Food spices for my grocery shop

David

Mombasa, Kenya

100% repaid

Entrepreneur

Name

David

Member since

December 2014

On-time repayments

214 installments  •  77%

About Me

My name is David Musee, born and bred in Machakos County near Nairobi. I was a born in a family of seven and I am the first born. Machakos is a semi arid area and the main activity there is cattle rearing. Due to the harsh climatic conditions the pastrolists keep poor quality indigenous breed and they don’t make much from this activity.

I spent my childhood looking after by father’s cattle as was the norm them. I also attended school for my primary and secondary school before moving to Mombasa in an effort to break the yoke of poverty back home.

I came to Mombasa about 25 years ago and I was lucky enough to get a job in a food processing factory. I worked there for 11 years while making savings and learning skills that would come in handy when I started a similar business of my own later.
I am happily married with three children all who are in school.

My Business

My business deals with selling of food spices, food colors and flavours. I have been running this business for a long time and I do it with help of my brother, my wife and some casuals. I buy spices like cumin, cloves, pepper etc from farmers then dry and later ground them to fine form for sale to wholesalers and retail outlets.

There is always a ready market in Mombasa due to its large population of locals who like to put strong spices in their delicacies. There is also a huge market in the neighboring countries but I am yet to venture there due to financial constraints which have limited me to just serving the local market. I hope to create confidence with Zidisha lenders and with time get a good enough credit to enable me expand my business territory.

I make a net profit of $400 per month but this can easily go up if I am given a financial credit backing which I have lacked for a long time.

Loan Proposal

We are now in high tourist season in Mombasa city. This has led to an upsurge in demand for food items to cater for the large number of tourists visiting the area. I will buy an assortment of spices like cinnamon, cloves, chilli and pepper. I will also buy ginger and garlic. All these items are in high demand and I expect to do a good business in the next few months.

I will use about USD 450 to buy the items and the balance will cater for transport and other small expenses.

Feedback

1

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  • harriet    Mar 29, 2018

    Very speedy repayment!! All the best in your tasty future! :) i like chilli sauce.

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Loan Info

Project Type

Classic Loan

Disbursed amount

$361.00

Date disbursed

Sep 1, 2016

Repayment status

On Time

Projected term

61 months

Lenders

Paul Buchheit

Mountain View, United States

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  • David    Nov 18, 2017

    I have been sick for the last 2 weeks and this has affected my cash flow. I will increase this amount after a few weeks once I regain my health fully.

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  • David    Oct 6, 2017

    Thank you for the loan. I need it to supply my clients as soon as possible.

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  • David    Oct 6, 2017

    Thank youlenders for helping me grow my business. I managed to supply my clients which the chillis and made some profit in the process,

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  • David    Oct 1, 2017

    Thank you lenders for the loan. I managed to get the chili and my clients are happy. I hope to clear this loan soon since I am expecting to be paid for my delivery anytime.

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  • David    Jul 20, 2017

    Thank you for the loan. I really need this money for my business. I will use the cash to buy stock to supply my clients.

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  • David    Jul 13, 2017

    Thank you lenders for making rescuing my business when it was almost collapsing. I am now back on my feet and doing well.

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  • David    Sep 25, 2016

    I need to reduce my weekly installment for now since I am building my business all over again after the previous venture went bad. I need about one or two months to put the business back in good shape. Thank you so much for your support.

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  • David    Aug 30, 2016

    Thank you so much lender Paul and Zidisha team for funding me once more. I will use the money to buy stock for my business in readiness for the coming high season in our region.

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  • David    Aug 21, 2016

    Thank you so much for the much needed boost. I will use the money to buy additional stock.

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  • David    Aug 5, 2016

    I must admit that I made a mistake by investing this money in a business that I know very little about. This made me prolong my repayment period but I am glad that I have gone back to my old business and I am now doing well. I hope to complete this loan soon and hopefully get a bigger one after that.

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  • David    Jul 24, 2015

    Dear all. My business has improved a little bit and I want to use the extra income to increase my weekly payment. I am working hard to increase it even further so as to clear the loan as soon as possible. Thank you so much for your support.

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  • David    May 4, 2015

    To my lenders, I am very sorry I have to reduce my weekly repayment to a low of KSH 150.00. Our region is currently experiencing heavy rains and it has made moving to the interior where I get my supplies impossible. For this reason, I wish to reduce my repayment to the above amount for a short time till when the rains subside. Kindly accept my request.

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  • Esther    Apr 30, 2015

    I spoke to David and he promised to make his overdue amount on Wednesday next week. Thank you for your patience.

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  • David    Apr 4, 2015

    Sorry lenders, I was not able to make payments for the last couple of weeks. I had gone to the deep interior of the country to buy new stock of cereals and the trip took longer than anticipated. I am now back and I will clear my overdue payments today. I kindly ask you to accept my apology and your understanding.

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  • Esther    Mar 30, 2015

    Dear lenders, I spoke to David and he promised to pay on or before Wednesday this week. Thank you for your patience.

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  • David    Jan 26, 2015

    Wow, I have cleared my loan. This loan gave me a head start in the wake of beginning of the New Year. I got this loan during the festive season when the demand for my products is normally very high. I managed to buy stock of spices which I was able to sell within a very short time. The profit I got was handsome and that enabled me to clear this loan earlier than scheduled.

    I am now intending to diversify my food business by introducing sale of maize (corn). This is a dream I have always harbored and I believe with your support, it will come to a reality soon.

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  • David    Jan 11, 2015

    I made good sales last few weeks due to the just ended festive season. Cash from the sales has started to come in and I am now capable of repaying KES 1000 per week. I take this opportunity to thank all my lenders for making this happen.

    I believe I have found a reliable partner in Zidisha. God bless you all.

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  • David    Dec 16, 2014

    Thanks a lot Sven E for being my first lender at Zidisha.

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