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Entrepreneur

About Me

My name is Elizabeth Wambui, born in 1978 in Nakuru County in the Rift valley. I am a second born in a family of four. I underwent my primary education in lower solai in nakuru and later joined Lake Nakuru secondary School. I am single with two children one who completed her secondary education in the year 2012. I started selling Charcoal in Kiserian in Nairobi, then I was selling charcoal to kiserian town residents. Later I relocated to Kitengela where cost of operation was low. From my previous charcoal business, I was able to purchase a plot in Nkoroi area near Kiserian and constructed four room residential houses. I have rented this rooms though they are are still incomplete therefore the rent income is abit low. However they have been of great importance to me since I was able to educate my daughter up to form four level. The income from my business was also used for family upkeep and helping my parents back home. I also have interest in farming and have been doing it in my home place where i have rented a 1 acre of land in bahati nakuru and have been planting wheat and tomatoes and the returns are encouraging.

My Business

The main product i sell is Charcoal. The demand for charcoal here is on the rise since its affordable to the population around. With a group of about three, we hire a lorry that transports the product rom Narok where we obtain the the charcoal at a lower price. Charcoal is sold in bags and a bag goes for Ksh. 700 from the supplier. the same bag I sll it at Ksh. 1500 minus Ksh 150 per bag that I pay for transport. this brings a profit of about Ksh. 650 per bag. I also sell the same in small quantities and this is where its more profitable than selling in whole sale. A bag may result to about Ksh 2000 when sold in small measurements. In a good day, I can sell up to five bags while in other days i can selljust one. On average I do sell about bags at average of Ksh 1000. This translates to an average income of about Ksh 40000 per month and after paying all the expenses (Rent, security, labour e.t.c) I have about Ksh 20000 which is Net profit and I use the money to pay for my family upkeep, school fees and the rest to savings account. I am not the only supplier of this product. we are about 5 in the neighbourhood and most of the time we work together especially during purchasing so that we increase our bargaining power and reduce the cost. I have my regular and permanent customers whom i even deliver the product to their homes so that to maintain a good relations and make them loyal.

Loan Proposal

Thank you Zidisha, With my Fourth loan, I would again wish to concentrate much on wholesaling. My major supplies is from Narok, this will require adequate storage space and adequate finance to cater for both bulk purchasing and transport. Currently I have a semi permanent shed that I have been using for both retail and wholesale. I have identified a trusted person who will be in charge of retail as this is more demanding since most customers buy a bag or less.
While out there, I want to deliver as much as I can to those customers that so far rely on me. I have once delivered to far places like Limuru and Kinangop. This however can be more profitable if am delivering more bags as opposed to few since overhead costs are high. I am exploring possibility of soon delivering regularly to far places like Limuru and Kinangop and Naivasha after I obtain the licence to do so. I have confidence in this business having been in it for long and I am aware of the challenges. Also I have made several long term customers who are reliable. My future plans are to acquire own means of transport as transport costs reduce profit margins. I am hopefully that with your support, this initiative will be a success.

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