To buy portable warmer for my food supply business

Tito

Kitengela, Kenya

100% repaid

Entrepreneur

Name

Tito

Member since

January 2015

On-time repayments

62 installments  •  60%

About Me

My name is Tito Maloba Matete, 40 years of age, married with one child (I just lost my second born early this year). I was born in a family of 9 children and my parents were peasant farmers. We grew up in very difficult conditions and sometimes could miss school to do manual jobs to earn a living. I managed to finish my primary and secondary school by the help of well wishers. After my O' level, I managed to score a good grade which enabled me to get a government grant to study in the university.
Due to the high unemployment rate in Kenya, I have had mixed fortunes in securing employment. Currently, I am employed as a Human Resource Officer with a distribution company in Nairobi. The salary offered is not enough to cater for all my bills and other expenditures. That is why I have to look for alternative sources of income to supplement my salary. I regret that I was not able to give quality medical care to my child due to the low salary.
At my place of work, there are over 300 employees working at the premises which is located approximately one kilometre away from the main business centre. We all depend on food vendors to get meals as the company does not offer meals. I realized that the vendors do not adhere to strict hygienic conditions which is a threat to the workers' health. This prompted me to start supplying food to my work colleagues on request. Once a colleague gives me an order of the food he/she wants, I prepare the food and carry to the place of work and distribute to all that had ordered.
When I am not at work, I am either at the swimming pool or watching a soccer game, especially the English Premier league - My favourite EPL team is Arsenal.

My Business

Zidisha has helped me to have a second income through the previous two loans where I was able to expand my food business. I bought a food warmer with the first loan and later bought cutlery with the second loan. This business is now helping me to supplement my salary. I am happy to say that the business is now stable and able to support itself.

Given that there is no room for expansion for my current business, I decided to venture into Bee farming. Bee Keeping project does not require a lot of inputs and has less supervision. The only inputs that are required are the beehives and protective clothing.

I have an idle land about 100 km away from the main City-Nairobi. From the previous loan (third loan) I was able to buy four beehives which I installed in the farm. So far three of them have been occupied with bees and only one i remaining. I know it would not be long for it to be also occupied with bees. Harvesting is expected to start from the month of November/December. Thereafter, harvesting can be done at an interval of 2 to 3 months. One harvest will give 10 to 12kg of honey per hive. The harvested honey will then be sold back to the same company for proper packaging.

Loan Proposal

Once I secure a Zidisha loan, my desire is to buy a portable food warmer which will enable me to carry more food and thus supply to an additional 10 people. The current market price for a portable food warmer is Ksh.6,450 ($71.7). I will utilise the balance in injecting more funds in increasing the quantity of food to be cooked. I hope this will enable me to access more clients.
I also intend to make more savings to purchase larger portable warmers so that I can supply more food. This will be targeted to those workers who are only able to pay at the end of the month once they get their monthly salaries.
My long term plans are to put up a food court complete with a kitchen and sitting place at my place of work. I have already talked to management and they agree with my idea. They are ready to provide room space for this project and i will be expected to pay a small fee as rental to the company.
The will help me have a second income and also create employment for one or two people in the long run.

An initial loan of $100 will help me to start realizing my dream and fulfill all my objectives.

Thank you in advance

Feedback

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Loan Info

Project Type

Classic Loan

Disbursed amount

$100.00

Date disbursed

Jan 21, 2015

Repayment status

On Time

Projected term

5 weeks

Lenders

C

chrisherron

Chicago, United States

S

stevetanner

Geneva, Switzerland

Boysenfam

Boulder, United States

H

Harmony

Cleveland, United States

dmirpuri

Bangkok, Thailand

Garry Tan

San Francisco, California, United States

T

thebonseung

Republic of Korea

C

chrishol

United States

R

roozbeh

United States

A

afrakhan

United Kingdom

M

Markus

Hamburg, Germany

F

Falk

Germany

DR

Daniel R

Berlin, Germany

Ask Tito a question about this project, share news and photos of your own, or send a simple note of thanks or inspiration.

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  • Margaret    Dec 22, 2018

    I have been in touch with Tito. He was facing some financial challenges but will be on board soonest.

    He appreciates the support from all of you and he is set to bounce back once on his feet.

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  • Tito    Jul 16, 2016

    I resume repayments

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  • Roy    May 7, 2016

    Tito, How are you?

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  • Margaret    Apr 15, 2016

    Hey Tito. Congrats for the big step. The storm comes to pass and I can see yours has passed.

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  • Tito    Apr 14, 2016

    On my way to recovery

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  • Sunnyside    Feb 24, 2016

    I hope things improve for you soon. Good luck! Gill

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  • Tito    Jan 12, 2016

    Adjusting

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    • Margaret    Jan 16, 2016

      Thanks for the updates

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      • Tito    Jan 16, 2016

        Thanks Margaret. I hope I will overcome the challenges and resume normal repayments.

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  • Tito    Jan 3, 2016

    To update

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  • Margaret    Dec 26, 2015

    Thanks Tito for keeping your word and updating your repayments. We'll sail thro.

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  • Tito    Dec 23, 2015

    Resume repayments

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  • Margaret    Dec 23, 2015

    Hello lenders. I did talk to Tito and he confirmed that he's had some challenges that he is working on and he has hopes to be on his feet soon. Thank you on his behalf for the patience.

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  • Roy    Nov 17, 2015

    How are you Tito?

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  • Tito    Nov 3, 2015

    I have reduced the repayment amount but will resume shortly

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  • Tito    Oct 19, 2015

    Once again, this is to say thank you to all lenders who funded my loan. I received the loan of Ksh.52,148 from Zidisha on October 16, 2015 at 6.53pm. I am using the funds to purchase extra beehives. I have already made an order and they will be delivered at any time to the farm. I will be updating you as events unfold. Thanks and God bless

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  • Tito    Oct 15, 2015

    This is to say thank you to all my lenders. The loan is now fully funded and now it is upon me to make sure that every coin is utilised to its intended purpose and also make sure that the repayments are made promptly. Without you, I would not be where I am right now.

    Thanks once again and God bless you

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  • Tito    Oct 10, 2015

    Dear Lenders,

    Thanks so much for the support that you have been giving me up to this time. With you, I hope we will move very far. We now have few days remaining for this loan to get funded. I hope you wll continue with the support that you have been giving me. Thanks in advance

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  • Tito    Oct 7, 2015

    With my son Alpha at one of the beehives

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  • Tito    Oct 7, 2015

    Beehive

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  • Tito    Oct 6, 2015

    I was unable to upload the photos but I emailed them to support so that they can upload for me

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  • Tito    Oct 4, 2015

    Dear Lenders,
    As promised as last week. I am just back from the farm to see the progress of the beehives. I was able note that indeed three are already occupied with bees. I could only take photos at a distance to avoid being stung. One beehive is yet to be occupied and therefore was able to take a photo near it even in the company of my son.

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