From costly mistakes to creative mastery

For Lydia Odondi and Jacob Endurance, organising events was once driven mostly by passion. However, behind the excitement of pulling off successful gatherings for creative and cultural communities lay silent struggles: a lack of documentation, undefined roles and missed sponsorship opportunities.

"I used to run events without anything formally written down. There were no budgets or clear team structures, just verbal agreements and goodwill. There was a level of professionalism, yes, but it wasn’t where it needed to be,” says Lydia.

Jacob echoes these sentiments, noting that despite organising shows at the Nakuru Players Theatre, his approach was largely informal.

“I didn’t have an educational background in event planning. I was just passionate, but passion without structure can be chaotic,” he says.

These gaps became glaringly obvious until they both participated in the Sanara Biashara – PerFORM training programme, a capacity-building initiative aimed at equipping event organisers and creatives with the professional skills needed for planning, branding and stakeholder engagement.

One of the most important lessons for Lydia was the significance of legal agreements. “I used to overlook contracts, but now I realise how critical they are in managing expectations and protecting both parties. Without one, it’s your word against theirs,” she explains.

For Jacob, the eye-opener came during sessions on proposal writing and sponsor targeting. "Before, I’d just approach any business and hope they said yes. I didn’t understand the difference between a sponsor, a partner and a collaborator. Now, I do research and craft proposals that align with a sponsor’s brand," he says.

He also learned from the costly mistake of inviting conflicting sponsors to the same event, something he now avoids through better planning and an improved understanding of brand compatibility.

As a creative entrepreneur, Jacob realised that he had blurred the lines between his personal identity and his business brand.

“I’m now learning to separate my personal brand as an artist from my business activities, which makes things more focused and professional,” he says.

“My hope is that this will create a community of informed creatives who support each other to thrive rather than competing negatively.”

For Jack Otiato, popularly known as Libra One, the training was a real eye-opener. One of his most costly mistakes as an artiste was failing to read and understand contracts thoroughly before signing them.

"I once entered into a contract where the terms changed midway through the project. Because I hadn’t read the small print or understood the clauses, I ended up losing over five million shillings,” he recalls.

Jack says that he now understands the critical importance of reviewing contracts in detail and seeking clarity on any unclear terms.

“I’ve learned that asking for help with legal language isn’t a weakness it’s a necessity. That knowledge alone is a game-changer for the future,” he says.