Solar powered lighting for rural kenya

Entrepreneur

About Me

I was born in Nanyuki in Kenya, in a family of 7 brothers. I went to School in Nanyuki primary School, then joined Igoji Boy's Primary School for my Kenya Certificate of Primary Education ( K. C. P. E) where I got 418 points out of the total maximum 500marks.
I attended Nkubu High School, scored an aggregate grade of A-, joined Kenyatta University and graduated in 2013 with a degree in Biochemistry.

Coming from a poor back ground, my parents could not afford to pay my school fees, hence I was forced to work (fetching water for people at a small fee) during the weekend to raise money that would keep me in school. That's when I came to learn that with determination, you can achieve whatever goals you set.

After attending University, I felt the need to give back to the society. Due to lack of electricity in our rural home, I ventured into a business that deals with Solar powered lamps and energy saving jikos that would bring many benefits to our community economically, socially, and most importantly, education, so that children could study during the night.
I needed a capital of $600, which I saved and borrowed $200 from friends as a friendly loan.

Giving back to the society has helped me experience the beautiful culture of our people, and how entrepreneurship can transform lives.

I have a son, who has a great passion for music, which is noticeable at his tender age of 2years. His name is Tuvah Mozart Otieno.

I love talking to people and travelling. My key hobby is in Music, which I studied in High School. I train Church choirs.

My Business

My business is called Greener Energy which deals with Solar powered lamps and energy saving cook stoves.
Due to poor electrification in most part of the country, people are forced to buy kerosene as fuel for cooking and lighting. Kerosene is expensive and it produces fumes that lead to respiratory problems especially to infants and the elderly.
My solar powered lamps and the smoke free cook stoves solves these problems and improves the livelihoods of locals since they end up saving money, and live a healthier life.
I started this business to give back to the society by giving them a solution to the challenges they face, hence touching lives of people.

In a typical month, I invest $ 1,850, to buy the lamps from Philips International . The lamps are as follows :

a) 18 pieces life light at $ 25 each.
b) 14pieces life light plus at $ 32 each
c) 6pieces life light home at $75 each
d) 6 Philips cook stoves at $ 93 each.
I then sell them at a margin at $32, $43, $93, and $106 respectively.
My total turn over is usually about $ 2304, with overheads of about $200.

I use the profits to expand my business, save for my son's education, family upkeep and also pay school fees for an orphan friend of mine.
My wife helps me in running this business since I am employed employed at insight management consultants where I earn $640 a month.

Loan Proposal

I will inject this amount into my business by using it to subsidise my transport costs for this month, hence reducing the prices of my lamps by $2. This will mean more people will be able to afford, hence more volumes, from less margins. From this, I believe I will grow my business since my client Base will increase. This will increase my profit by 10%.
Over and above, I will increase my credit limit by a substantial degree since the more I make timely payments, the better the score.

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