Loan to purchase motorbike to reduce costs , employ a youth
Newton
Maili Sita, Nakuru, Kenya
39% repaid
Entrepreneur
Name
Newton
Member since
April 2014
On-time repayments
86 installments • 16%
About Me
I am Newton, a third born in a family of seven. I was born in the western part of Kenya where I grew up. I was lucky to have gone to school up to university level, I graduated from Makerere -one of the most prestigious universities in Africa in 2011.
After college, I relocated to Nakuru town in search for a well paying job. This is where reality of how scarcity the jobs have become in this country just like all the other African countries hit me. So after chasing big dreams and big ideas and was exhausted! I chose to start a business with just $200 I had saved from the casual jobs I did. And now just 2 years down the line it's employing 2 other youths and paying all my bills.
The business involves with buying and selling used furniture and electronics, it's one of the most profitable ventures.
This is the reason why I am looking for funds to expand this business, because it's not just a business but an investment that is touching people's lives. Thanks in advance.
My Business
This is a perfect example of a business that is simple to start yet has very high returns. The business deals with buying and selling of used furniture and electronics. This idea struck me when one of my friends was relocating to a different city, and he couldn't transport all his stuff mainly due to exorbitant transport costs yet my room was small; it couldn't accommodate the furniture, and so I grabbed that opportunity and opened a small shop in the neighborhood where I put the goods on display for sale, the result was amazing!
There was so much demand for the goods, not just that, the supply was also steady. The reasons for the huge demand is mainly due to the lower prices associated with these goods, with the ever rising cost of living compared to the relatively lower incomes, majority of the population prefer cheaper commodities that are of good quality and this business offers exactly that.
The reasons for the steady supply is obvious, each day in all the urban areas someone is either upgrading his household thereby disposing his old ones or moving to another town due to transfers or just relocating to their rural homes. Due to high transport costs and logistics associated with moving majority of people prefer to sell their households. Another reason is due to day to day problems and emergencies, this sometimes forces to sell one or a few of his assets to solve the problem.
In a typical month, I am able to buy goods worth $600 and sell them at approx. $800-$900 translating to 50% profit margin. It's a fact that very few investments can make this much over such short duration. It's one of the most profitable yet untapped ventures in fact in my locality I am the only one doing it. The reason I like this business is it's simplicity, uniqueness and the ability to solve people's problems over a short time. The only factor holding back this business is lack of sufficient funds, sometimes there are so many goods to buy but because I am just a small entrepreneur, I lack the financial ability so I am forced to do without them. This is the reason I joined Zidisha because I know through it someone will hear out my story and choose to support me in terms of loan to expand this business thereby participating in the overall mission of the business, touching lives whether by solving their immediate problems or creating employment to the youths. If given a loan you can be sure that it will be paid on time because the business is able to service the loan as well as sustain itself well. With kind regards Newton.
Loan Proposal
The main challenge that my business has experienced in the past 2 years is the huge costs associated with transport costs from where the goods are to the warehouse, since most of these goods are bulky. In a typical week i use about $40 to pay for transportation of these goods. If funded am intending to add my savings of about $150 to the loan amount to purchase a motorcycle for transporting the goods to n from the warehouse.
This will automatically reduce my expenditure by almost $30 dollars weekly, as if that is not enough it will create an opportunity for one youth to be employed since the bike will need a rider.
The money that will be saved on transport about $30 will be used to pay this loan weekly until it's fully settled.
My humble appeal to the zidisha lenders is to consider my funding my venture and be assured that your funds will be repaid fully and on time since this business has got potential.
Thanks in advance.
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Loan Info
Project Type
Classic Loan
Disbursed amount
$288.00
Date disbursed
Jan 5, 2015
Repayment status
Late
Projected term
18 months
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Jake Gibson and Beverly Picardo
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