Loan to finance the purchase of fresh produce

Entrepreneur

About Me

My name is Paul Kimani. I was born in Koru, Western Kenya and grew up as an ordinary African child from lower social class. My family was forced to move from our home following the deadly ethnic clashes of 1991.
We moved to Nairobi where my mother has been a trader at a city market.
I'm very passionate about the environment and advocate for living in peace with nature, wildlife and most importantly with other people. I often visit Nairobi National Park as I enjoy seeing wildlife roaming freely in their natural habit just a few kilometers from the center of the busy city. It shows we can accommodate each other if we chose to. I also enjoy participating in conservation activities and have been planting trees to mark different events in my life such as birthdays and anniversaries.
I have a bachelor's degree in Tourism Management from Kenyatta University.
My hobbies are, camping, fishing, cooking, gardening and writing articles.

My Business

I started a grocery supply business where I was supplying eggs to hotels and fast food outlets, but later changed to less bulky products. I now supply mushrooms, strawberry, cherries, gooseberries and blueberries to supermarkets and other retailers in Nairobi. I source the fruits from farmers in various counties (Laikipia, Nyandarua, Nyeri and Kiambu). The products are packaged and labeled at the farm and all I apply is my marketing skills to sell them. My cost include that of transport and delivery, which leaves me with a markup of 15-25% depending on market prices. Fresh produce are highly affected by factors of supply and demand and fluctuation of price. I intend to solve this by producing them myself.
I have so far completed a short course in mushroom production at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
I own a small farm where I have planted fruit trees, vegetables and rear chicken, goats and very soon pigs as a "grow your own food project."
I'll be delighted to share the progress with zidisha family.

Loan Proposal

Being in the grocery business, there are products that are bought monthly and the fresh ones on a daily basis. This loan will be channeled to the purchase of the fresh produce. The prices of this products changes with time and sometimes i get discouraged when i get the prices are higher than what i had budgeted for. However this does not discourage me because the returns from these fresh produce are higher. The loan will basically shield me from the fluctuation of prices which sometimes makes me purchase less products than i had budgeted for. This will translate to the growth of my business. I am looking forward to your support in this.

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