Business Development, access to microfinance, and the credit crisis.

The whales pass daily, but sadly I have yet to see one. I befriended a young unemployed man, fluent in English, who had a monocular he was looking to pawn off to give him capital so he could start vending soft drinks. He wanted 2000, then said 1000, which I still thought was too high. I thought I'd see him again, but his cell battery caught fire, and its 150 Mts for a new one ($5), which he doesn't have. So perhaps this weekend I've got an adventure to look forward to - I will find him in Cariaco, a fairly large area. But I want to offer him 400 - $12. A fair price for me (seeing a whale actually would be priceless), and enough for him to buy 2 crates of fanta. What is his business plan? Simple. He has a little house he built in a good part of Cariaco, and will sell them from there. He also has a little cooler. If it doesn't work , his friend has a vegetable stall from which he'll sell them. The financial projections are simple:
7.5 Mts x 24 per case x 2 cases = 360. 40 to give him a meal or two and some change to work with. Sell at the going rate of 12.5, leading to total revenue of 600. He thinks he could do that in a day but I told him to assume he'll take a week. His gross profit would be 40%.

Sadly, microloans are hard to come by in this region, as the industry reigns itself in as repayment rates have been poor. So guys like this have to pawn off their possessions, borrow from friends, or find a low paying job and try to stash away their excess pennies.

In the west, banks have tightened their purse strings and cut back lending to small businesses, to the Central banks chagrin. This is having an effect on expansion and improvement of businesses. In the developing world, the financial crisis of 2008, along with poor repayment rates, can have a serious impact on livelihood.

In my last week in Dar, I came across a formerly homeless young man.

Perhaps Enterprise Development would be a better field for me. I love giving able individuals simple ideas to get their lives back on track and get the cash flow flowing again.