Tara fashions

Hellen

Nairobi, Kenya

100% repaid

Entrepreneur

Name

Hellen

Member since

July 2015

On-time repayments

165 installments  •  92%

About Me

my name is hellen anyango sika. i am the sixth born in a family of nine. we are five ladies and four men. i did my primary school education here in nairobi at a school called city primary school. later in high school, i was taken to a boarding school and did my 'o' level at a school called nyamira girls high school. as we were growing, my mother had a sewing machine in the house and that is how i came to learn to run the machine during weekends or holidays. later before joining professional college, i did some touch up course in tailoring and also did some sales job at a company called johnson&johnson. we would move from town to town doing sales and visiting different institutions. the challenges i encountered were many since one had to work extra hard for you to attain your commission to sustain you for the rest of the month. later on, i joined temple secretarial college where i did my course in secretarial and attained my certificates. before getting a job, i did some attachment in some firm relieving someone on study leave.
later on, i joined technical fire engineers to works as a secretary. there, i worked for five years and then moved on to a hire purchase firm. there i've worked with them for more than ten years. at the same time, i had started my family so my income was becoming more and more limited, as basic needs for the family were required and economic situation in the country was not any better. that is what actually prompted me to think outside the box and diversify my income.
as for the culture where i live in. in the first place, i am intermarried and therefore the culture/customs are different from my homeland. there's an occasion for the new borns call 'itega' for welcoming the new borns. they also name children differently unlike ours. later also, during dowry negotiations, their culture/customs are different from ours which i found very interesting.
i have two children (girls). the first born is in class six and she would like to be a doctor (surgeon) when she grows up. the other one is in class three and she would like to be a teacher.
i am a very social person. i love travelling during my pastime i always like visiting friends/relatives. we have chamas that i also attend and it boosts me a lot!! and also involved in church activities like visiting the less fortunate in the society/ serving in church and social work.

My Business

i began this business roughly five years ago. i took a sacco loan at my place of work. i do tailoring and sale of tailor made, materials and assorted upholstery.
as it is at the moment, economic situation in our country is not conducive, so buying ready made clothes to most of the common mwananchi is limited. so by tailoring, i serve my customers to their satisfaction and readily available since i work with what is trending and i find it easy since most customers come knowing exactly what they want.
i chose this kind of business because it is flexible as i am able to work up to late hours and still make it to work the following morning without any hitches in the office. tailoring is not as tedious and compared to other types of manual jobs. so i enjoy sewing especially what is trending.
typical costing depends on if the material is for the customer or if the material is your and you include all round cost. any simple dress/shirt costs approximately shs. 2,000/= on the lower side. as you make decent and latest outfits, word goes round and one cannot miss on getting customers throughout. a part from that, i supplement my business with my salary and loans from chamas and sacco.
the profits goes to reinvesting in my business as trends of fashion keeps coming out every other day, so one has to move with the times. part of the profit also i use to improve my household and also savings too.

Loan Proposal

i began this business roughly three years ago. i took a sacco loan at my place of work. i do tailoring and sale of tailor made, materials and assorted upholstery.
as it is at the moment, economic situation in our country is not conducive, so buying ready made clothes to most of the common mwananchi is limited. so by tailoring, i serve my customers to their satisfaction and readily available since i work with what is trending and i find it easy since most customers come knowing exactly what they want.
i chose this kind of business because it is flexible as i am able to work up to late hours and still make it to work the following morning without any hitches in the office. tailoring is not as tedious and compared to other types of manual jobs. so i enjoy sewing especially what is trending.
typical costing depends on if the material is for the customer or if the material is your and you include all round cost. any simple dress/shirt costs approximately shs. 2,000/= on the lower side. as you make decent and latest outfits, word goes round and one cannot miss on getting customers throughout. a part from that, i supplement my business with my salary and loans from chamas and sacco.
the profits goes to reinvesting in my business as trends of fashion keeps coming out every other day, so one has to move with the times. part of the profit also i use to improve my household and also savings too.

Feedback

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Loan Info

Project Type

Classic Loan

Disbursed amount

$125.00

Date disbursed

Aug 25, 2015

Repayment status

On Time

Projected term

13 months

Lenders

PG

Paul Graham

United States

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  • Hellen    Apr 25, 2019

    Hallo. may i take this opportunity to apologize for having not kept my word. as earlier talked, things have not been working as per arranged as i had been hospitalised and also had an in patient! let me commit myself by reducing the payment rate if allowed as i had to stop the business for a while. now am back and i promise to service my loan accordingly.

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    • Nick    May 1, 2019

      sorry to hear you have been ill. Yes, please could you start your repayments now. Thank you.

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    • Nick    May 1, 2019

      sorry to hear you have been ill. Yes, please could you start your repayments now. Thank you.

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  • Geoffrey    Feb 28, 2019

    As earlier stated,i was personally looking for hellen. Now its clear that i found we talk and promised to start repaying in two weeks time. sorry for any inconvenience coursed.

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  • Hellen    Oct 30, 2018

    May i take this opportunity to thank you for disbursing my loan on time. i received Shs. 26,274 after deductions. i really do appreciate.
    i have bought my stocks i.e. materials, zippers, hooks, linings, as i had mentioned earlier. this will enable me to work without interruptions.
    Thank you so much, and be blessed!

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  • Hellen    Oct 25, 2018

    I will increase my stock of materials, i.e. buy variety and accessories such as zippers, hooks, lining, etc. This will enable me to work comfortably as I will be having all materials at hand and easen the work load.

    Thank you very much for offering me this loan. I really do appreciate. Thank you.

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  • Hellen    Oct 22, 2018

    The last loan given, i added stocks of materials to easen my tailoring. this enabled me to work throughout without getting shortages of materials as i had everything in stock. since the economy is not so stable, the movement of sales have been a bit slow though i couldn't miss earning at least 500/=. As i mentioned earlier, i engaged one employee who has been of assistance in running errands like deliveries on time thus creating employment. my family has been very supportive and this has made the business run smoothly. none of my children has been sent back home for lack of school fees. this business enable me pay for my child's educational trip which was required within a short notice period. it has really boosted her self esteem as she didnt expect to go for the trip!

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  • Hellen    Sep 14, 2018

    As i continue servicing my current loan, i would request for the payment to be spread as the previous loans. This one is really giving me a hard time to pay as the amount to be paid per week is very high and considering the state of our economy at the moment, kindly consider spreading the payment over a period of time please!

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  • Hellen    Jul 24, 2018

    I am very grateful to have received my loan of Shs. 19,408/=.
    I am planning to buy inventory variety of materials for tailoring as per my proposal. This will enable my work to run smoothly.
    Thank you so much and God bless!

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  • Nick    Jul 22, 2018

    Hi Hellen, I wish you well with your business. God bless, Nick

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  • Hellen    May 25, 2018

    Hallo, I'm trying to upload my ID card for a new loan application for the last 2 days, but i cannot. How do i go about it please?

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  • Hellen    Dec 18, 2017

    I still dont understand why i'm being told that i have arrears of Shs. 300/= yet my account is paid up to date!

    kindly confirm

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  • Hellen    Dec 8, 2017

    This is to let you know that i don't have any arrears as in the last two instalments i paid a day later than the scheduled date i.e. on 27/11/17 and 4/12/17. Kindly check my payment schedule please.

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  • Hellen    Oct 18, 2017

    Thanks so much! I received my bonus. Be blessed.

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  • Nancy Hull    Jul 22, 2017

    You have been so reliable about paying regularly and on time. Thank you for being so responsible.

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  • Hellen    Oct 19, 2016

    Wow, this is to let you know that i have received my loan!! i am very grateful. i business will continue growing!! thank you very much!

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  • Hellen    Oct 10, 2016

    hallo, this is to let you know that the previous loan assisted me in kick starting my business which has since grown and easened my burden of paying school fees for my children and also up graded my living standards.

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  • Hellen    Oct 3, 2016

    I would like to increase my stock being that we are approaching festive season, i already have many orders which i would like to deliver by the first week of December 2016. so to enable me run smoothly without hitches, i'd like to clear this loan and get another one to enable me supply my orders on time.

    the previous loan jump-started my business and so far, i'm growing by the day!

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  • Hellen    Sep 1, 2015

    This is to inform you that i'm very grateful. I received my loan and I've increased my stock in form of adding more materials and other accessories. since i used to rely solely on customers' stock, i can now boast of a variety of my own since customers can now come to choose from my variety.
    I am optimistic my sales will increase since now i have variety from which my customers can choose from.
    I'm giving myself one month from which I'll have realised a difference in form of sales and other achievements.
    During school holidays, children are all over as in they are up and about. The environment is more noisy because they have all activities going on as in competition in all sorts! Bonding is also essential, as that's the time one can get to know more about the children's well being and shortcomings! They are now back to school.
    Hoping to keep you posted on all developments!!

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  • Bernard    Aug 17, 2015

    Hope you are now fine with the entire processes. Wishing you the best. If possible you can convert the amounts to dollars, You can achieve that by dividing it with 100. The dollar is currently more strong. Thank you.
    Mentor, Bernard

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