By Betsy Ramser Jaime
‘My name is Eric Leon but most people call me Leon and I am twenty-eight years of age. I was born and grew up in Abura Dunkwa which is located in the Cape Coast part of Ghana, I completed my JHS and SHS in Cape Coast. I have two sisters and two brothers and am the third born. I grew up in a very hard way and I have learned to grow through what I go through.’
In his business, Leon is a designer and video editor. Getting started, he began the business as a passion project.
Since joining Zidisha near the end of 2020, Leon has been able to raise 6 Zidisha funded loans. As a new borrower, he got started with a $13 loan and most recently he raised a loan for $547.
With his Zidisha loans, Leon has set goals to purchase two desktop computers, and a new camera, as he shared, ‘I will buy desktop computers and camera which will enable me to enhance the kind work I am doing, for now, I have a few machines and I would like to upgrade it. This is going to help me to gain more profit, I really thank God for helping me expand my business, moreover, I have one faulty printer that I need to repair, I have been getting jobs from an organization but due to lack of a machine I have to rent and use it for such programs, I will be happy if my loan will be fully funded on-time God Bless Zidisha…’
For Leon, having a camera of his own will mean that he will no longer need to rent one each time that someone books him for a job.
In December, Leon raised $251 and set himself up to purchase a softbox for his photography, writing, ‘I will always thank my Lenders and Zidisha for impacting and changing lives. I will use the loan to buy a softbox for photography because most of the time I find it difficult to take certain pictures due to poor lighting, softbox is important in the field of photography, and getting one will make my photography lovely.’
The following month, in January 2021, Leon was ready to add two speed lights to his photography setup, successfully raising $348 from Zidisha lenders to make it happen.
Most recently, in April 2021, Leon shared that next, he is looking to buy a higher quality camera lens as he shared, ‘Images are dull and blurry due to a poor lens so getting a new one will make the work easy.’
Would you like to make a difference in the life of an entrepreneur like Leon? Make sure to head on over to our Browse Projects page to see what other business owners are working on around the world.
Betsy is a Writer and Editor living in Florida with her husband. She has been writing with Zidisha for 5 years and loves sharing the inspiring stories of Zidisha entrepreneurs. You can connect with her on her personal website.
