Betsy Ramser Jaime
Billy Ndolo leads a busy life, as he balances his work as a Lawyer and also builds and manages rental properties in his rural town. When he started with Zidisha, he shared that in the future he hopes to expand into other businesses such as hardware and also large scale farming.
For his work as a lawyer, Billy is employed within a law firm and also does some personal cases as well to supplement his income. As he started with Zidisha in December 2019, he began the first phase of his building project and predicted that he would be ready for stage two starting in March, 2020.
In his short time with Zidisha since 2019, Billy has raised 9 Zidisha funded loans, with 5 total loans in December. With these initial loans he found himself in a better position to build up his credit and to begin purchasing building materials.
His vision for his rental houses was to build homes with three rooms each, and four doors. In December he found himself with 90% of the materials purchased and continuing to raise funds to put towards labor and materials.
On Dec 31, 2019, Billy took to his discussion page and happily shared this update with his lenders, ‘The foundation of the houses I’m doing is already done. Walling will start in due course. Thank you.’
Shortly thereafter, in January, Billy was able to raise $55 to begin construction and almost finished up to the roof level. The following month, in February, Billy made impressive progress with a loan for $79 and one for $115, allowing him to continue purchasing materials such as doors, windows, plaster, and paint. This loan also enabled him to complete phase 1 of construction and also begin making bricks for phase 2.
Enthusiastic about his progress, Billy shared this update with his Zidisha lenders on February 2, 2020, ‘ I thank you all for granting me the loan and I’m looking forward to fully complete construction of the house by April. Thank you.’
As Billy approached lenders for a $416 loan in April, he shared, ‘I have already built and completed phase one of the low cost houses and now in the process of concluding phase 2 of the houses. I have bought most of the materials for phase 2 and I intend to start in May God willing. Zidisha has been with me through the whole journey and I thank them for that. We are still going to work but in two shifts for purposes of maintaining social distance. Our employer still intends to pay us for the next three weeks as I do work in an motor insurance company and motor vehicles are still moving around.’
As of May 1, 2020, Billy shared on his discussion page that the bricks are completed and he is hoping to start construction in one month.
Would you like to make a difference in the life of an entrepreneur like Billy? Make sure to head on over to our Browse Projects page to read about incredible Zidisha business owners around the globe.
