Mini-pharmacy for my community

Edward

Abura Dunkwa C/r, Ghana

32% repaid

Entrepreneur

Name

Edward

Member since

December 2014

On-time repayments

147 installments  •  75%

About Me

"At Long last Fernando Rebiero the Portugues missionary blew his car horn, it was time to leave my old grand mom, with tears running down my black cheek, i was going to stay and live in a charity center for a number of years that i did not know for i was just a Child, I was just Seven years old"..
My name is Edward Marfo. I am 22 years old and a Ghanaian. I currently live in Abura Dunkwa in the central region of Ghana. i actually grew up in a orphanage center from the age of seven until i was sixteen . thus i lost my mom at a very tender age. upon living the charity center, i went and stayed with an uncle at Abura Dunkwa where i worked as a shop keeper at a local provision shop. three years ago , i started a local cyber cafe with just three computers. however in June of 2013, i closed the cyber cafe , sold off the computers to start the drug store business i am into now. i am a senior high school graduate. i have had a lot of experience in this life. Having to grow up without parents and living in the charity with people who had the same problems as mine made me strong and to know that in this world i am not alone . i always express my heart warm appreciation to those who have helped me in my journey through life till this day. My aim in life is to become a social entrepreneur and grow my drug store business to a point where i can open many branches nationwide and help those in need. As a young man, my greatest philosophy is that : i don't need a job, all i need is a breakthrough idea and with the little i have start so far, if i keep going i will be come an inspiration to the many youth in my country and continent at large . The first loan i raised really did helped me. i then raised a second loan which help instilled much confidence in my business. All along i have a plan as to how i want to progress. so midway down the repayment of my second loan, i applied to the District Clinic in my Locality to allow me to Bill prescription drugs as part of the National Health Insurance program. funny enough, they thought that i was too young to do a thing like that that but when they have come to inspect my shop and they realized it meets their standards, they were amazed. It was as part of their registration procedures that i had to travel to the capital in Accra that i happened to meet with Taylor Hannah the zidisha country ambassador for Ghana. She is such a nice person.
I was given the go ahead to begin issuing prescription drugs from the clinic. But i am taking it one at a time.
I invited a friend from the center where i grew up to join me so i can give him on the job training and after some time when he has perfected, we will open another shop in the district for him to go take care of that one.I have such a big dream, but i am taking one at a time, i am very hopeful even when against the odds that i have a service to humanity. I really wanted to maintain a 100% on time repayment rate with my previous loan but dealing with governments can be very frustrating and delaying at times and that did gave me a lot of headache, the bottom line is that i have learnt somuch through the process and now know how to handle such dalays so that it will not affect my rapayments with my current loan project.
thank you

My Business

I operate a drug store (mini pharmacy) on a very small scale. it is a licensed one . i sell the basic health care drugs like the paracetamol, multi vitamin capsules and syrup , pain killers and many more. i choose this kind of business because of the need for first aid drugs in my locality. on average, i make $20 a day before meeting Zidisha and the amazing lenders on this platform. upon coming into contact with you, lenders funded my loan of a $100 and upon taking new stock to fill my shop, sales jumped up and my daily sales increased from the previous $20 to $38 out of which 50% was my profit.
i did some savings and this also enabled me to pay back the loan on time as per the repayment schedule. i even adjusted the repayment at a point.
today as i speak, there has been the commencement of a market that was under construction just at where i have my shop. and the issue is that all the other villagers that comes to trade do come to my shop to buy the basic first aid drugs for their households. initially, i wanted to go on trek to these nearby villages but since they have been coming to my place, i have to stop.
Seriously speaking my drug or pharmacy business really require a lot of capital but i am willing to always learn from small beginnings and its struggles.
My business is a life saving one and i am so proud of the decision i took to go into that business although i did not know how i was going to grow. but because i had a greater why , today the Zidisha team and all the lenders have help me very much to which i am so grateful.
i applied to the District Clinic in my Locality to allow me to Bill prescription drugs as part of the National Health Insurance program. funny enough, they thought that i was too young to do a thing like that that but when they have come to inspect my shop and they realized it meets their standards, they were amazed. It was as part of their registration procedures that i had to travel to the capital in Accra that i happened to meet with Taylor Hannah, the Zidisha country ambassador for Ghana. She is such a nice person. I currently bill prescription drugs to a number of people that the hospital will direct to my shop for their medicine needs. however i had to accept only twenty people in a day for now. so with time i will increase the number as i develop.

Loan Proposal

As i wrote earlier, i operate a mini pharmacy shop in my community in the central region of Ghana.
however, if my loan application is fully funded, here are the cost and expenditure break down as to what i will use the money for.
i will use $800 to buy the basic Pain relievers which we call (pain killers ) .examples are asprin, para, bruffen and etc for both children and adults. so it includes both tablets and syrup. will be getting 20 medium boxes of each and there are so many of such pain relievers.
then i will use $300 for injectables. the string and the concoctions used for injections. they are quiet expensive but they are also in high demand. i will be getting 40 smaller boxes each.
then i will use $500 for malaria drugs, both tablets and syrup for children and adults and mosquito nets. with this also, due to the season, malaria cases are really on the rise for about three weeks now and it usually continue throughout the Hot sunny season so i want to be fully ready and capable.
then i will use $100 for contraceptives .
i will use $ 150 for antibiotics like Amoxacilin and the likes...
i will use $20 to buy some personal and entrepreneurship books to read and it was a promise i made to myself that anytime i take a loan, i will buy a book out of it to develop my intellect. i will buy E myth and unlimited power.
finally there maybe others that i will have to buy on the sport at the retail shop but this will not be more than $75.00.
it will bring a lot of changes to my business and lives would be saved in my community as well. i now have a market and a customer base and this will help me to do my repayments per scheduled and i now know how this government suystem works as a results i now know how to handle their delayed payments and as such it will not affect my repayments this time around.
thank you very much..

Feedback

7

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Loan Info

Project Type

Classic Loan

Disbursed amount

$2,128.00

Date disbursed

Feb 15, 2016

Repayment status

Late

Projected term

301 months

Lenders

nicole

Worcester, Ma, United States

A

andyfletcher

I want my "My loans" page back, Qatar

IM

Isak Maaseide

Tromso, Norway, Norway

H

howard

Vence, France

B

benlenarts

Netherlands

Malariologist

Heidelberg, Germany, Germany

Roy

Espoo, Finland

V

Vivek

Arlington, VA, United States

BB

Ben Bellows

United States

PG

Paul Graham

United States

RV

Rob Van Dam

United States

M

Maiia

United Kingdom

Ask Edward a question about this project, share news and photos of your own, or send a simple note of thanks or inspiration.

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  • andyfletcher    Feb 3, 2018

    Hello Edward,
    How is the pharmacy doing? Do you have any news of your payments?

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  • Edward    Nov 7, 2017

    I have had a problem with my MTN payment line I am working to resolve it but if it keeps too long I will have to use alternative means.
    I have sent a ticket to the office about alternative means of payment in such cases. So I will make my payment very soon.
    Thank you.

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  • Evans    Nov 5, 2017

    dear lender's,
    I did my best reach Edward but all to no avail,i will continue to try and find out what exactly is preventing him from making payments.
    Thanks

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  • Edward    Oct 30, 2017

    I have been a very difficult time with my business in an up and way..kindly permit me with this as I work fro dawn to dusk to get up on my feet..
    Thank you all..

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  • Edward    Oct 8, 2017

    Hello Dear lenders. Thank you for your help. Am back to business but slowly picking up..
    Thank you very much.

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  • Evans    Oct 3, 2017

    Dear lender's,
    I had the opportunity to talk to this assigned member about his repayments and promised to clear as soon as possible.

    Thanks

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  • Edward    Aug 7, 2017

    My market is now getting back...thanks for your patience..with this current development I will be able to repay well..

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  • Edward    Jul 6, 2017

    Hello my dear lenders, I am thankful for your help and support. Business is down as a result of the rains but will pick up soon.
    Thank you ..

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  • Edward    May 28, 2017

    Thank you my dear lenders and the community for you have been of so much help to me. I am gratful.

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  • Edward    Jul 18, 2016

    Hello my dear friends, greetings from Ghana. Business have just picked up again after the heavy rains. Am very sure that a month from now i will be able to increase my repayment amount to the standard it was before the disruptions.
    Before that, i want to say thank you very much for you patience in my moments of struggle. God bless you all...

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  • Edward    Jun 18, 2016

    Hello my dear lenders. I trust that you are all doing well. I came to inform you of my desire to reduce my schedule. We just got into the rainy season and business has been very very slow.
    So there is a huge down pour of rains and down turn of businesses in general but mine in particular.
    Me, not wanting to reschedule has and is bringing me into default. I hate it very much to not keep up but this is my only option. To reschedule.
    Kindly bear with me. I want you to know that i very greatfully appreciate you for your Help.
    Thank You very much for your patience.
    Regards,
    Edward(Ghana)

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  • Edward    Apr 25, 2016

    Hello to my dear lenders and family and friends. As i informed you on my profile page about a problem i was having with my network operator, i was given one option the last time i went to MTN office. I wrote an email to Zidisha Support to inform the office so they can help me out with an option to repay my loan. As i write, it has been more than one whole week now and no one is replying to that email i sent. looking at my loan page too, repayments are pilling up. My VM called me to discuss about rescheduling, but as the problem exist, even if i reschedule very soon it will be one week again and since the SIM card issue is still pending, and Zidisha is not replying so i will know how and what to do, how do i reschedule..?
    Am hugely disappointed, is not that business is bad. So looking at how things are going, if i do not reschedule,The next thing is that the system will automatically send messages to my referees asking for mediation. An embarrassment i do not want to face. So i will reschedule and keep sending mails to the office whiles i wait for their reply.
    Thank you my dear lenders..

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  • Evans    Apr 22, 2016

    Hi lenders, i contacted Edward on cell phone and the result I got from him is there was a problem with his sim that why he miss repayments.

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  • Edward    Apr 20, 2016

    Hello to my dear lenders and friends, thank you for all your support and help. i have missed some payments for about two weeks and am here to explain. However, business is really ok and sales is good too.
    About Two weeks ago my service provide dd a certain maintenance. Right after that i could not have access to my account and thus could not check, receive nor send funds out.The payment system was telling me to try again later and it has been so since.
    Now i have been to the office since . However, MTN claim their system is working perfectly but i still do not have access. They instructed i swap my sim into another phone and see but it is still the same. Now i met other people from my community at their office with the same problem.
    For this to persist for more than two weeks now is killing my hopes and just yesterday they gave us an option. I have written to the office to inquire if that is possible. if approved then i will use that option.
    this is why i have not changed my schedule payments and for the fact that sales is very good. So that is the problem at hand now but i am sure Zidisha will have a nice option for such a situation. it is very unfortunate but please bear with me as i await the reply from the office.
    thank you all for your patience in advance..
    regards,
    edward..

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  • Edward    Mar 30, 2016

    Hello to my dear lenders, I made payment over the weekend on 25th 0f March but it has not shown and I have sent a letter to office to seek for support..

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    • Roy    Mar 30, 2016

      Thank you Edward.... You need not worry so. It has been recorded.

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  • Edward    Mar 8, 2016

    hello my dear friends, i made my payment on 7th and i hope that it appears very soon thank you...

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  • Edward    Feb 19, 2016

    Hello my dear Lenders, i called in here to inform you that i have received your loan. the money have been disbursed into my account. thank you very much and God bless you all.
    i am going straight for inventory, i will keep you informed every step on the way and i will keep to my repayments as well.
    for the mean time, i say thank you. i am Grateful to you all..
    regards,
    Edward..

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  • Edward    Feb 9, 2016

    Hello and Good day to all my wonderful lenders and to all the lenders on the Zidisha Platform. I want to thank all of you for your help and the support you have always given to my community and I through the funding of my loan project on this platform.
    It has been a wonderful experience and to the old and young who can not read in my community when i explain to them where all the help is coming from, they are always amazed and although they do not really understand the concept, their last word is always this; May God bless who ever they are!!.
    For me in Person, your compassion, love, communication, sometimes asking of our where about and how we are doing with our small businesses and our lives keeps most of us going day in and day out. I have learn a great deal of Patience from all of you and i say thank you somuch for the opportunity to contribute in my community.
    I called in to inform you that i have gladly finish paying for my previous loan and i have really taking some time to reflect on it and the way forward.I did and have come to a conclusion to come back to your door steps once more for further help and support. So, i am humblely appealing to you as individuals, in groups and to your good offices and individuals for support to help me provide the pharmacy support to the people of my community.
    Thank you to all of you, i am forever gratful for giving me this opportunity.
    regards,
    Edward Marfo..

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  • Edward    Feb 3, 2016

    Hello to my dear lenders and beautiful friends. i bring you greetings from my community, Abura Dunkwa in Ghana. My community is grateful and i am personally thankful to all of you for your support and help.
    I encountered some problems with billing prescription drugs to the local clinic as the district assembly delayed much of the payments. As you can read from my repayments, i did miss some along the way but just recently all payments owed to me have been paid in full. i want to say thank you very much for your patience with me in those moments of business struggle. I have learn a lot through this process.
    I am therefore writing to inform you that i am repaying the rest of the loan outstanding. Based on our original repayment schedule, i should have finished paying if not for this problem. I am humbly submitting that you will receive the rest this week as i also scale up and reflect on the way forward.
    I am highly thankful and grateful for you support, compassion, love and patience with all of us on this platform. Thank you all very much.
    regards,
    Edward Marfo

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  • Edward    Jan 31, 2016

    My Dear Lenders,
    It happened that i was at my shop one day and this old friend of mine called Gideon came by. I have seen Gideon for a very long time and i wondered why this visit. Before he came, my shop was half empty and the hope for financial help faded away every single day from my spirit. My resolve and determination to contribute to the well being of my local and isolated community by providing them with a small pharmacy and to finding a better life for my self at least, was been broken at the face of the scorching sun each day as the local micro finance institutions will not support my pro activity..
    To them, i was too young. Gideon started talking about the internet and finally he dropped the bomb. He made mention of Zidisha, and i asked him a lot of questions about it and he finally sent me the invite and helped me with my registration process and today here am I.
    it has been a year and more since then and i want to say that my entire life have been improved greatly since coming into contact with all the beautiful people on Zidisha. My isolated community appreciate my efforts so much and that means they appreciate you kind gesture. What you have done for me and my community is truly a labor of love and we are very grateful.
    Businesses do have ups and downs no matter how small it is, i understand, but the patience of our dear lenders is far beyond patience especially when money is the subject. from sometimes rescheduling to small amounts and at times paying two days late and all that and paying on time. This does not happen anywhere except at Zidisha and i say Thank you very much for compassion and patience.
    I had a problem with the district assembly in relation to the billing of prescription drugs and it got to a time when the payments were not coming through but we got it sorted out.
    thank you Julia
    thank you the team at the support center
    thank you to all the lenders on here
    thank you to all my friends and fellow borrowers most of your stories of progress and challenges inspire me greatly.
    As i said, words alone will not be enough to express my gratitude but surely God the rewarder of people whose accepted religion of love you are promoting will bless you and reward you accordingly for all that you are doing for all of us on Zidisha.
    ..by supporting our pro-activity, you are giving us a lifetime chance.
    thank you.
    regards,
    Edward Marfo

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