By Betsy Ramser Jaime
‘I have been faced with a lot of challenges, but have been able to overcome them’ shares entrepreneur Daniel Malului of Ngong, Kenya. Growing up in a rural area, Daniel attended primary school, secondary school, and also went to college for a course in Shipping. Sadly, he wasn’t able to take the final exam, as he didn’t have the funds to pay.
As a new Zidisha entrepreneur in 2015, Daniel got started with two loans. With the first, he raised $50 and with the second, $100. With the funds, he purchased spare part stock and he especially focused on tires. He shared, ‘We are approaching the rainy season here in Kenya. During the rainy season, motorbike tires record the highest sales. I would be very grateful to Zidisha lenders for considering my loan application and for helping me to achieve my dream of becoming the leading supplier of motorbike parts in my town.’
By the end of the year, the rain continued to fall, and Daniel found himself running out of inventory. Fortunately, his Zidisha lenders came through with a loan of $199 allowing him to buy additional rear shock absorbers. Buying them for $20 USD wholesale, he then was able to sell them for $40 each, making $20 USD per unit.
In 2016, Daniel found himself really short on inventory. With two substantial Zidisha funded loans, of $563 and $1,390, he was able to re-purchase the parts that he had been lacking in his stock.
Here are some of the parts that he purchased: Sproket chain, Tube, Break Shoes, Speed Clock, Mirror Holder, Gel Battery, CDI, Tires, Side Mirrors, Batteries, Lubricant Engine Oil, Head Lights, and Steering Wheels.
He was also able to use the remainder of these loans to renew his business permit, a $120 cost, and also hire some local members of his community to help him around the shop.
Typically, Daniel has a profit margin of at least 50% on the spare parts that he sells.
Recently, Daniel decided that he was ready for a new project, as he started in the water purification business. He shared his loan proposal with lenders in April and said, ‘Hello Lenders, first and foremost I want to take this opportunity to thank you so much for your previous loan it really did wonders to my business. My new project of water purification is on and running now and I need to purchase PET bottles in bulk for bottling drinking water. This will ensure my business is in the right gear for taking off. I kindly request you all to fund my project to enable me grow my business.Thank you and God bless you.’
Would you like to support a motivated and hardworking business owner like Daniel? Make sure to head on over to our Browse Projects page to read about the other amazing entrepreneurs in the Zidisha community!
