December 18, 2014
Zambia
Luka Nsamba, 32-years old Angolan and father of three, was so determined to gain new knowledge in order to improve his business that he has closed his grocery shop for five days and cycled 30 kilometers every day to attend business skills training organized by Caritas Czech Republic from 27th to 31st October 2014 in Meheba refugee settlement.
Mr. Nsamba started with business in early age as he could not continue with his secondary education due to financial constraints in the family. However due to starting business he managed to complete the secondary school and continued with piggery business until he opened his grocery shop in Meheba, Block A, four years ago. Nowadays he is the bread-winner of the family and five people depend on his business.
He shared with Caritas Czech Republic team that after attending the training he is putting in practice the knowledge gained during the training and improving his business step by step. His target was to improve his knowledge about record keeping and marketing in order to improve his business. His dream is to have a big shop and hammer mill.
Now after attending the training, he is taking record keeping very seriously. At the moment he keeps track of all purchased goods, transportation, airtime and all expenditures associated with stocking of his shop. Moreover he keeps record of all sold items, which allows him to calculate the profits of the business. Luka admits that he was not that precise with his records before attending the training.
Similarly he did not fully understood the importance of regular stock control, but now he learnt how monthly stock control can be beneficial for the business. Mr. Nsamba can now every month see if the amount of the stock remaining in his shop agrees with his sale records and thus avoids losses in the business. He is also planning setting monthly allowance for his family members and employees in order to avoid those taking items for family use and to be able to keep the track of his actual profit.
In the past customers had to ask for the items and they did not know what variety of goods Luka was offering. After attending the training Luka now takes marketing and customer care seriously. He makes sure all the items are displayed neatly and dusted to catch the eye of potential customers. Customers are now feeling like at home since Luka warmly welcomes them and smiles understanding the importance of customer care.
“This training has really opened my business mind. I see the things much more differently now and there are many things which can improve my business which never crossed my mind” said Mr. Nsamba. “That is why I kept cycling every day to be able to attend the training and learn many new things.”
The training was conducted by Caritas Czech Republic under the project “Improving Livelihoods through Integrated Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training and Support of Income Generating Activities in Meheba and Mayukwayukwa resettlement areas” funded by UNHCR within the Local Integration programme. A total of seventeen men and three women running small businesses in Meheba refugee settlement attended and successfully completed the training. Same training for interested entrepreneurs was also conducted in Mayukwayukwa refugee settlement.
Entrepreneurship trainer: James Malala, Caritas Czech Republic
Success story collected by: Ndeya Makayi, field officer of Caritas Czech Republic
Written by: Zuzana Filipova (CCR, project coordinator)
