By Betsy Ramser Jaime
Okolocha Ogochukwu is from Nigeria and resides in port Harcourt Rivers state. He is proud to call himself both a graduate and now a supermarket owner as well. For his business, he operates his supermarket 7 days a week and on top of that, he is is also a husband and father to 4 children.
To describe his business, he shares, ‘I own a super market at Mgbuoba Port Harcourt Rivers state of Nigeria. I deal in provisions of cosmetic articles and food stuff. I also deal in house hold items like plates, frying pan, spoons, and forks flask and baby items. I make daily sales of 10000 to 15000. I operate Monday through Saturday and a half day on Sunday.’
Okolocha is fairly new to the Zidisha community, having just joined in June 2019. However, he’s certainly made up for lost time, raising 7 loans in the short span of 5 months. Starting with a mere $14 loan in June, he was able to start by adding a few new items to his supermarket stock.
A month later, he found himself able to successfully raise 3 additional loans, in the amounts of, $22, $24, and $27.
With his $22 loan he shared, ‘I will go to market and buy goods for my shop for my customers. I will buy cosmetics and articles and provision and food stuff. I will buy houses hold items like plates frying pan spoons and forks and flaskes which customers are looking for. I will also buy diapers for babies and wipes and baby products.’
As he continued to grow in his business, Okolocha was able to take the feedback that he was getting from customers to grow and make changes to his business and overall stock. For his next July loan, he focused on increasing his stock of cosmetics, which his customers were asking for. He also made the decision to purchase more diapers for babies and to offer a wider variety of sizes and brands.
Later in July, as he received his next loan for $27, he focused on increasing his stock of food products such as, ‘rice and beans.’ He also found that customers were asking for more household products so he also increased his inventory of ‘plates, frying pans, spoons,’ and other household items.
As the month of August rolled around, Okolocha knew that this would be an important time of year for business as he was in the midst of back to school for the children and also approaching the Christmas season.
With a $159 loan from Zidisha lenders in August, Okolocha set to work stocking up on rice for his customers. He also found that the baby products that he sold seemed to do very well so he also focused on his stock of diapers, baby wipes, and creams.
Shortly thereafter, Okolocha requested a $175 loan from investors and shared, ‘As the season is fast approaching, I will use the money to buy bags of rice, tomatoes, cosmetics, house hold items, and especially back to school items. As school has just resumed, I need to buy school bags, water flasks, lunch pack, stockings and others. A lot to buy but limited money.’
Most recently, as Okolocha raised over $200 in October, he was excited to update his lenders as he said, ‘With this new loan I will still buy more of drinks and cosmetics as things will soon increase in the market. This loan will help me to restock my goods. I thank and appreciate the lenders and the entire family. Thank you so much’
Would you like to provide a loan for a business owner like Okolocha? Make sure to head on over to our Browse Projects page to read about other incredible entrepreneurs within the Zidisha community.
