Inventory of fresh fruits for grocery stall

Entrepreneur

About Me

My name is Elizabeth Vukusi, born and raised in Western Kenya. This region is one few areas of Kenya with good climate for agriculture. It has a tropical rain climate where it rains throughout the year. In fact Kakamega forest which is near where I was born is the only true tropical forest in the region.

As with other regions with high agriculture potential, the area suffers from a problem of overpopulation. The farms are so small such that I does not make economic sense to do farming there. Due to this problem, I decided to relocate to Mombasa to live with a friend just after my secondary education.

Mombasa is a big city (by our standards) and I liked the place the moment I landed here. My friend was in business of selling vegetables and I learned fast from her and opened my own stall after a few months. I had very little money to start me off but I am glad the business is still standing three years later.

I am a mother of two kids.

My Business

I run a green grocery stall. This is a makeshift structure across the road where I stock my green vegetables. Most of the produce come from the countryside and then I buy then from a big market called Kongowea where farmers come to sell their harvests. This is repeated daily since most of the goods are perishable and there are no refrigeration facilities.

I sell produce such as cabbage, sukuma wiki (kales), bananas, tomatoes etc since almost every homestead uses these items. I make about $10 per day but half of it goes into my expenses. I use the profit to cater for my family expenses.

Loan Proposal

If given this loan, I will use it to introduce selling of fruits to add on what I sell. Fruits like mangoes, oranges and tangerines do well in this region and I have always had a desire to add them to my catalog.

I feel this is a golden opportunity to do so and if successful, I will start 2 dozens of each fruit and this will cost me $30. I also need to rehabilitate my stall which is in a pretty bad shape and this will cost me about $25. I will keep the balance as my emergency fund.

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