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Posted September 4, 2009 We would like to feature this story and pictorial by Wordsworth Rashid, now the proprietor of a mini shop in a densely populated neighborhood of Lilongwe, Malawi. The store has been an instant success. It's not just because of the startup funding provided by LifeNets. It's also because of the discipline, accountability, record-keeping and hard work put in by Wordsworth and his family. We are happy to share this report with you as it represents successful outcomes of LifeNets mission.
A REPORT ABOUT THE GROCERY STORE BUSINESS by Wordsworth Rashid
LIPASI Mini Shop is in Area 25 to the north of Lilongwe the capital city of Malawi this is one of the most populated areas in Lilongwe District since it’s close to Kanengo Industrial site.
The shop is just close to LifeNets office where I stay. This is one of the best places for business since it holds people of different classes; high, middle and even low. LIPASI which stands for Linda, Paul and Simeon (my children) as a Min shop was started on December 30 with a small capital of MK22,409.00 from my living expenses. On January 13, 2009, LifeNets boosted the shop by assisting me with a grant of MK40,000.00 to make the capital come to MK62,409.00. LifeNets has also assisted me with a deep freezer and I am able to keep cold drinks, milk margarine and many more.
The location is best for this kind of business since it is far from other shops as a result people do walk just a short distance and find what they want and therefore they can even send children without any fear; this makes us to have more customers with less competition. The shop is also near a minibus stage, a condition which boosts the sale of soft drinks during hot days as the people wait for their lifts to town, we even sale more airtime (phone units) based on this fact. This also helps us to spend a little as we
transport our goods from town to the shop as a result we still manage to attain better profit though we stay far from our suppliers. Our Catchment Area is of about 300m radius so it provides us with a lot of customers. But I did not want to depend on the customers from around but also on those who pass by that’s why I chose to be at the very side of the road and also near a minibus stage
With the help of Beverly Kubik, Jennifer Myers and Christina Davis, we have been exposed to profitable business management principles. We have also learnt to keep business records which helps to trace the progress of the business. This was made possible through the guide from LifeNets and other sources. We also sensitize other church members who are running different kinds of business on business management and organization with the hope that this would bring a great success and will lead to the betterment of our livelihoods.
On Fridays before sunset more customers gather at the shop window to buy things in advance because they know we close after sunset till Saturday also after sunset. Customers are always surprised when we close the shop during High Days. They could not understand why we abandoned bread and other yeasty food items during Days of Unleavened Bread.
Based on the site of the shop we serve a
lot of people; those from around us and even the passersby since
the shop is along the road and close to a minibus stage.
Therefore when choosing a site for my business I considered how many people would be served and how I could reach their demand as; where I would get the goods and how much I ought to spend to transport the goods. For the shop to run there are several
policies which are applied and followed for the shop to be
successful. The shop attendants make sure that they list every
item they have sold throughout the selling period of the day;
this makes it easy to detect which items sell fast than others,
it also makes it easy to know the purchasing power of the
customers during month ends and mid moth when more employed
persons have received their salaries and at the middle of the
month when people spend carefully, this realized through cross
checking the daily sales reports to note the average sales of
the first week, the mid weeks and the last week of the month.
The details about the purchasing power of the customers, is well demonstrated in the graph below
A GRAPH SHOWING THE PURCHASING POWER OF THE
CUSTOMERS ACROSS A MONTH
We also prepare a monthly Expenditure Balance Sheet to follow the cash from the sales and how it is being spent in terms of purchases and utilities. This can help to quickly detect when the cash is missing or has been misused this is possible since this sheet is checked on every purchasing day to know if the amount of the available cash corresponds with the sum of the sales from the last purchasing day to the next purchasing day. We also make sure that we keep all the Cash sales so that once we encounter any problem with any item we are able to follow up and claim for compensation. This does even help us to know which wholesalers sell at good prices so it limits the chances of buying things at higher under the possibilities of buying them at the right prices.
Despite being the owner of the shop I make sure that I pay for every item that I need based on the true profit that I make at the end of every stock taking period. I make sure that there is a special record where it is recorded whenever I have taken anything on credit so that I should make sure that I pay for it.
Finally, to say about this kind of business it is a good kind of business if one can consider the policies like those under use in my business even at the minimal level. When choosing the site for the businesses choose the place near the
source of the distributors of the items to be sold. Making sure that the shop attendant whether yourself should list every item that is sold, preparing a separate balance sheet on every purchasing day to see how profit you would expect to make from the items purchased. One should also prepare a monthly Expenditure Balance Sheet to follow the cash from the day to day sales and how you spend for purchases. One should make sure to pay for every item taken from the shop.
I would like to develop further in business and be self employed so that I will be able to freely and voluntarily work for LifeNets in supporting other peoples projects at the same time be able to give full support to my family.
More Photos:
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