Like all business visits, the objective of this field visit was to (1) see the state of young mothers’ businesses, (2) provide coaching to help young mothers generate increased profit, and (3) understand the current life condition of young mothers in business.
To help provide EBLI with more information about the state of her business, Anna completed a questionnaire regarding the health of her business, and together with Michael and Lucy, listed a number of actionable commitments to improve business operations. One copy of these commitments was left with the young mother, and the other copy remained with Michael and Lucy. This way, in follow-up visits, each knows exactly what was agreed upon as necessary to better the health of the business. Additionally, two customers were interviewed to gain their perspective on what Anna is doing well and what she needs to improve upon.
Anna graduated from EBLI computer literacy and business skills training in our third overall batch, and now has two children, ages seven and three. Her salon caters mostly to female clients, but occasionally men as well. On average, Anna earns TZS 300,000 (USD 137.30) per month in profit, far more than the average monthly income for a Tanzanian of just USD 65.70. To grow her business, Anna will focus on the following action items:
- Competitors: Consider how to differentiate from the many competitors in the neighborhood.
- Record keeping: Continue tracking all sale and expense records to understand profit and loss.
- Staff: Consider hiring a new assistant for the busy weekend period in order to better serve all customers.
- Products: Increase the number of products (wigs, cosmetics, medicine) available to customers.
- Price: Post a pricing sign for all services offered on the wall of the salon for transparency.