Rated by entrepreneurs.
Sunlight.Capital: - the most comprehensive list of transaction advisors in Africa. Free.

Stripe: (if you sign up for Carta first (free) you can get a link to register your business on stripe for $400)
Carta: Cap table management for companies anywhere in the world, Free for companies that have raised less than $1m.
Doola.com: Use code REFERAFOUNDER10 for 10% discount

Stripe: (use Carta signup link for free processing for first $100k of transactions)

Online Audit - you never get a second chance to make a first impression. What do investors see when they view you online?
SEO Optimization (Neil Patel): - Test if your website has good SEO and load times. Freemium
Google Sites website builder: Free with Google Workspace above.
Lovable AI website builder: - build a website without coding.

Moving Worlds: helps you find experts around the world to work for you for free. I hired someone through here who became our interim General Manager for 6 months.
PUM: - retired experts provide free consulting, paid for Dutch government. Provide online and in person consulting.

Sales funnel Analysis

Hiring

Personal Development:

Landmark Forum
- I mentioned Landmark Forum is next weekend. Transformative weekend workshop on personal relationships, integrity and self-limiting beliefs. What got you here won't get you there. If you want to go from Millions in revenue to Billions you will need to think 1,000x bigger, have 1,000x more integrity, and discard stories that no longer serve you. https://landmarkkenya.com/schedules/
- I think Nairobi is the only place in Africa where it's hosted. Highly recommended. Kuzana can support attendance for our investees.
- Personally, I fixed several relationship including with my father who I hadn't had a conversation with for 15 years even though he's a great guy. I reduced my complaining by 90%. And I discovered that I was in charge of creating my _own_ meaning in life. I entered a complete state of flow, let go of baggage and started a Thai Restaurant that was profitable in the first month.
- Dollar for dollar, hour for hour, easily the highest ROI self improvement course of my life.