Loan to fund my secondhand bookstore business

Naomi

Juja, Kenya

100% repaid

Entrepreneur

Name

Naomi

Member since

May 2014

On-time repayments

325 installments  •  52%

About Me

I am a 26-year-old young lady who is married with two kids. I live in Milimani, Juja, which is located in Kiambu County. I believe that I possess several qualities which make me uniquely qualified to contribute to the community. My educational background, which combines general knowledge with accounting, affords me an uncommon perspective on business.

I am currently pursuing a degree in Business Administration at Kenyatta University in my final year. I also hold a Certified Public Accountant (Part II) and I am an aggressive business lady. My background in the complementary areas of business and accounting gives me a special perspective which I will pass to my fellow countrymen.

I currently run my own business called NOMKUNGU BOOKSTORE that provides high school, universities and college students with the opportunity to buy, sell and trade used textbooks and school supplies. My business generates approximately $600 as net profit monthly. In a nutshell, I am an aggressive young lady whose intention is to make money and also assist others.

My Business

My company, which is solely owned, deals with secondhand books and started in the year 2011. My company’s name is called NOMKUNGU SECONDHAND BOOKSTORE and is a store providing high school, universities and college students with the opportunity to buy, sell and trade used textbooks and school supplies. In addition to textbooks, students may sell their school supplies like class notes, old newspapers, laptops, accessories or anything that they wish to sell or buy in my store. I used my own book collections as start-up inventory base. In addition, I talked to neighbors, friends and relatives, who donated some of the books. After making these rounds, I managed to get 4,000 books as start-up stock when I opened up for business.

My company’s goal is to strive to achieve the following:
1) Become the leading secondhand book seller in Kenya
2) Attract 500,000 customers in the next five years
3) Achieve the target of 50,000 visits per month
4) Establish sustainable profitability within the first five years

My company carries a broad and varied inventory of high school, university and college secondhand textbooks and other materials at all price levels and provides services to help students succeed academically and in an affordable manner. NOMKUNGU SECONDHAND BOOKSTORE generates profitable revenues equal to or exceeding national norms while keeping the cost of retail items competitive for high school, university and college students, and campus community members. I constantly seek to improve my interactions with customers and have invested a lot of time and resources in the business.

Operating a used book store is a like owning a recycling center: it is not too glamorous but very profitable. My company generates almost $6,700 per year as net profit. I buy old textbooks averagely at $2 and sell them averagely for $5, therefore making an average profit of $3 per textbook. In addition, school supplies like class notes, old newspapers, laptops, accessories make a profit of $100 per month.

Loan Proposal

In order to continually attract customers in my business, I must be able to keep the maximum amount of inventory available and achieve a high level of customer service. I need the loan to buy more used books and build or buy half shelves, tables and revolving racks for more books since I currently lay them on the ground making it easy for shoplifters to steal the books. The half shelves about 4 feet wide by 4 feet high and similar to book cases will be located at right angles to wall shelves, and in the rear of my store. I will also use the funds to employ two more employees since I currently manage the business alone so as to discourage shoplifting. If given the loan I will also use some of the funds to advertise my bookstore. Newspaper or broadcast advertising will be much more expensive than their worth. My best bet will be to create an e-commerce website and open bidding through the e-commerce platform and price my stock fairly, concentrate on personal service; and allow word of mouth advertising.
MY ESTIMATED BUDGET:
ESTIMATED EXPANSION EXPENSES
Shelving and remodeling $1,000
New employees $2,000
Advertising and signs $200
TOTAL EXPENDITURE $5,900

Show original English  

About Me

I am a 26 years old young lady who is married with two kids. I live in Milimani, Juja which is located in Kiambu County. I believe that I possess several qualities which make me uniquely qualified to contribute to the community. My educational background, which combines general knowledge with accounting, affords me an uncommon perspective on business. I am currently pursuing a degree in Business Administration at Kenyatta University in my final year. I also hold a Certified Public Accountant (Part II) and I am an aggressive business lady. My background in the complementary areas of business and accounting gives me a special perspective which I will pass to my fellow countrymen. I currently run my own business called NOMKUNGU BOOKSTORE that provides high school, universities and college students with the opportunity to buy, sell and trade used textbooks and school supplies. My business generates approximately 600$ as net profit monthly. In a nutshell, I am an aggressive young lady whose intention is to make money and also assist others.

My Business

My company which is solely owned deals with secondhand books and started in the year 2011. My company’s name is called NOMKUNGU SECONDHAND BOOKSTORE and is a store providing high school, universities and college students with the opportunity to buy, sell and trade used textbooks and school supplies. In addition to textbooks, students may sell their school supplies like class notes, old newspapers, laptops, accessories or anything that they wish to sell or buy in my store. I used my own book collections as start-up inventory base. In addition, I talked to neighbors; friends and relatives donated some of the books. After making these rounds, I managed to get 4,000 books as start-up stock when I opened up for business.
My Company’s goal is to strive to achieve the following:
1) Become the leading second hand book seller in Kenya
2) Attract 500,000 customers in the next five years
3) Achieve the target of 50,000 visits per month
4) Establish sustainable profitability within the first five years
My company carries a broad and varied inventory of high school, universities and college second hand textbooks and other materials at all price levels and provide services to help students succeed academically and in an affordable manner. NOMKUNGU SECONDHAND BOOKSTORE generates profitable revenues equal to or exceeding national norms while keeping the cost of retail items competitive for high school, universities and college students, and campus community members. I constantly seek to improve my interactions with customers and have invested a lot of time and resources in the business.
Operating a used book store is a like owning a recycling center; it is not too glamorous but very profitable. My company generates almost 6,700 $ per year as net profit. I buy old textbooks averagely at 2$ and sell them averagely for 5$; therefore making an average profit of 3$ per textbook. In addition, school supplies like class notes, old newspapers, laptops, accessories make a profit of 100$ per month.

Loan Proposal

In order to continually attract customers in my business, I must be able to keep the maximum amount of inventory available and achieve a high level of customer service. I need the loan to buy more used books and build or buy half shelves, tables and revolving racks for more books since I currently lay them on the ground making it easy for shoplifters to steal the books. The half shelves about 4 feet wide by 4 feet high and similar to book cases will be located at right angles to wall shelves, and in the rear of my store. I will also use the funds to employ two more employees since I currently manage the business alone so as to discourage shoplifting. If given the loan I will also use some of the funds to advertise my bookstore. Newspaper or broadcast advertising will be much more expensive than their worth. My best bet will be to create an e-commerce website and open bidding through the e-commerce platform and price my stock fairly, concentrate on personal service; and allow word of mouth advertising.
MY ESTIMATED BUDGET:
ESTIMATED EXPANSION EXPENSES
Shelving and remodeling $1,000
New employees $2,000
Advertising and signs $200
TOTAL EXPENDITURE $5,900

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Loan Info

Project Type

Classic Loan

Disbursed amount

$150.00

Date disbursed

Jun 2, 2014

Repayment status

On Time

Projected term

3 months

Lenders

KYLE LARSON

Little Falls, United States

R

ryanalysis

Port Jefferson Station, United States

G

guenter

Bremen, Germany

8

8chrono8

London, United Kingdom

Patnatros

New York, United States

W

willemsenphilippe

Edegem, Belgium

Greg1

Southampton, United Kingdom

Sarasota

Sarasota, Fl, United States

Bivouac

Hillsboro, United States

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