My name is Millicent Odotte and I am 44 years old and a single mother of two lovely girls, Irene and Caroline ,aged nine and six years old respectively. I was born in the year 1970 and I grew up in a large family of seven. My parents were hard working and they saw each of my siblings through school.
After my high school, I joined a college called Ashley’s school of hairdressing and beauty in Nairobi for two years where I graduated with a diploma in beauty therapy .I then got employed in various salons where I used to work as a beautician..I gained a lot of experience through this and it was an eye opener to me because I did not know there was a lot going on in the beauty industry prior to my joining the profession. I learned a lot and also did much research on new products that were up-coming in the market and that made me be very knowledgeable in the art of beauty.
I then decided quit my job and to use my little savings to start a hair salon six months ago on full-time basis. I opened the salon which could caters for most clients from the low income neighborhood suburbs and which could at the same time also offers employment to most girls who had just finished school and on the job training. I have established my hair salon in Umoja estate just a few kilometers from where I live in buru buru phase one. It is just a walking distance from my house hence very convenient to me. This has opened opportunities to most talented girls who would otherwise be jobless, and now they can come to the salon and learn how to do hair and to how to massage and apply various make-up on the clients under my close supervision. The process has been rewarding especially seeing the change that it has brought to the lives of these girls and the improvement in their lives. Clients continue to increase in my business through word of mouth advertisement and personal referrals. The good work that we do has given us a lot of business.
The proceeds from the business I use to pay the rent for the salon and commissions to the girls who work for me at the salon. I also buy the hair products for use and various equipments like a hair drier and hair clips some which I bought recently from the proceeds. I buy at least one equipment every month and I am fore- seeing the salon being fully equipped through loans from zidisha, which will help reduce financial pressure on the salon’s revenue, hence freeing some money to be used for hiring additional workers to expand the income base.
My hobbies include spending time with my girls during my free time, cooking, knitting, going to picnics with my daughters and taking part in community development activities within my church and estate.
My source of income is mainly from my salon business. The customers have increased tremendously over the few months we have been in business with the majority of them being direct referrals from our return clients who are happy with our service at the salon.
In a low day we serve from about 15 clients while in a busy day we serve over 50 clients who pay once the work is done to their satisfaction. The salon is very busy over the weekends and public holiday’s .because most of our clients are at home over the weekends and they would like their hair to be made for the new week.
The demand for salon work is very high since this is a major city and most ladies would like to look smart and presentable in the office and in business. The advantage my salon has over the competition is that I opened it as a training venue for girls who have just finished school and who would like to venture in beauty industry as a career. This has brought me so many referral clients from the girls, their parents and the clients. This has given me a head start above the competition. Another point is that in my salon, we strive to work on the clients faster, so that there are no delays, and because there are many ladies in the salon, it makes work move faster and clients do not waste time in the salon waiting. This has made my salon popular because the clients know they will not be taking much time once they come to be served in my salon.
My business is profitable because of the many clients that we serve per day, and also because the students that I train in my salon also pay a fee towards their training. The risks my business faces is the high costs of hair treatment products and equipment given that I started the salon single handedly with very little savings from my previous job. Another risk is the loss of qualified work force, this happens when competition poaches some of my best workers by giving the enticing offers which they find hard to resist. I am working hard top remedy these challenges through seeking loans from zidisha to boost my financial base and help me purchase equipment and also increase the incentive schemes to my workers so that they are not attracted by false offers given by the competition. The loan from zidisha will enable me to buy equipment for the salon such as a hair drier.
My monthly costs is $ 1,200 including rent $ 400, payment of commissions to the beauticians and hair dressers, $ 700 and payment of electricity and water and utilities $100.
My monthly revenue is $ 1,600. This leaves me with a profit of $ 400.This $ 400 will enable me to repay the loan from zidisha comfortably. Hence my request for help so that I can purchase the equipment needed like the hair drier which I currently desperately need at the salon.
With the loan,I will purchase two hair dryers for my Salon.The price is around $ 120 .The benefit it will create is that I will be able to serve more customers and meet the demand for increased number of clients.I expect my profits to increase by 40 percent.Thanks.