Buy a gas cooker for my snacks business

Entrepreneur

About Me

My name is Elizabeth, born in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. My parents later relocated to Nairobi where I went to school for my primary and secondary education.

I later got married but our marriage hit the rocks after a few years when my husband became very abusive. At the time, I was a mother of two young children and the responsibility of raising them fell on my shoulders. Our separation was too much for me handle and a relative who lives in Mombasa - about 500 kilometers away asked me to live with her so as ease the pain I was going through.

While in Mombasa, I started working as a casual laborer in hotels and restaurants. I saved some money which I used to rent my own residential house and later started making snacks which I would sell to the people in the neighborhood. This is what I am still doing to date and I am glad the profit I make from this business has raised my two children into adulthood.

My Business

I prepare snacks such as samosas and buns that I sell to people in the neighborhood and school children. I also make juice from seasonal fruits that I sell to the same people. I started this business to address the need of hygienically prepared food because I realized that the people who were doing it were not observing basic hygiene and that led to many would be buyers shying away from home made snacks.

Due to my brief experience in working in hotel industry, I had an edge over the competition and I also took my work very seriously. I am glad that I have seen my business grow to a point where I am able to sell food worth USD 30 in a day and this is no mean achievement by our standards. Half of this amount goes into expenses, key among them buying of ingredients. I use the balance to cater for my family's budget that includes food and rent.

Loan Proposal

As mentioned above, I make snacks for sale for people in the neighborhood. I buy the ingredients and then prepare snacks such as samosas, roast potatoes and other delicacies as shown on my profile photo.

I use a charcoal cooker to cook the food. This cooker is slow to start and even more serious is the price of charcoal which has gone up steeply of late due to lack of commodity occasioned by tough government regulation on cutting of trees. The government is asking people to look for alternative forms of energy and they have imposed heavy taxes on charcoal so as to discourage it use. This is eating on my profit and there is not sigh that this will relent any time soon.

For this reason, I have decided to switch to cleaner, faster LPG cooker. A 6kg cooker fitted with a burner will cost me around USD 80 and this will make a big difference in the way I do business. I have been planning to buy this important item but there too many competing needs for the money that I make from my business.

With this Zidisha loan, I will be able to purchase the cooker which will increase my efficiency. I am capable of repaying the loan comfortably due to the friendly terms.

Thanks.

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