My name is Esther, a single mom from the semi-arid regions of Kitui county, Kenya. I currently earn small income from casual work depending on availability of work.

Through the small saving I opened an online business where I sell handbags and shoes through social media platforms. I started the business with limited capital and it is still at an early stage but growing slowly generating a monthly profit of $20 - $35 average.

Main challenges I faced in this business are; many customers do not trust online shop without physical location, my limited capital restricted the variety and quantity of stock I can offer making it hard to reach wide range of customers, my income is too small to cover all needs and business growth and to generate sales from online or social media platform, extra marketing amount is required.

I do sale handbags and shoes through social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp. The reason I came up with these products is the fact that ladies product move well in my locality and using social media platform is because you find majority of ladies on the platform making it easier to get customers. My typical monthly profit range from $20 - $35 currently since the business is still young and growing. I use the small amount of profit generated to cater for family basic like education, rent and food making the business lack good opportunity to grow.

When I receive the funds I will boost the income generation by:

1. Increase the stock of handbags and shoes and add more varieties and designs that is different styles, designs and sizes.

2. Set up physical display point to build customers trust.

3. Invest in online marketing ads to improve my business visibility both online and locally.

This will help me attract more customers, increase trust and grow my sales consistently expecting a monthly increase of profit generated.