Catherine

Phase 4, Makongeni Estate, Thika, Kenya

100% repaid

Entrepreneur

Name

Catherine

Member since

August 2013

On-time repayments

36 installments  •  67%

About Me

I am a twenty two young and innovative smart woman. To the present day, I have managed to attain education up to college level, but with countless hindrances. More precisely, I was in college, Kenya Medical Training Centre, undertaking a diploma course in Dental Technology until late 2012 when my parent’s separation forced me to drop out of school. I have always had, and unremittingly maintained my passion for education because I see a future for myself where I become an independent woman with chief successes in my trail. I am from a family of four, in which I am the eldest. Having been raised to be a humble and responsible child, I sacrificed to shortly put a halt to my education so that the little money available to my mother, finances my second-born brother to complete his secondary education. My mother works really hard, though employed as a shopkeeper, to keep us not only afloat but alive. However, I perceive dropping out of school as a temporary rather than permanent occurrence for I do not believe in success being served on a silver platter. For this reason, I have sought other ethical means to move past my preceding and present hindrances to a great future. The idea of taking a leap of faith with entrepreneurship came to me following to the undying urge to be of assistance in the upbringing of our family and successfully, fund the final year of my education. Furthermore, being twenty-two years of age and having all the time encouraged me to simply start with selling tea and mandazi’s (snacks) to the numerous builders around our home place. My village is sort of a slum now developing into a better place hence the plentiful building activities. This simple idea opened a doorway that to this day I not only believe puts food on our table, but also grows constantly with each passing week. With this regard, I take God as my guide through life and with the belief that everything happens for a reason, I recognize each interference a stepping-stone to the next higher step.

My Business

My business started as a simple errand to serve tea to a few friends of my mother as they took a break from their hard building goings-on. As I served them, one of the men jokingly mentioned that with my level of kindness, I should be serving them with tea during break time, every day, and they would each pay for it. Later on in the day as I idly sat at home, I thought why not try it; just a little milk, sugar and snack would not cost me that much. Therefore, every day since then I served them with nicely cooked tea and a snack. As time went by, I riskily introduced a “meal for men at work” (Githeri and Ugali) during their lunch breaks and surprisingly, it all picked up quite great. I thank God for it every day. The continuous efforts paid up each dime with increasing growth of my name and popularity “ule msichana wa Toho,” translating to “Toho’s girl” in English. After about six months of preparing the food at night and cooking in the early mornings, I suggested it to my mother that I extend the wall of my bedroom to a size that accommodates about twenty people at a go. Luckily, the property owner was a good friend to my mum as she had lived there since before my birth. Again, this step opened up gates to notable success and on the same note, saved me the struggle of carrying the tea and food by hand. This created more time to prepare the meals in one place, serve them under one roof, and in other times when the room could not accommodate everyone, made it easier and more coordinated to serve the meals outside. Most of the initial customers are retained to this day and with my popularity, I manage to have constant customers who at times bring their friends. I believe that my humble beginning is the chief strength for my business followed by its close proximity to the building sites. On the other hand, I fear the long-term threat that my village reaches a level where buildings are enough and there is no longer the need to build hence, a drastic reduction in the customer base. Nevertheless, I believe that by then I will have grown, and subsequently so will have my business, therefore, I will have a firm base on which I can add other means of making profit. To sum this up, the business makes about Sh. 300 on normal days and Sh. 500 on the busy days. Conversely, the number of customers determines the daily expenses on that day since most of the products are bought on demand. This ensures that the business realizes minimal losses on the extra food. This translates to an average of Sh. 8000 monthly income and Sh. 4000 expenses. As a result, the realized and varied profit facilitates payment of a help who assists only on the busy days, helping with our familial expenses and little by little, saving up for my awaiting college education. As for the loan I highly hope to receive, I look forward to utilizing it to extend the size of my hotel to an extent that it accommodates more customers to match up to the growing customer base. Based on the word out there, I make good food and that not only maintains my older customers, but also creates the unremitting urge for other people to come taste the food cooked at Kamari Hotel. With this chief improvement, I expect to make more, grow at a faster rate, and consequently, increase my pace to the achievement of my set goals and targets.

Loan Proposal

As at now, my hotel accommodates a maximum of twenty customers. With the loan, I hope to extend the size of my hotel to an extent that it accommodates more customers to match up to the growing customer base. According to my current budget, 3000 shillings will be used to purchase timber for extending the walls, 2500 shillings will purchase the roofing to make the hotel more hospitable and the remnant 2000 shillings will be utilized to add a few seats and serving tables. With this breakdown, I hope to achieve more sales following to the additional customers hospitable in the hotel. Most importantly, I will ensure that every dime of this fund is put to its correct use hence creating a possibility to repay it as soon as possible.
Please consider my application and I will greatly appreciate it.
Thank you in advance.

Feedback

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Loan Info

Project Type

Classic Loan

Disbursed amount

$100.00

Date disbursed

Aug 28, 2013

Repayment status

On Time

Projected term

37 months

Lenders

investor

Candiac, Canada

MakeSense

-, St. Kitts and Nevis

SkyWalker

Stromberg, Germany

B

Butters

San Jose, United States

I

IDGflygirl

New Jersey, United States

W

Walter01

Kingston, Canada

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