New varieties of printed cloth for traditional clothing

Lidya

Nairobi, Kenya

100% repaid

Entrepreneur

Name

Lidya

Member since

April 2015

On-time repayments

143 installments  •  56%

About Me

I am a 47 Year old Kenyan Lady. I am originally from Western Province but I live and Work in Nairobi. I studied at Tigoi Girls high School and Later went to Kisii Secretarial College. I am also a trained cook. After training, I worked at Shell petrol Station, Kisumu as a pump attendant. I later joined Total Petrol, Kapsabet in the Same Capacity. I then transferred to Total Kenya, Uganda road Eldoret as an Accounts clerk. After Leaving Total, i started a personal Business in which I deal in African Print garments called Kangas (A Famous form of dress in East Africa) and Women's wear. I love my business. I always look for means and ways to make it better. I am a hard-working and focused individual, with personal ambitions and goals to develop myself and at the same help the society that supports me.

My Business

The main focus of my business is dealing in Kangas. These are a form of dressing garb famous in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Somalia. It's an African Imprinted garment that is used to sew dresses, headscarves, skirts and other female clothing used by women allover East Africa. It is also famous in public functions for the messages that are commonly imprinted on them. I source my Kangas from Mombasa Kenya. Most of these Kangas are Manufactured in Tanzanian Textile factories and some Kenyan EPZ (Export Processing Zones) at the coast. I buy a bundle that constitutes 12 Kangas at Ksh. 5000. I then carry and sell each Kanga in Nairobi at between Ksh.500 and Ksh. 600 depending on the bargaining power of the client. Each bundle fetches up to Ksh.2000 profit (approximately 22 USD). To be able to comfortably clear the transport and utility bills that I incur on the journey of bringing the Kanga from Mombasa, i buy at least five bundles, which I clear in not more than six weeks. My intention for the future is to start sourcing the material directly from Tanzania and start selling to other places in Kenya like the Rift Valley, Nyanza , Western Provinces and Kampala Uganda. This is because Lesos promote an East African tradition that is appreciated across communities and religions in the region. The Kanga is intertwined with the History of the Swahili Speaking Region of East Africa and Eastern Congo. The appreciation of the Kanga in this region is high due to this factor. This creates the potential wide market for the business.

Loan Proposal

I will purchase one bundles of Lesos from Mombasa. Each bundle contains 12 Pieces of Leso textiles. Each Bundle costs Ksh. 4400 (48 USD). I will add this bundles into my stock for sale. A bundle is projected to fetch a profit of Ksh. 1800 (18 USD)after deduction of expenditures. This will help me increase the capacity of my business. It will also increase the general income of the business. It will be a small step towards the bigger goal of expansion. With gradual growth, the business will be able to get into handling bigger volumes. The rate of expansion has been slow and I believe this loan will help me widen both the business and my perspective. Management of the Loan specifically, will be instrumental in helping me maintain sound focus on financial management. This will be instrumental in helping me prepare for growth and expansion. I will really appreciate the opportunity to achieve this through the funding. Thank you in advance

Feedback

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Loan Info

Project Type

Classic Loan

Disbursed amount

$100.00

Date disbursed

Jul 14, 2015

Repayment status

On Time

Projected term

2 months

Lenders

Daniel

Brussels, Belgium

sebastienrosa

Quebec, Canada

T

ToddK

Indianapolis, IN, USA, United States

C

cjmenchaca

Austin, United States

M

matts

New York, United States

K

katykoo

New York, NY, United States

P

Prysdahl

Marshall, United States

T

Tui1974

nuenen, Netherlands

Nadja

Weissach, Germany

sgornick

Los Angeles, CA, United States

A

adamdreaming

United States

MZ

Matt Zirwas

United States

V

Vivek

Arlington, VA, United States

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