By Betsy Ramser Jaime
‘My name is Olaleye Oluwaseun, but I’m called “Olabode”. I am a Nigerian citizen and the firstborn of my parents. It is not easy to be the firstborn, as the firstborn is expected to help feed the family.’
Olabode is a graduate of Kwara State Polytechnic, where he studied Computer Science.
Today, he has his own shop, buying and selling laptop computers and accessories including, chargers keyboards, and mice.
Like many Zidisha entrepreneurs that are starting out, Olabode joined the Zidisha community highly knowledgeable in his field and ready to provide a much needed business in his community. But, without the upfront capital, he was struggling to get things up and running.
Fortunately with 8 Zidisha funded loans to date, Olabode has been able to slowly and surely bring his business to new heights.
When he first started his shop, he only sold re-furbished laptops as he was struggling to afford to stock new ones. But, as his customers have started requesting new ones, he is working to use his Zidisha funded loans, to finance the purchase of new ones.
Olabode has also found that he can diversify his income streams beyond just selling laptops. He also offers additional services like home delivery and computer repairs.
With his first few loans in 2020, Olabode, stocked up on chargers, speakers, flash drives, keyboards, printers, phones, and other computer acccessories and products.
In June 2020, he raised $862 from Zidisha lenders and shared, ‘During this time, my business has been moving better than before, because people need laptop computers and accessories (chargers, etc.) to be able to do online businesses for them to earn money. My business helps them to be able to work from home. I also do home delivery for people who prefer not to leave their home. Funds are needed to stock enough goods to sell, so I could make a lot of profit.’
Recently, on February 17, 2022, Olabode took to his discussion page to share about his positive experience working with the Zidisha community as he wrote, ‘Zidisha is the best lending platform I have come across, the repayment of loan is a way too easy and the best for doing business, I thank all the lenders that made this possible for people like us to be able to do business.’
Would you like to make a difference in the life of an entrepreneur that is just getting their business off the ground? Make sure to head on over to our Browse Projects page to see what other Zidishha business owners like Olabode are doing around the world to enhance their communities.
Betsy is a Writer and Editor living in Florida with her husband. She has been writing with Zidisha for 5 years and loves sharing the inspiring stories of Zidisha entrepreneurs. You can connect with her on her personal website.
