Buying a pickup for cereals transport from farmers

AlphaAres    Feb 10, 2015

Hello, how are you doing? Will you able to post something about your situation and how business is going?

Samuel    Dec 19, 2014

I phoned Serah today at 9.57am . She kept hanging up the phone on me. I hope she is in a meeting and will call me back later.

VM Shehi.

Samuel    Nov 10, 2014

I phoned Serah 2 days ago . She says she has not recovered from her loss. Additionally, the drouught situation in her area is not helping.
Serah tried to access a commercial bank loan to clear a portion of her current Zidisha loan but was unsuccessful. Bank says she should have saved with them for 6 months before now to access a loan there. This reminds everyone how important Zidisha is to many.
I cannot promise lenders repayments in any immediate future. Maybe we give Serah enough time to recover. Let's say till early 2015.

VM Shehi.

Samuel    Sep 24, 2014

I phoned Serah today at 1.02pm. She says she is yet have any money for repayments.

She promises to start repayments earliest November 2014. She complains that the current drought in her area won't help the situation.

We have to be very patient with Serah through this difficult time.

VM Shehi.

McDermotts    Sep 18, 2014

My thoughts are with Serah today. I have heard the dreadful news about her being duped by fraudsters and loosing the loan money and a significant amount of her savings, the detail of the story is really quite tragic. I have been talking to @samuel Shehi who has been in touch with Serah directly. My heartfelt thanks go to Samuel for being such a kind spirited mentor. Apparently Serah is willing to pay the loan back at a trickle rate whilst she deals with the police to try to recover her funds. It is my hope that someone from [email protected] can help and I shall email the link to this loan page.

Samuel    Sep 17, 2014

I phoned Serah today at 4.05pm. She was too afraid to talk with a stranger. She dropped my calls twice.

I have however talked with her CL who explained the non-repayment. Apparently, Serah could be unaware of the new weekly repayment arrangement. She had been used to the previous monthly repayment system.

I believe her CL will be in touch with her comfortably ( as she is known to her ) & explain the repayment changes.

Sorry for the confusion here, lenders.

VM Shehi.

• McDermotts    Sep 17, 2014

  Thank you so much for explaining Samuel, your help is much appreciated. I am glad that Serah is ok and that this was a misunderstanding. What is a CL?

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  • Samuel    Sep 17, 2014

    You're welcome McDermotts!
    
    CL =Community Leader.
    
    On the darkside though, she has just phoned me explaining that she'll have to repay from other sources as she was duped by people known to her ( i suspect the usual sale brokers here). Alleged persons collected money from her promising to get her a vehicle.
    She is currently following up the matter with the police to recover her lost funds.
    
    Thank you. This is the second time we're interacting. I remember you from Amos Shutu's page!
    
    I'll see how I get Bayle to assign me Serah as her VM.
    
    VM Shehi.

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    • McDermotts    Sep 17, 2014

      Hi Samuel, yes I remember you too from Amos's page. Thank you so much for your support. I am very sad to hear about Serah's plight. I do hope that the police are able to help her. It is important that Serah keeps us informed of her progress with the police and any case and also that she doesn't jeopardise her existing business to pay back this loan. You may be able to see that I prepared a profit & loss summary for Serah and I was concerned that she needed the new venture to be successful as she could not afford the loan from her existing business. please pass on my best wishes to her and I hope this gets resolved soon. Thanks Jim

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McDermotts    Sep 7, 2014

Hi Serah, do you have a problem with your first repayment? Did you manage to buy the truck? Please can we have an update. Kind regards Jim

McDermotts    Aug 13, 2014

Congratulations Serah on getting the loan! I'm not sure how the system works but it says you have an 11 month loan of 1418USD. Didn't you request a loan of 2361USD over 24 months? Does this mean that it wasn't fully funded but you got to accept it anyway on a shorter term? Are you still able to buy the vehicle and run it with the reduced loan?

McDermotts    Aug 11, 2014

It does answer my question Serah, thank you. I shall lend some more to see if we can get some more people interested in this loan. You are a highly rated Zidisha debtor with a sensible business proposition to expand your current service. I wish you good luck.

• Serah    Aug 12, 2014

  Dear Jim,
  Thank you so much for your lending. My loan is almost expiring. I am just hoping to see my loan fully funded. I am positive and eagerly waiting for my loan in order to start working with the amount. The business is currently doing well and the amount will be of very great help at the moment.
  Thank you

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McDermotts    Aug 11, 2014

McDermotts    Aug 11, 2014

Hi Serah, I couldn't upload the .XLS spreadsheet so I have uploaded a picture of it. I hope it makes sense. My aim was to ensure that you knew you could afford to pay the loan.

McDermotts    Aug 11, 2014

2 page pdf of spreadsheet added as Excel would load.

McDermotts    Aug 11, 2014

Dear Serah
Thank you for explaining the numbers I requested so promptly. I have attached a spreadsheet of those numbers for you to see. I think I have interpreted them correctly. For the loan cost, I am assuming that you didn't add them into "Other Costs". I used todays exchange rate and took the (total loan + total interest + total cost) and divided by 23 months then converted to KSH at the rate at about 88 KSH per USD. If this is correct your break-even income is around 77,000KSH per month, which is substantially less than the 100,000KSH per month you anticipate. If you continue at your current rate of 70,000KSH per month you will be making a loss, as soon as you get over 77,000KSH you will be making a profit. Would you be able to explain a little more about how sure you are about the increase from 70,000KSH to 100,000KSH. If you are sure of this increase I would be happy to lend some more to help you reach your total. Kind regards Jim

• Serah    Aug 11, 2014

  Thank you Jim,
  I hope to correct on the information I shared. The current amount of income is 70000ksh and what I am anticipating to make per month during the period of my loan is 100000ksh. This is as result of increased volumes of cereals that I will be transporting using my own truck as well as I will be hiring my truck to other cereal buyers. Therefore am expecting an increase of 30000ksh per month on my income to 100000ksh up from 70000ksh thus I can afford the proposed amount of loan. I hope this answers your question.
  kind regards.

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McDermotts    Aug 8, 2014

Dear Serah
I would like to fund you some more but I would like to see some information first if you are prepared to share.

Income:
What it's the monthly income of your business likely to be during the period of the loan. For example. 2000 per month for 24 months is 48,000. Could you also explain about this income and what may change or be a risk. For example, 1,500 of my monthly income is from my store and 500 is from my visits to neighbouring towns. If the rains are bad this town income can drop to 50 or 100. My numbers are just an illustration please show your numbers.
If I had the new truck I would secure the 500 and may be able to grow this to 750 by visiting 3 more towns.

Cost of sale:
What it's the monthly "cost of sale" of your business likely to be during the period of the loan. For example. The cost of the products that I sell each month is 1000 per month for 24 months is 24,000. Could you also explain about this cost and what may change or be a risk. For example, the cost of the products is very stable and I do not anticipate them going up during the period.

Other running costs:
What it's the monthly "running cost" of your business likely to be during the period of the loan. For example.
Rent and property cost like tax and maintenance
Vehicle costs
Any other big bills .

The running cost of the business each month total 500 per month for 24 months is 12,000. Could you also explain about this cost and what may change or be a risk. For example, the running cost is very stable and I do not anticipate them going up during the period.

Profit and affordability of loan
Income: 48,000
Cost of sale. (24,000)
--- margin --- 24,000
Running Cost (12,000)
--- profit --- 12,000

Loan repayment 3,000

I hope you are able to show these numbers for your business.
Kind regards
Jim.

Please feel free to ask for any help from me.

• Serah    Aug 11, 2014

  Thank you Jim,
  I wish to share the following information as you requested. My monthly income during the loan period is 70,000 ksh per month.
  The income is from sales of cereals to other towns and using my truck will increase the income due to reduced costs of transporting the products to the town. Thus the expected income form the sales of the cereals is 100, 000ksh per month. The cost of the products is 45000ksh per month.
  other running costs of the business include, vehicle maintenance, paying the driver, rent which amount to a cumulative total of 20000ksh per month.
  The expected net profit from the business is 35000ksh per month.I hope this answers some of the questions you raised. Am looking forward for your funding. kind regards

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starsailorcolo    Jul 19, 2014

Thank you. God bless you, your family and business. It was nice to support you. Keep working on it

ads68    Apr 20, 2014

Hi Serah, how are you going? It looks like you're making good returns now and repaying quickly - please let us know how you are faring!

Serah    Jul 30, 2013

Dear lenders,
I take this opportunity to reschedule my loan repayment. i wish to request for two more months.I am currently stocking the business and this is harvest time for beans in this area. At this time am purchasing lots of beans which I will resell later from the months of September. I therefore wish to request for this additional time which I know will help me a lot in my business.

Serah    May 28, 2013

Dear Zidisa Lenders,
I have been doing well with my business and the price for my cereals that I bought over the season has been good. I took most of my cereals to Nairobi where the prices for beans and maize is good. This has enabled me make some good returns and therefore I will be able to repay my loan well ahead of my repayment schedule. I am now planning to purchase more cereals in the coming season with the third loan that I will get from Zidisha. May God bless Zidisha forever.

Serah    Dec 14, 2012

Dear Lenders,
I would like to repay all my outstanding loan at once. This is because I have made some returns from my current sales of maize that I took to Nairobi recently. This has given me an opportunity to repay all the amount at once. I am grateful that the loan has assisted me a lot and my business is good at the moment. I am hoping that the second loan will take my business to the next level.

• Hope2012    Dec 14, 2012

  That's great congratulations and best wishes for your business

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• S

  share    Dec 16, 2012

  I'm glad to hear that your business is doing so well that you were able to repay your entire loan very quickly. You've met your obligation. For that reason, I'm happy to participate as a lender on your current loan.

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Serah    Dec 14, 2012

Thank you Cordula, My business is doing well. I have improved the status of my business since I got the loan from Zidisha organization. We are now preparing for Christmas and business is good. best wishes to your family too