By Betsy Ramser Jaime
‘Being from a family that has nothing brings about the zeal to make it in life’, shares Victor Fadeyi. Growing up in the center of poverty, Victor knew that he would need to work hard, but was willing to put in the effort to make it happen.
As a student, he studied Mass Communications at university and knew that once he graduated working in an office would not be a good fit for him. As he shares, ‘I know that I am not the kind that sits in an office with air conditioning blowing but the kind that works on the field and create jobs for others.’
With this in mind, even before he graduated, he started to learn about laundry and cleaning services. He knew that this was what he wanted but was patient in allowing it to happen. As he saved the money to open his laundry business, he worked as a cab driver.
Today Victor is so grateful that his laundry business is able to support his family and even pay for an education for his two children, explaining, ‘I will never allow them to suffer the way I did.’
In his business, Victor provides laundry and cleaning services for those that either do not have the time or strength to do their own laundry or clean their homes themselves. His business also offers dying and stain removal services as well.
Because of the professional way in which he conducts his business, he finds that he gets quite a bit of repeat business. To describe the customer experience, Victor says, ‘We get the laundry from their various home and get back to them neat and well packaged.’ In a typical week, he’s able to earn around 5,000 Nigerian Naira.
So far, in his time with Zidisha, Victor has successfully raised six Zidisha funded loans, ranging from $4 to $145. These loans have allowed him to continually make improvements and changes to his business.
Starting in June 2019, Victor raised two $4 loans which helped him to purchase some materials and continue his marketing efforts to promote his business.
Soon after, in July, Victor raised $36 and was able to purchase a new steam iron to replace one that had stopped working. He also raised another loan in July, this one for $70 and with the funds, he intended to start saving to expand his business by renting a shop or opening an office.
On Jul 20, 2019, Victor took to his discussion board and shared that the new iron was working out very well for him, he shared, ‘Thanks to Zidisha, my business is getting better and ironing of clothes is easier as I bought a new steam iron. I delivered laundries back to customers faster than before. Thank you so much.’
With more space, Victor knew that this would allow him to take on more business and by doing so, he also hoped that he would be able to hire one employee to assist him in the business.
By August 2019, Victor was hoping to put more efforts into marketing and promoting his business by using hand bills, signs, business cards and banners. With a $102 loan from Zidisha lenders, he was able to make this happen.
In business and in life, as soon as you solve one problem, another one seems to pop up. For Victor, he saw his next business improvement being a new washing machine so that he could operate faster and more efficiently. Fortunately, he was able to raise the $145 necessary to purchase his new machine.
Coming from a childhood of poverty, to college graduate and entrepreneur, Victor has come unbelievably far in his life with a strong work ethic and a belief in himself. In his own words, ‘The Sky is my limit, that I am sure.’
Would you like to make a difference in the life of an entrepreneur and family like Victor’s? Make sure to head on over to our Browse Projects to read about other inspiring Zidisha business owners.
