About Daniel

Daniel inherited his duka (small mom-and-pop shop) from his mother. The shop has been around for about 20 years and was one of the first on its now busy street.

He mainly interacts with his duka customers in-person but occasionally uses phone calls, SMS, and Whatsapp.

Most transactions are done in cash.  Although he accepts M-PESA, his customers tend to consider it too expensive because of the transaction fee.

Daniel is part of TechnoServe’s ‘SmartDuka Program’ through which he benefits from training on how to better manage his business. He is also a member of the SmartDuka Whatsapp group where shopkeepers discuss different marketplace items as a collective and negotiate better prices.

In the evening Daniel does online freelance writing as a digital side-hustle. He works on both iWriter and Upwork, writing articles and doing product reviews. For his research he uses Google. He was trained on how to use iWriter through a friend, who taught him everything from how to navigate the platform, to how to build a profile and research online.

He is a member of various Facebook groups dedicated to online freelance writing (see image). He uses the groups to get advice on how to get the most out of these online work platforms. Through the Facebook groups he also connects with “trainers” who teach him how to write well and succeed with online assignments.

In five years time he expects he will focus predominantly on online writing. Perhaps you’ll no longer find him at his duka.