Freezer and general expansion of my shop

Entrepreneur

About Me

My name is Esther Wanjiru and Kenyan citizen. I am a teacher of English and English literature. I am a second born in a family of five. I was born in Kiambu county Kenya where I went through my primary school education then secondary school. I later joined Kenyatta University where I took a course in Bachelor of Arts and later a post graduate diploma in Education. I later got employed as a teacher and posted to Mombasa County where I am still teaching.
I am a mother of two young children.

I started a business in 2010 to supplement my salary since I had difficulties in meeting my many expenses such as rent, school fees for my children, transport e and also helping out my ageing parents back home. I run a general shop where I sell common household items like flour, soap, sugar etc. I also sell cooking gas in cylinders. I also started a money transfer business (M-pesa) within the same establishment. I rely on two workers to run the business since I spend most of time in school where I work.
I am a go-getter, focused and very ambitious woman. I believe in integrity and hard work.

My Business

As stated above, I run a three in one business – the main one being the shop where there is a steady flow of shoppers who buy goods worth anything from $0.5 to $20 per shopper. I also sell gas cylinders in quantities of 3kg and 13kg at a retail price of $7 and $26 respectively. I also do a money transfer business (called M-Pesa locally) where I serve about 60 clients daily.
The three departments give me a net profit of about $650 per month – after paying the rent, other bills and salaries.
My business requires heavy investment for buying stock especially the gas section. I sometimes fail to cope with the demand of the gas cylinders since my stock gets depleted very fast especially during the end-month when most workers get paid. I have decided to join Zidisha to access credit which will enable me to build up my stock as this will bring satisfaction to my customers.

Loan Proposal

My 'many under one roof' store has gone through strong growth in the last few years. My customers have gained confidence with me and they keep asking for expanded services. For this reason, I need more credit to do the expansion. I have planned to use this money as follows:

1. Buy a big deep freezer for storing soft drinks, ice-cream, chocolates etc at a total cost USD 700.00
2. Erect a tent adjacent to the shop where I will be serving my clients with the drinks and other products at a cost of USD 500
3. Boost my m-pesa (money transfer) business by injecting USD 400. This will enable me serve more clients.
4. Do some minor repairs in the shop and branding at a total cost of USD 450.

This will be a major boost to the image and outlook of my business and it will definitely bring more business and hence more revenue.

Thank you.

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