How To Start A Gas Business In Kenya

 

How To Start  A Gas Business In Kenya  

Hi my name is Felix. Welcome to today’s video/blog/thread. We are going to answer a question my high school classmate David  asked us .How do I start  a gas business? So because in 2020 we had started a gas business we are in a better position to answer that question .I had also researched heavily on this topic and almost got conned on the process but because information is power let us share with you what we learnt in the process .

In this video we will 

• Equip you with relevant information needed to start a gas business .

• Help you understand terminology used in the gas business.

• Help you with steps on acquiring various Legal document that are needed

• Help you Identify Equipments needed

Our Friend David was unable to start a gas business because he had no information about legal guidelines on how to start and without this information he risked jail time or forced to bribe his way through  if  the energy regulator paid his business a visit due to lack of proper documentation as stipulated by law . 

The main reason we all want a business is to solve a problem and make money in the process. How to start a gas business it is just simple find a good location and just start but we need to understand the problem we are solving better The world each and everyday requires to cook food to feed its population and this is where LPG  comes into play. But what is Lpg because we can't sell what we don't know ?Lpg is an abbreviation of liquefied petrol eum gas .But in bolder terms the  definition Lpg is a  mixture of flammable  hydrocarbons  (mixture of Hydrogen and carbon ) mostly propane  C3  H8 or butane C4H10  Does organic chemistry ring a bell.Lpg is obtained as byproduct of crude oil refining basically it is a fossil fuel .But it has a low  boiling point and melting point  it will evaporate at normal room temperature 250 C and pressure. That why its transported on pressurized steel vessels  commonly known as  gas cylinders .LPG is most preferred means of cooking in city  because its complete combustion and does not produce soot like kesorone or wood or charcoal.

In Kenyan homes aren't connected to  lpg pipelines and to ease the distribution of lpg many companies supply gas in  steel gas cylinders.This company don't have distribution  points  near consumers residential area that way they outsource the distribution job to resellers like you and i.You can reseller gas together with gas accessories eg steel grills burners among many more. The Gas cylinders varies in  sizes we have  

• 3kg

• 6kg

• 13kg

• 50kg

To Start a gas business in kenya there is legal aspect of it because you are dealing with peoples live .GOK through parliament produced a legal framework on how lpg reseller should govern themselves.In this section we will discuss more about it .So once you have identify a good business location you should also note it also determines success of your business  .

So these are document you need to start 

1. Business Licenses / Permit

2. EPRA.

3. LPG Supplier Authorization Letter

4. Fire license and Certificate

5. Bank A/c or Till number

6. Business  registration Certificate

FIrst of all you need a business permit or as we call it here license ya city council.There is no way you can avoid this .You can acquire this document from the county office near you.The cost of this document varies countrywide due to different county policies .So here is example of Kwale County business permit it cost around 4000ksh .If in Nairobi you can get it online via NCC portal.

Secondly but this is optional if you are planning to supply gas to institutions many of them want to deal with a registered  business entity not an individual.So having a business registration certificate will come in handy here even when you are opening a business bank account or mpesa till number this will help out a lot.It will cost you about 1000 ksh and you can get it from Ecitizen .

The next thing you need is an authorization letter ,the GOK stipulates that in order to resell a brand gas cylinder you must have an authorization letter from the brand  gas supplier . Eg if you are reselling total gas cylinders you are required to acquire an authorization letter from Total Company.But here comes a catch before the supplier can give you an authorization letter they insist you get the following items and documents.

• Fire license and Certificate - you will  get this from the county council office where you got your business permit from .In our business we did not acquire this item but in other counties where they are strict about this please make effort to acquire it.

• Fire extinguisher - you are required to have an extinguisher in your premise in order to fight fire incase of a breakout before firefighters arrives.Please buy dry powder it is effective to all  classes of fire. 

• Epra authorization letter- this letter is free but to acquire it you are required to have all the mentioned documents above you can get it on epra website .

• Branded Gas Cage -Some brands e.g. seagas require you to have a gas cage branded with their brand color but not all of them require  this.

• Digital Scale -The law also say you have a scale calibrated according to Weight and Scale Act This is to make sure the customer   are confident the   amount of gas they are buying is same  as  what is  indicated in the cylinders .But i feel this should be scrapped out because the supplier is the one responsible on the amount of gas in cylinders not the reseller.

But with all the documentation needed you may feel overwhelmed to start a gas business but start acquiring the most important thing in business is to sell .So you can just start acquiring the most important one and acquire others in small increment steps .

Hope you have acquired necessary information needed to start a gas business in Kenya. If you found value in this video give it a like so that it can reach many people .Also subscribe