Selling vertical bags to small-scale farmers

Entrepreneur

About Me

My name is Gabriel Kariuki,i am a marketer by profession,I hold a masters degree in business administration (operations management option (UON) a bachelor degree in business management- marketing option (MKU) I describe myself as a honest,aggressive & an ambitious person,generally am an achiever.
I come from Kirinyaga county in central KENYA,My constituency Mwea is known for rice production,85% supply of rice in east Africa comes from this region.
Currently in solar lighting business as an LME(last mile entrepreneur).
I have noted that many Kenyans in the village interiors live below the poverty line and can hardly afford to pay for electricity connections in their home.
I note that most of the village dwellers lack information and end up spending a lot on paraffin for lighting which despite having high cost on them its also have health implications.
My main motivation to solar business was triggered by my relentless efforts in advocating for use of green products and the need to embrace the green concept in the community.
I note that solar lamp lighting has no negative implications on the environment in its generation,manufacturing and use and also solar lamps are health conscious to the users unlike normal lanterns which emit a sharp smoke which hurts children eyes when they study and also cause serious chest complications if inhaled for a prolonged period.
Solar lighting provides a long term benefit in a cost effective way.

Recently i introduced energy saving cook stoves to my product line.
I have noted that 90% of Rural homes rely on open fire for their cooking,where research has proved that every home spends between $1.5-2 dollars on firewood daily on their cooking, i noted increase in expenditure/costs on firewood which seems very unfavorable to the rural homes most of whom who leave below poverty line and can hardly bare any further increase on firewood costs.As a way of giving back to the society & caring for the enviroment i decided to introduce the philips energy saving jiko which can reduce the daily spending on firewood for rural homes to costs of between $0.2 to 0.5 dollars daily thus about 80% reduction in costs on firewood.Generally philips jiko uses Biomass i.e dried cow dung,rice husks,wood pellets(complessed sawdust) to burn hence does not rely wholly on firewood.
I note that through the philips Jiko the traditional norm of deforestation by charcoal burners will be reduced by 80% hence benefiting/saving the enviroment.
Also unlike the open fires which pose serious health and safety hazards implications to the Rural homes users ,i note that the Philips energy saving Jiko has an inbuilt fan that blows in air in the jiko thus ensuring complete combustion and eliminating 96% of smoke,this makes the jiko user friendly,safe and healthy to use because unlike the open fire where the user is exposed to smoke which is not healthy and also hazard of open fire has been past associated with burning of houses.With Philips energy saving Jiko all these hazards have been controlled.hence I find the jikos not only effective but also efficient to use interms of cost saving,health, safety but also in saving our enviroment from illegal tree cutting by charcoal burners.

My main selling points is based on emphasis on the benefits thus a cost effective,quality,safety,health and enviromentally friendly products with long term benefits.













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My Business

My business activity revolves around buying solar lamps from major distributors in town and selling these solar lamps to the customers in the village interiors.My main target groups include investment groups in the village,women merry go round groups etc.Upon confirming when these groups are meeting i usually request for time allocation.Where i do my presentations, this involve introducing the products and training them on the benefits of using solar products.
In a week am able to sell 4-7 pieces with each piece making a profit of ksh 500.
With now energy cook stoves in my product line my profit margins have grown to $3500 dollars in a month.
My business is now fully incorporated into a private limited company, This has given me an upper hand in business since i am currently able to apply and target bulk orders from corporate s and government organizations

Loan Proposal

Organic farming is the healthiest option to contain lifestyle diseases,I have noted that today land has become a big challenge in Kenya today and farming expenses have also become unbearable for small scale farmers.The quality of vegetables being sold in the market are full of chemicals hence causing serious health implications to the consumers.
I have visited one of agricultural firms here in Kenya and i have been taught on use of vertical bags for farming and Organic farming.The bags come in sizes of Large, Medium and Small with the bags being able to hold 100, 80 and 60 plants respectively. The bag is ideal for small scale farmers & farmers also at urban centers the cost of farming using vertical bags is 80% less expensive compared to open garden farming. The vertical bags offers a customer a chance to control the quality of vegetables they eat through embracing of organic farming.The vertical bags also offers customers the chance to fully optimize the waste water in their homestead,A customer just needs to irrigate the vegetables an average of 5-15 liters of water on plants depending on the size of the bag.I consider the vertical bags the best solution to food security & vegetable hygiene for both the customers in rural and urban centers.
As a distributor plan to target women groups, self help group, and churches for my marketing. My main selling points will include Cost effectiveness,affordability,hygiene and convenience.The selling price of the vertical bags is Kshs 1000, 800 and 600 for the large, medium and small bags respectively.Profit margin stand at Kshs 200 per bags for every size bag sold.
With my current customer base i project to make a sale of 50 bags in a week hence i plan to repay the loan using the proceeds from the vertical bags sales.
I wish thank the lenders for having supported me in past in my green products projects and i kindly wish to request for their support in making this new business project a reality.

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