Small business & global shipping advice from DHL Express

At first glance, a commercial invoice may look like a simple bill. But don’t be fooled. It’s not meant for your customer. It’s meant for a customs officer: someone you’ll never meet, in a country you might never visit, who has only a few seconds to decide if your shipment moves or gets held up. You won’t get a chance to explain.

If you ask most Kenyan e-commerce founders how they started, the story usually sounds the same. They began with a handful of orders on WhatsApp or Instagram, packed boxes in their sitting room, and made deliveries on their own.

If you’re launching or running an online business in Kenya, one of your first big choices is how you’ll get products into your customers’ hands. Do you keep stock yourself, or do you let a supplier handle the shipping while you focus on sales? This decision affects your cash flow, control over quality, delivery speed, and how well your business can scale.