Adding M-Pesa services & branding for my general store

Francis

Nairobi, Uthiru, Kiuru 87., Kenya

100% repaid

Entrepreneur

Name

Francis

Member since

August 2014

On-time repayments

68 installments  •  85%

About Me

I was born in Central province, but grew up in Rift Valley in a duty town called Gilgil. When growing up, grazing my parents' cows, goats and sheep was the order of the day as long as it was not a school day. Grazing was being subsituted with going to the farm where we used to grow maize, beans, potatoes and peas. My father used to run a retail shop and occasionally he would let my brothers and I run it. The greatest hardship I went through was lack of school fees especially after I joined high school. But I used to sneak back to school to study even after being chased away by the headmaster due to lack of fees. This gave me a determination that I must work hard at all the time and ensure my children don't go through such a difficult life. Being exposed to running my dad's shop gave me the urge to start mine. And I am glad I am running a shop today outside my formal employment. My eldest daughter who is 11 years old wants to be a doctor when she grows up. My son who is 4 years old wants to become a pilot. The last born daughter is 6 years. My hobby actually is reading materials related to running a business.

My Business

My business goes by the name Bag & Bags. The business sells new and second hand bags and clothes. It is located along Kiambu Road.
The objective is to be a one stop shop for busy shoppers who want to look good but at an affordable price. The designer bags are meant to make sure customer gets enough space to put his or her stuff but at an affordable price. This calls for stocking of smart products especially for the common Kenyans citizen who either has no time or enough cash to purchase items from the big supermarkets in shopping malls.
I ensure the customers get the items they need at affordable prices, best quality and quantities that match their pockets. Since its establishment 4 years now , the shop has attracted a huge number of customers and this is on an upward trajectory.
My plan is to expand it even further and introduce new products/items which presently are not on the shelves. But stocking of the products is primarily demand driven. After being funded by Zidisha, I introduced M-Pesa services (Mobile money service) which is doing very well. The shop is also now well branded. But with increasing sales, I have come to learn I need to buy more things to serve customers better. I need to expand the variety of products I sell. I need to stock items which customers have been asking for yet I don't have.

Loan Proposal

I will spend Kenya shillings 6,000 to brand my business, including signage as a way of advertising what I deal with. The business is not branded yet and even there is no name at the entrance. If this is done, passerby will easily notice its presence and be attracted to get in and probably purchase one or two items. Also listing some of the flagship products at the door will greatly help. For the balance, I will pay it as a deposit to Safaricom agents to be enlisted as an Agent for Safaricom Mpesa service provider (agent). This is a booming business in Kenya and I have been receiving very many inquiries for the service. The service involved transferring money via mobile technology for your customers ie, lets say sending money from the customer at the shop to his parents in the rural village. This remains one of the key innovations that are touching the lives of ordinary people in huge ways in Kenya. It is imperative that I have this service.

Feedback

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Loan Info

Project Type

Classic Loan

Disbursed amount

$261.00

Date disbursed

Jun 30, 2017

Repayment status

On Time

Projected term

2 months

Lenders

Daniel

Brussels, Belgium

J

johans

Malmö, Sweden

investor

Candiac, Canada

S

Spassmacher

46244 Bottrop, Germany

cyrus0302

San Francisco, United States

AltruisticSelfishnes

Chicago, United States

I

ideerge

Mountain View, United States

C

CanadianBiker

Peterborough, Canada

C

CanadianMom

Toronto, Canada

S

soren

Göteborg, Sweden

artnking

College Place, United States

T

traderjohn

Baltimore, United States

H

Houdini314

Elwood, United States

Pere

Barcelona, Spain

johnandmoliehi

Canton, New York, United States

C

cjmenchaca

Austin, United States

J

John

Newbury Park, CA, United States

S

SweAus

Adelaide, Australia

C

CheesemanDan

Shanghai, China

D

Darish

Clarksville, United States

B

briansedz

Canton, Ohio, United States

A

Alsyf

Sydney, Australia

C

cflint

Springville, United States

T

tmsaddress

Orlando, Florida, United States

R

RogerBare

Houston, United States

F

fisaire

Ithaca, United States

indeh

London, United Kingdom

athomas

Chevy Chase, United States

ElWal

Kirn, Germany

S

suzerain

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

P

portlandloans

Portland, United States

H

HildeK

Rogaland, Norway

Cloudways

Malta, Malta

S

Sabine

Courtenay, Canada

A

Austrian

Graz, Austria

S

samuk

Nottingham, United Kingdom

zphelj

Dallas, United States

ads68

Melbourne, Australia

D

djschin

Heber City, United States

postnihilist

Honolulu, United States

J

jerryq

Redding, United States

K

Klemens

M, Germany

fairspirit

Utrecht, Netherlands

M

Moamar

Grand Rapids, United States

K

KnutG

Bergen, Norway

Richard100

Santa Ana, United States

JTShorty

Gorham, Maine, United States

I

icmoonchild

Haddon Heights, United States

GarmdGriek

Oslo, Norway

Zal0m0n

Atlantis!!!! x), Mauritania

dmirpuri

Bangkok, Thailand

xtrahardware

Cazenovia, United States

B

BMcDermott

Washington, DC, United States

E

E

Marin county, United States

NedRyerson

Munroe Falls, United States

Evan Lamos

Brussels, Belgium

pvilliger

Zurich, Switzerland

M

Malibu

Westwood, United States

Aaron85

Knoxville, United States

Paul Buchheit

Mountain View, United States

D

DandS

United States

Landerson

Edinburgh, United Kingdom

M

MaggieYG

United States

V

vbud

United States

I

idris

United States

K

kennychit

United States

Voscke

Utrecht, Netherlands

Mike and Jacqui

United Kingdom

S

Stephan

Netherlands

JP

James Parker

Sacramento, United States

KM

KHS Microfinance

Tampa, United States

Nigel Titley

Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

M

Marco

Bologna, Italy

Max Lettenberger

Madison, WI, United States

Kevin

San Francisco, United States

YM

Yelka Mikolji

United States

Martin Nielsen

Aarhus, Denmark

A

Ashley

United States

J

Jeff

United States

N

Nick

United States

E

eriklonnroth

United Kingdom

YK

Yonghwan Kim

Republic of Korea

Arnaud M

Sydney, Australia

SH

Steven Huntington

London, United Kingdom

F

Filip

Belgium

Tony Liao

Montreal, Canada

RC

Rudi Chen

United States

Myria

New Mexico, United States

The Zinc Team

San Francisco, United States

WS

Warren Shen

United States

Humble Bundle Community

San Francisco, United States

BE

Bob Ewing

United States

HCPSPIRIT

Helsinki, Finland

R

RMIM

United States

KA

Khaled Asmri

Saudi Arabia

MM

Mike McGary

United States

A

Anabell

Elizabeth, United States

Mike

Indianapolis, United States

WC

Walter Clarke

Phoenix, United States

Paul Buchheit

Mountain View, United States

A

Adriaan

Netherlands

A

Anonymous

United States

CN

Craig Newmark

United States

JG

Jake Gibson and Beverly Picardo

San Francisco, United States

LM

Laurie Menke

United States

United States

T

Tom

Germany

Kiva Club

United States

Sadie Weiss

Knoxville, United States

James Douglass

Sydney, Australia

J

JB

Germany

MN

Mau NA

United Arab Emirates

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