Microcredit = maximum results!

Microcredit equals maximum results!

How much capital do you need to start a company? £10,000…£20,000 or how about £10? Could you do it with so little? In some Third World countries microcredit is used by aid agencies to support and grow small businesses. In honour of those who survive in this way the women of Soroptimist International of Ilkley decided to give it a try.

Under the leadership of past President Liz Stringer members issued themselves with a “virtual” £10 start-up loan as the capital for a “business” of their choice. And the plan was that at the end of the year all profits would be donated to Project SIerra: A Family and a Future. As well as running healthcare, training and education programmes Project Sierra’s microcredit loans enable teenage mums from Sierra Leone to start a business and so feed, clothe and educate their children. In this way young women and their tiny microcredit businesses are helping to stabilise the shaky, post civil war economy of their country.

In Sierra Leone a microcredit loan might buy a sewing machine or cooking equipment but as club members planned their businesses they quickly realised that their assets were their hobbies and a huge network of family and friends. In all twenty-four small businesses were started and the variety was huge. Pat Ansell and Barbara Lockwood of “Bloomers” sold plants and flowers they had raised themselves. Whilst Margaret Cook’s “Cook’s Tours” ferried friends to and from the airport and organised days out. “Patacake” (Pat Booth) and “Half Baked” (Nellie Thornton and Kathleen Wilson) both achieved success with their culinary creations. Whilst Libby Chappell’s “Ebay-Gum” sold bric-a-brac on other people’s behalf via the Internet. Other business ideas included dog walking, card making, book selling, craft making, quiz evenings and coffee mornings. However the most successful by far was Pat Smith’s “Seams OK”. Pat traded on her advanced needlework skills and began a clothes alteration service. Over the course of the project she altered 80 garments and raised £500.

The project has now drawn to a close after raising an amazing £4827 but club members feel they have gained much more from the experience. They’ve discovered new skills, including an instinct for sales that Lord Sugar would be proud of, made new friends amongst club members and seen their small efforts blossom into a great success. And now that they have an understanding of the challenges faced by Third World business women and men they have an even deeper respect for them.

Pat Smith hopes that some of the money she raised will go towards helping a woman in Sierra Leone start a market stall perhaps selling clothes and doing alterations. Of the whole experience she said “It has been such fun!”