SME founders and executives were urged to prioritize visibility and trust as key drivers of sustainable growth during the SME CEOs Forum 2025, held at Pan Pacific Serviced Suites, GTC Nairobi, under the theme Breaking the Business Plateau.
The forum brought together small and medium-sized enterprise leaders and industry practitioners to examine why many businesses stall after initial growth and explore strategies to scale effectively.
Speaking at the event, Kimani Patrick, Chief Executive Officer of The Carlstic Group, highlighted that most Kenyan SMEs fail not due to lack of effort or ambition, but because of low visibility and weak trust.
“Most Kenyan SMEs are struggling because people don’t know them, and even worse, they don’t trust them. In Kenya, trust is currency,” he said.
Kimani emphasized that businesses often collapse quietly because they remain invisible, lack a clear story, or fail to participate in industry conversations where credibility is built. “You can have a good product and a capable team, but if people don’t understand who you are, what you do and what makes you different, growth becomes very difficult,” he added.
He challenged entrepreneurs to embrace their role as the public face of their businesses, cautioning that quality work alone is not enough to attract opportunities. “Your work will not speak for itself unless you do. If you don’t tell your story, someone else will, or worse, no one will,” Kimani said, urging founders to become intentional chief evangelists for their brands.
The forum featured a keynote address by Dr. George Wachiuri, Founder and CEO of Optiven, who shared lessons from building a homegrown real estate brand in a sector where trust is critical. Dr. Wachiuri noted that many businesses plateau when growth outpaces leadership maturity and internal systems.
“At some point, hustle stops working. What carries growth forward is structure, leadership and disciplined systems that operate beyond the founder,” he said.
The SME CEOs Forum 2025 aimed to equip founders with practical insights on leadership transition, team building, system strengthening, and preparing businesses for growth in 2026 and beyond.
