Kenya, Sept. 16 -- When I sit in my big office and think about how lucky I am to run one of the biggest stores in town, I still can't believe I used to be a poor shopkeeper who almost killed herself because of her debts. My story shows that failure isn't always caused by bad planning; sometimes, forces you can't see are working against you. I had a small store in Nairobi for six years. No matter how hard I worked, things kept getting worse. My dream was to turn it into a bulk store.
Every time I tried to grow, something bad happened. Thieves broke in and took my things if I borrowed money to stock up. Customers didn't care about new goods I tried to sell them. At one point, even my most regular customers quit coming for no reason. I owed so much money to banks and shady people by 2022 that I was drowning in debt. Two times, auctioneers came to my house and said they would take everything I owned. My marriage also got worse. Continue Reading
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Bana Kenya.