Solomon is a young electrician in Lawra. He learnt his trade in 2009 when his friend opened an electrical shop and took Solomon on as a sales boy. He started learning some basic electrician skills and going out on contracted work, picking up knowledge as he went. The ATE grant Solomon received in February 2014 meant he could set himself up to go out to work for himself. He bought some materials from the nearby town, Wa and started operating a mobile business, going out to customers when they call for his services. A lot of people in Lawra had his contact details already from his work in the shop, so he had an existing customer base who knew him and knew his skills.
Solomon records his earnings every day and looks at his profit margins every two months. Some months he gains and some months he doesn’t. The last two months have been extremely busy for him, however he hasn’t been able to record a profit as a lot of this businesses has been based on credi and he hasn’t been paid in full yet. Through the ATE workshop he says that he learnt about asking customers to pay half so that his business capital remains intact. However, he has found this difficult to implement as they can’t all pay that much. He manages this by spreading the credit across his customers so that for example those who can, pay 70% and those who struggle, pay say 30%.At the moment this system means that he doesn’t have a lot of stock as it is difficult to replenish it when customers don’t pay on time. He estimates that he currently has about 400 Ghc in stock and 150 Ghc in savings. He recently used 300 Ghc of his savings to buy the electrical supplies so he explains that once he gets through the stock his savings will increase again.
Solomon exhausted his one year contract with ATE in February 2015 but during that year ATE representatives would meet with him on a monthly basis to look at his earnings with him and suggest ways to improve on sales. This was valuable as Solomon explains that there is a lot of competition in the area. He now understands that customers want someone who is honest, punctual and gives good value for money and by meeting these expectations he gets repeat customers and recommendations. In his experience he has learnt that some customers prefer the cheaper electrical items but they break and then they complain so now he only buys quality electrical items to ensure his customers will be happy with the job. The particular business challenge that Solomon has identified in which he would benefit from further guidance, is how to gain reliable suppliers as he finds that the prices in Wa often change, are often too high and the things he needs are not always in stock. This adds to the difficulty that he has in making any profit on his supplies such as cable. He finds that he usually has to sell it to customers at cost price or they insist on coming to town to buy from the shop themselves. He goes on to explain that business is on and off as it is affected by the seasons. Currently it is raining season and during this time there is not much money around, consequently there is not so much work. Solomon is confident that this will improve come October.
Solomon is the sole breadwinner for his household. His father is a wheelchair user, his mother doesn’t work and his younger sister is at senior high school so Solomon bears the costs of her school fees and provisions. Given that the family rely so heavily on his earnings, Solomon says that it feels good to be running his own business in order to support them.
ATE is very impressed with the work Solomon has carried outin the short time since his grant, and we wish him the best of luck as he continues to develop his business.
