SEC-S20W2 | My Business Ideas | Capital Management.

Hello everyone, accept warm greeting from my motherland Cameroon .It’s another great opportunity for me to participate in this second week of Steemit Engagement.Last our topic was centered on business ideas and today we here to share our thoughts capital management.

Really willing to start a business or as a business oriented person the initially the most important needed is capital .Then strategizing how the business will move on successfully. In the below 👇 section I will be sharing my experiences focus on my own business Flora,s chicken flour .How I managed to start up my business with available I had .All my answers will focused on the guided question given .

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I earlier mentioned in my previous contest, I run a business call Flora’s chicken flour .Which means am into cakes and pastries business. Initially I started my business worth 450000cfa Cameroon currency. In steem is 26668 equivalent to 763U$.

I used the money at the beginning of business to buy my Gascooker that can help to bake and fry my spices stuffs . The remaining money . I started to buy necessary ingredients and cake accessories .For examples I bought baking pans , a bag of flour , flavors , 25 kg magerine, half carton of sugar, etc .I can say I started my business with most important need at that time and with a small capital.It’s should be noted I do it at home base on delivery.

A) Are you ending profit or incurring losses?

One important with my business pastries is that .It’s always payments be for delivery .The way i tax my costumers for good or service rendered always depend on the calculated amount of ingridents I will used .Also, my gas for a particular minutes and lastly my energy I will put on it .

There fore it’s very hard for me to say I can work on a loss .This is because my price tax my interest is already added on it .This because of energy and the service I need to render is to paid .At the end of the day if you are not okay with price there is no problem .Ingredients for pastries can stay for long without getting bad if we’ll preserve.I can only complain there is low in demand but not working on a loss.

Not withstanding a lot of people have entered in the business but it’s still profitable .My business always make profit every year , for 6years I have been in the business .It’s only one time I didn’t preserved my ingridents well that I was on a loss.For example if I invest 1000000 cFA Cameroon money .Atleast in a year I can have a gain more than the capital invested .For example we always have huge cake project that can pay 550000cfa at one quivellent to 1000U$dollars .I

Initially what you have spend so far is is not up to 350 U$ dollars. The time and energy to execute huge cake is the reason of the high payment . Therefore the business always since I started is very profitable.

B) What are your plans to make your business a more successful one ?

My plans of making my business a more successful is to look for a shop in strategic place in town . To expand my business , I mentioned in my last post I still do my business at home base on commands .My client always contact me through my Facebook page, Instergram, WhatsApp and people who know I does around my home town.Here I get more commands through my pages and do home delivery as well.

I think having a shop ,I will expand selling cake accessories.I have notice a lot of people are not into cake and accessories business .Selling the equipments including my business pastries will be more profitable .Atleast every time I will have ready pastries in my shop at any time .A costumer can past and buy any time not only based on command.

Inaddition I make sure I should not economize my ingredients doing pestries .I maintain the equality as always because customer’s satisfaction is priority. I realized alot of people are venturing into the business.Therefore to maintain my customers and get more as usual.I need to expand to make difference from the others by rendering equality services .

C) Are you reinvesting your profit or using them for your personal use.

A profiting business does not means you should reinvest every profit back into business.a The sim of the business is to have profit and achieved other goals from it .I only reinvest part of profit in to the business .Then I used the rest for saving ,in case I have other issue or a problem I used part .Also ,I can used part to excute other project for myself.

Therefore it’s advisable to used all your profit for yourself but one can save reinvest some in the business.Then use some for personal things .

D) What are your expenses for your staff?

For now I run a business on my own but as am planning to open a shop in a good lucrative area .I needs for the start to recruit one person as someone we can do sale together .Especially when am not around ,this because apart from business I have a career I still run on . Am a teacher by profession and I can’t be in the shop everyday.It’s only during my off days and weekends I can be available throughout.

My thoughts is I will pay the person depending how the business is moving on .But I think for the start I can place my worker on 35000cfa Cameroon currency but as times goes if he or she manages the business well the salary will be increaseed. Atleast 5 to 15% of the initial salary I pay my worker .

No didn’t took from any financial institution.My business capital was from my monthly saving .I earlier mentioned Iam a certified teacher by the ministry of secondary education in my country Cameroon .Every month we have fixed salary rendering these service of teaching our posted school .This help me to save and excute other projects like business.

A) If you took loan from any financial institute ,how do you repay your loan,what is the interest rate .

Fortunately I have never taken a loan for my business , my business capital where all from my monthly savings .Therefore it hard to give detail loan stuff when I have never lent money.

B)How frequently do you pay the loan installment .

From stories i get from those who borrow money for business.I learned they pay every end of the month installmentally .Depending to amount taken and percentage agreed to paid in the number of month with interest rate included.This mostly applied banks and micro financial institutions.

C) Have you ever flattered in paying of an installment.

No i have taken a loans as earlier mentioned by loans comes from my saving .I have not have any emergency thatthe money demanded is more than what I have served .

D)Working loans covers your business’s short term operational needs .Working capital loan is that which you take from am individual or financial institutions to run your business for short term.

E) Most financial institutions provide a fix amount that you can draw when you need it and return to your account . Calculated for the period you use this amount on daily basis .Do you have any such accounts or intended to have .

No have no such account , in my bank I have credited but two accounts.Billing account which is my salary account.Also known as current account and saving account which part of my salary .I have requested to always deposit part of monthly income for saving.

May be in the nearest future when I might be in need of a loan , I will get to learn about above account mentioned.

A) Do you have any plan to seek a loan from a financial institute against your property?

B)Yes what are the terms and conditions for such loans in your country?

D)Do you intend to seek a loan for your business or do you need it as a running capital ?

Eventhough,I have never borrow money to start a business but I have a small knowledge about loan in my country Cameroon.No one can tell Yes I can seek a loan in future from a financial institution but not putting my property as a collateral security . I think my monthly salary can be enough as a collateral security.Every month, they can easily cut the loan I borrow from my monthly salary.

I think the terms and conditions will only depend to the amount of loan you want to borrow. And the percentage one is supposed to be paying monthly.For those who don’t have a monthly income .May be oblige to put their property as collateral security words what they want to borrow . Also, your monthly income Will determine the bank to know the highest amount they can accept to borrow you.

Before taking a loan in Cameroon all these are taken into consideration as follows.

• What do you end as income every months.

• Is the money you want to equivalent your or guarantee the bank to loan you money .

• There most most be a colleterial security that will back up your loan.Either in kind or in cash .

• The number of months you are supposed to pay the loan .Payment most be done months .

• For a worker they document need your effective service and payslip to process your loan .

To sum it ,Business is not that way good to focused on taking a loan in all aspect to start a business.At times impression of the business at the start may not end up yielding fruit as you thought before.For example in my country Cameroon.especially in the northwest region where I live ,there is serious Anglophone crisis .At times separatist fighters will just sit and imposed one month lock like case of now .Staying in Without no commercial business open nor functioning .Everywhere locked ,these has always been in the case in my region .

Imagine loaning money for a business how will you pay after staying a months without opening your shop . At the end of the day if not careful you see yourself working on a lost . One needs to study a business well and the location you want open one well ,take precautions before going in for a loan . I would invites @eliany @inspiracion @josepha and @crismenia to participate in this contest .