To help pay my brother's tuition & residence-hall fees

Benjamin

Tarkwa, Ghana

54% paid forward

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How it Works

Entrepreneur

Name

Benjamin

Member since

May 2015

On-time repayments

340 installments • 90%

About Me

Well I'm in the person of Benjamin Suboni, the fourth child out of seven children from my mother's side thus three boys, four girls. Currently my father has two wives with my mum being the second wife. In total we are seventeen children in the family having lost one at an early age. l hail from the northern part of Ghana where poverty with its ugly face is ubiquitous as the housefly. My parents are peasant farmers and life as a child was really difficult and challenging.
Formal education is foreign in my family as almost all my siblings before me either refused to go school or drop-out at an early stage or were not send to school at all. I defied all odds and used to follow one of my elder brothers to school who later dropped out. I started my education at the primary level not knowing what kindergarten or creche meant. Most times I went to school with an empty stomach but due to determination I never gave up. Initially I wanted to be a Medical Doctor in the future due to a bitter experience I had with the loss of my brother to acute appendicitis and there was no Doctor to operate him at the District Hospital but that has now changed to my ambition of being a seasoned entrepreneur. Through the ingenuity of my elder brother I learnt to be a cobbler. After school I used to go around polishing and mending people's shoes, sandals etc in the locality. From the proceeds of the cobbler business I was able to fund my education to the Senior High level and even sometimes fund my siblings education.
As of now I am a trained professional teacher and due to the numerous family demands I decided to establish this provisions store to cushion me in taking care of my family. Also with my father now old and not able to contribute much financially, coupled with my siblings at various levels of the educational ladder, the onus falls on me to take of them.
The provisions shop has been in operation for two years running but now there is the need to grow and expand it hence the need for this loan facility.Its my ambition to develop it into a supermarket one day.
As a result of my current family responsibilities it will not be prudent for me to marry now but then one day I will and when that happens I want my children to have the best of education life can offer. Never should they go through the suffering and hardships I underwent in my childhood. I love playing football, basketball and listening to music and financial news

My Business

Fundamentally I run a retail business whereby basic household ingredients like sugar, toothpaste, gari, rice, bread etc are sold to customers. These ingredients are household necessities that are in high demand hence my choice of business. Also before I established my store, customers within the locality had to commute long distance before the could acquire these necessities. Most of the times I purchase these products from wholesale outlets and retail them to customers.
Due to the exorbitant interest rates usually charged by banks vs-a-vie financial institutions coupled with bureaucratic and cumbersome processes of accessing a loan facility I started this business with savings from my meager salary. And for two years now I've managed to keep the business afloat despite the economic downturn.
Typically I make a monthly revenue of 2000 GHS with profit in the range of 500 GHS. Most part of the proceeds is usually plowed back into the business and the rest used to settle family and personal issues.
I chose this medium to acquire a loan facility due to the almost interest free, flexible payments and quickness of the loan disbursal. Parts of proceeds from the business and my salary would be used to reimburse the loan should it be granted.

Project Proposal

The amount that would be raised from this loan facility shall be used to foot the tuition and residential bills of my younger brother at the university. My younger brother is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Geological Engineering at the University of Mines and Technology. Successful funding of this loan will help him complete this undergraduate program and become the geologist that he is aspiring to be. Additionally, this loan facility shall ease the burden that would have been placed on me in the payment of his school fees and also accord me the breathing space to use my profits to reinvest and expand my business. I would appreciate it immensely if this loan can be funded within the shortest possible time. Thank you in advance for your support. I appreciate!

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David Nov 5, 2018

After making many small payments for over a year, Benjamin paid the final third of the loan with a single payment. I'm pleased to have been able to help.

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- Benjamin Nov 6, 2018
  
  Thanks David, I appreciate your help.
  
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