Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Certificate Program for Women Entrepreneurs

Liberia Cohorts 4 and 5

Pauline Thomas – 42, Rainbow International Ventures

Business Overview:

I went to Nigeria during the war, and in the refugee camp I learned a lot about baking and

interior design. I love to bake and decorate, so it seemed like an opportunity when I returned to

Liberia and there was only one wedding shop in all of Monrovia. I decided to put into practice

what I learned in Nigeria. I started with three dresses and got into it little by little with just a small

amount of money from my husband. I cater, decorate, rent wedding gowns and sell any item

you could need or want for a wedding.

Challenges:

Before I got into this business, I really didn’t have any business background so I didn’t know if I

would be able to make a profit. I didn’t know how to keep good financial records or provide

necessary documentation of all aspects of my business. Instead of having a system in place to

guide me, I would just buy merchandise that maybe wouldn’t sell very well, or I’d buy something

we already had enough of. Also, sometimes I’d have trouble keeping my own expenses

separate from the business expenses. And it was a challenge to keep the store clean all the

time too, with all the other demands I was tending to.

Results:

Now, with the benefit of the 10,000 Women training that I received this year, I keep excellent

financial records so I know my stock and can keep current with what we need and what we’re

most likely to sell. I don’t just buy because I want to buy. This has helped me see what I need

now and for later too, and I’ve also learned the skills to keep my personal finances separate

from those of the shop. As far as keeping the shops clean, I learned to prioritize and hire more

people to help with cleaning, and to use the slow times to tidy up to keep everything looking nice

so people want to keep coming back.

I have two shops now, and people come to these shops from other cities and counties. I know

this is partly because I learned important networking skills from the 10,000 Women program.

For example, I don’t even advertise formally. Instead I leave my business card on wedding

tables where I have done the catering and other services so people know if they like what they

see, I can do that for them too. I have so many repeat customers because they know I can give

them what they want, and help them plan and make their event just the way they want it.

The training also taught me how to plan ahead. For instance, I try to drum up as much business

as I can during the dry season when weddings are more common, and when it’s the wet

season, I try to create much more business with non-wedding events such as catering for other

kinds of events and having outfits for other occasions. I definitely have to be creative to keep my

business growing and the program taught me a lot about how to do that.

Plans for the Future:

Once I have the finances, I will expand to other areas. In addition to the wedding-oriented

stores, I want to open a restaurant too. I have to make sure I stay well connected and that I

keep strengthening my skills and building new ones; I can do so many things now because of

the 10,000 Women training. My business is called Rainbow because just as a rainbow has

many colors, I can do many things. I love being part of wedding days and all the planning that

goes with it, and I see many more of these days in my future. My cakes can sell for up to $450 –

that’s not something I thought would happen when I was in the refugee camp.

Idell Blake Johnson – 39, Idell Wood Workshop

Overview:

I have always been interested in woodwork, and I had a small woodworking business that

opened in 2007, before the 10,000 Women program, but I wanted it to be bigger, to do more

things and to be more profitable. I wanted to run a business where I could make everything

people need for their homes or their place of business – floorboards, doors – everything.

Challenges:

I knew that I had to do a few things to expand my business when it opened. First, I had to hire

some people who were experts in woodwork and who could work well on a team. Second, I had

to get more machines to increase productivity. And third, if I was going to do both of these

things, I’d need a bigger place to so we could have adequate work space.

So, together with my staff, we were very vocal about spreading the word and making sure

people knew what we could do for them. If people were looking for ideas we’d show them work

we’d done and make suggestions, or we could also do whatever someone brought us and

asked for. More than anything, our work leads to more work.

We also have issues during the rainy season because cars have trouble getting in from rural

areas. That means customers, workers and suppliers have a hard time getting to us, and when

they can get here, the materials are often wet. So to get around that, we try to order more and

have more delivered, and generally do more business, in the dry season.

Another challenge was that most woodworking businesses are not led by women; they may not

do well in this area because people don’t trust women to be an expert in woodwork. But in my

case, I made sure that not only customers knew what they would get from me and my staff, but

that my staff knew what they were getting by working for me. The men who work for me feel

safe because they trust me and they know I won’t mistreat them the way some men would.

That’s what was also helpful about the 10,000 Women training – it helped me network with other

business partners and with men in the field who weren’t used to working with women bosses.

Results:

Running a successful woodworking business is not an easy thing, so when I heard about the

10,000 Women program I knew it would be helpful to really get my business going. I learned a

lot about record keeping, which helped me keep everything straight and kept me focused. I also

learned a lot about sales and marketing – how to let people know about my business and how

to get more people to buy. The customer service training was also really helpful because there

is a lot of competition in the area so treating customers right is very important. I also learned a

lot about how to supervise people and to keep them motivated – I have four employees and I

learned a lot about how to encourage and motivate them. That’s important when we work six

days a week including holidays – we have to stay open more to be competitive with other

woodworking businesses.

Plans for the Future:

I want to expand my business and produce more and more furniture to give people what they

want. I also want to bring more women into the business and encourage them to be at the top of

the woodwork business. I am in the minority here; you still find mostly men in this business, and

I want to see a better gender balance in this industry. I know this program can help more people

like me because before I had a low salary and now I’m doing very well. Being self-employed and

being able to employ others also helps reduce the unemployment rate. When you succeed at

business you feel proud of yourself.

Garmai K. Smith – 47, Shinna Day Care and Primary School

Overview:

Before I started my current day care and school, I ran a small day care center but I had no other

income to make it bigger and better, to make it the best possible place for children in our

community. I always dreamt of having my own school because I have a passion for children and

helping them learn. I have my own, and I want to make sure other children have the attention,

care and education they need.

Challenges:

During the war this building was gutted. It wasn’t a school before but I figured, given the location

and the structure, if we could make some big repairs, it might just be the school I always

wanted. So in 2009 when I started the 10,000 Women program, my husband started by fixing

the roof – that was just the beginning.

Results:

Once the roof was repaired, we worked on an extension to the building and now we’re looking to

expand even more to make more space for the children and even have some extra classes we

aren’t able to accommodate yet. We also want to improve the physical structure by building a

wall to maintain the privacy of our students. Right now, there’s just a wall where people passing

by on the street can peer in but we want our students to feel completely comfortable. I’m also

hoping to get a few computers soon and start introducing the kids to those.

Before, some of the children weren’t in school or any kind of day care program at all because

they were too young. We give special care to them all day – 7:45 in the morning until 4 in the

afternoon, so parents can work a full day knowing their children are safe and both learning and

having fun. This is especially important since we’re near an area which is a major commercial

district where people have to work long hours. Now they can stay later and do the jobs they

need to do.

The 10,000 Women training helped me by exposing me to valuable networking opportunities.

I’m working with other people and also getting more advanced in public speaking, improving

financial records and my understanding of human resources, such as dealing with employees –

I now have 21.

If I hadn’t gotten become involved in the program, I might still be in a school but I wouldn’t be as

advanced, and my business would suffer because I would be trying to resolve management

issues without the knowledge imparted to me by 10,000 Women. But now I have skills in how to

deal with people.

The best part about the program is that it lets me keep working with kids. I love when they come

at me, I feel free when I’m with them and on the weekends I’m lonely without them. They make

me forget about stress.

It took about a year for my husband and some other construction workers to make all the

necessary repairs, and today we’re still renovating, but look around – this is a place where

children are happy and their parents know they are safe.

Plans for the Future:

I want to expand to the sixth grade, and to have space for a library and a reading room. We

need that extra space because there were 50 children when we started and now we’re up to

225 and I hope before long it will be even more. We will keep advertising on the radio, we

distribute flyers and we go to homes to encourage people to send their children to our school.

We want them to be as happy that their children are here as their children are when they are

here.

Angeline Brown – 21, Angie Business

Overview:

I have always been interested in knowing how to run a shop, and I was already running one

before 10,000 Women, but I wanted to get more training to make my business even better. I’d

had a shop for three years but I knew there was a lot I could learn, especially because I do a lot

of things: I already sold appliances, phone accessories and I have computers and printers

where people can do business here onsite too. But I have a very creative side so I wanted to

also get into not only making bags but selling them too. So when a friend told me about the

program, I thought that might help me with my business.

Challenges:

As much as I wanted to start a new business, I wasn’t sure it would do well in this

neighborhood, and with the merchandise I wanted to make and sell. It is hard enough getting a

business off the ground in this area. So I did a survey to find out what people want and what

location would be busiest. Then I knew this was the right place and the business for me,

because it is very well traveled around here.

Another challenge is that as much as I love running my own business, nobody is going to tell me

how to do things or what to do. It’s all up to me, so I really had to learn as much as I could from

the training.

Another issue is electricity: it is so sporadic around here, we might have it and we might not and

you can never tell when it may go out or come back on. We only have one supplier of electricity

and because we don’t know how long we’re going to have it for, we got a private generator to

use until the current comes on, usually around 10 a.m. The training helped me predict problems

like this and figure out how to solve them.

Results:

The training I got from 10,000 Women has made me really love running my business because I

learned so much about business management – how to keep basic records, how to identify and

keep high-demand items in stock, how to get goods from other sellers, and how to keep my

personal feelings separate from the business and just focus on how to keep the shop running

and running well. This was helpful since it kept me focused, even with the many things I do

every day. The training I got also helped me let people know about my business – I would wear

a signboard and walk around and tell people all about it.

I had to know a lot because I do a lot. For example, with making bags, people choose colors

and then either I suggest a design or they have one in mind. It takes one month to make a bag

so we both have to know how it’s going to look in the end. I have two staff – one is behind the

counter and the other is at the computer doing desktop publishing, design, letters and anything

people need. That’s especially helpful since like us, a lot of people in the area don’t have regular

electricity, even if they have access to a computer.

Plans for the Future:

Now I know where to get the best items and the best deals – I even travel sometimes to Guinea

and Nigeria for supplies, and to meet other business people and see what they’re doing and

how I might get involved in other businesses. And since I know now how to sell and how to

market what I sell, I would love to have a separate store for just bags. I love making bags – they

are very beautiful and I love admiring them, and I would love to be able to bring more of them to

different businesses and neighborhoods by having additional stores. I want to do more with

handcrafts and I want to have them on the main road near here because it’s even busier.

Korpo Kuyateh: 30, Goodwill Mineral Water

Overview:

Before I did the 10,000 Women program I was a housewife, but I wanted to do something more.

I thought it might be interesting getting into sales, so I thought about what people need, what

they will always need, and decided on water. I started with local tap water; I’d boil it and then put

it in the freezer. Then I started buying it from company that packaged the water in a special way

and started my business in 2009.

Challenges:

My main challenge was a good one – I was getting too much business and it was hard to keep

up with the demand so I knew I needed to start doing things another way. I told my neighbors

about it and then they would tell other people. I started buying from another company and I’d

sell about 35 sachets a day at first, and then eventually I was selling more and more every day

and night. Eventually I was selling about 700 a day. I bought a $7,000 (USD) machine for

producing water. I told my husband I wanted money for my own company and he said yes. He

said the customers around the clock were disturbing his sleep so we bought a machine. We

started out with one machine and now we’re up to five. “Wow, the business is profitable!” my

husband said, so we were both very happy.

Results:

I did not know my business would expand to this level. I started it in the first place because I

have a passion for it. I started with a single refrigerator, selling two sachets for five dollars. My

customer base now is huge; I sell 1,500 sachets a day and my business is open from 6am to

830pm. Including myself I have a staff of 11 including production staff, water purchasers, truck

drivers. I never used to keep a record of what I sold but the program taught me that, and how to

deal with customers. Most of our customers are like friends because of the training I got. The

best part is the money to help support our family including our four children. This business

changed my life.

Plans for the Future:

Having this business and making it succeed has made me want to get a new business so I’m

thinking about opening a new one with ice cream or juice, or maybe popcorn – things everyone

likes. It’s good to start small and get bigger. I’m also happy that my business does so well I can

afford to give water away to some local children when they need it.

Tenneh N. Chayee – 28, People’s Fashion Body Care

Overview:

I’ve been a shop owner since 2009, and before that, I used to sell things from a table on the

street. I sold cosmetics, mostly. I liked the sales part of it but it wasn’t very lucrative. Then I

heard about the 10,000 Women program from a customer and it sounded good to me. I decided

to sell more than just cosmetics and to add clothing to my inventory – mostly workers’ clothing

for men and women. I looked around and saw that in my neighborhood, it’s not only very

crowded with a lot of people but many of them are workers, so it made sense to have a

business in this area that’s actually needed.

Challenges:

The big challenge about running your own shop is keeping customers happy, no matter what,

since without them you have no business at all. A lot of the customers are impatient, or they

change their mind, or nothing makes them happy even if you give them exactly what they asked

for. But the 10,000 Women program taught me how to make customers happy so they come

back – again and again – and so they tell their friends about my shop and how I can help them

too.

Another challenge I had in the beginning was having the right stock, because it’s very time

consuming to find the right items and to get them and keep them around. But the program

taught me how to anticipate trends and how to make the most of the demands I get from

customers to ensure I can provide them with what they want – sometimes even before they

know they want it. The great thing is that the more money I make, the more I am able to buy

what the customers want, so they keep coming back.

Results:

I learned so much about how to manage a business and how to really pay attention to every

important part of running my own shop. I have my regular customers and I also have people

who come for the first time who then become regulars, largely because they have heard about it

from others. I now have six people working for me and without the managerial skills I learned

from the program, my business would be very different. I have five employees now and they

way I communicate with them is all the better because of 10,000 Women.

The financial knowledge I got from the program is also so helpful since it helped me see all

angles of my finances – those that are present today and those I need to be mindful of in the

future. Today I’m earning ten times as much as I did when I was selling cosmetics from the

table. Expanding my business has helped me financially but it’s also helped me manage what I

have currently and what I might have in the future.

Plans for the Future:

I started selling when I was 17, and now everything I have worked for has paid off many times

over with this shop. I love that I have my own business so that no matter what happens in the

future – with the area here, with the people who buy from me or might buy from me one day,

with the economy – I know that the skills I have learned will keep any business I run a success.

Marie M. Azzam – 31, Marie Fashion House

Overview:

I heard about the 10,000 Women program from a friend in 2009 who also went through the

program, and thought it might be useful in helping me expand my business and make it run

smoothly. She encouraged me to go through the program because it really helped her. Before I

went through the training, even back when I was in high school, I knew I wanted to work in

fashion, and my goal was to have my own business one day.

I worked in a store for three years after I finished school, and I got to know my way around a

store. I learned a lot, and then I decided it was time to have my own store. I always wanted to

work in fashion, and this was the best way for me to do that, so I sell women’s clothes, shoes,

jewelry and perfume.

Challenges:

Even though I had worked in a store before, being an employee is very different from being the

one in charge. Dealing with customers is difficult and so is working with employees and getting

the best from them. I was worried that my business might actually shut down within a year since

I was having trouble attracting and keeping customers.

Results:

I learned how to manage and how to deal with customers, which can be really difficult because

a lot of people don’t know much about customer service, even if you deal with people all the

time. There are a lot of people just want to start a business without knowing the strategies that I

learned from the 10,000 Women program.

I learned how to make my inventory even more attractive for customers and to encourage them

to buy, even when they hadn’t planned to. In that way it really changed how I do business. Now

I have five employees including someone else to help with managerial duties and that helps so

much so I can concentrate on other parts of running my business.

I also learned how to keep good records and how to keep up with customer demands by

checking to see what’s big on the Internet – I’m on it every day so I can keep up, and that helps

for when I’m not traveling to China and Dubai to see what’s popular there.

Plans for the Future:

My big dream is to open a store for kids’ fashions. I’ve done some checking of what’s here now,

and we really don’t have a good children’s store in this area, so I think that could do very well

here. I know that like the store I have now, if I have quality staff and quality fashions, it would be

great.

Hannah W. Mitchell – 51, Zenith Multipurpose

Overview:

Before I opened this tailoring shop earlier this year, I worked in another tailoring shop, so I have

a lot of experience sewing. I have been sewing since 1996 when I lived in Ghana and Sierra

Leone as a refugee. So when my aunt told me about 10,000 Women, I thought it would be a

good opportunity to make my business even bigger.

Challenges:

Before the 10,000 Women training, I had three women working with me but there were a lot of

problems. Running a business is hard because you have all the work to tend to but you also

have to get along with people or your business suffers. Sometimes when you work together in a

big shop, it’s not easy. You can be discouraged by people when you try to decide things for

yourself, which you have to do when you run a shop.

Results:

I learned a lot about how to manage a business – the training I got really helped me address

problems with employees. For example, I learned that when a person gives you a hard time,

you give them a warning and then if things don’t get better, you suspend them instead of just

letting the problems get out of control. This works well because everyone understands what is

expected of them.

I learned how to keep good records, knowledge that will always be useful, and I also learned

about customer service, which shows in my customer base: this has become a very popular

business. People come from everywhere to work with me because they see I do great work. I

get more business all the time, either because customers tell their friends about me, or because

people who meet me see what I’m wearing and then when they like what they see, they ask me

who made it. At church once I was wearing a suit that everyone loved, and since I could tell

everyone I made it, I picked up a lot of new business that way. So it’s really self-advertising. I

also travel so I can keep my stock current, and so I can get more business.

Plans for the Future:

Now I feel like I’m a big businesswoman and I want to open another place. I want to expand so

I’m doing more tailoring but also selling water since everyone needs water. I want to work more

and I want to work harder. It’s really good to own your own business because working in a big

shop with other people when you’re not the boss – it isn’t easy. Working for myself, I decide for

myself. I know my business and I control my business. And now I’m advising my daughter who

is working here too. We make a great team.

Precelia Bono Saksouk –26, Tutu Malak Boutique-Salon

Overview:

Before opening this salon two years ago, I started by working at a salon that I eventually owned,

but I knew I wanted to extend my knowledge to other businesses and make them my own. As

far as salon services, I do hair, manicures, pedicures, and then I sell a whole range of products,

and accessories and women’s clothes.

Challenges:

Since I had worked in other shops before, I brought my own ideas about customer service. I

thought I knew everything about this industry and that that was all I needed to make customers

happy. But I didn’t know everything, and I had some bumpy times because of that. I also wasn’t

sure how to track my stock and how to make sure I could cover my costs from month to month –

no matter what was happening. My record keeping wasn’t the best.

Results:

The 10,000 Women program taught me how to cater to the needs of customers and keep them

happy. And the training wasn’t just helpful with the customers – it also helped me learn to deal

more effectively with employees and teach them to be calm even when things are difficult. It

taught me how to keep myself calm too which is very important. Now, dealing with people is one

of my favorite things about my job. I’m constantly networking, explaining how things work, and

finding out how to make people happy.

The program also taught me to be better about spending – how much to spend, on what, and

using what funds. This was really important because before, customers would tell me they want

something, but then when it arrived, sometimes they might not want it after all. Then I would

lose out because I usually didn’t recover that money, and the customer would be angry because

then they wouldn’t have what they thought they wanted. So the training gave me knowledge on

how to communicate with customers and how to spend my money only when we are both clear

and in agreement on what we are both getting.

I love the work I do and I love this business. We’re open Monday to Saturday, Sunday is our

only day off because we are always so busy. Plus it’s nice that I live right next door so I can

always be around if anything happens or if anyone needs anything.

Plans for the Future:

I’ve already finished high school and gone to computer school and cosmetology school, and

now I’ve just entered a program for account management to help me grow the business even

more. I love that the 10,000 Women program encouraged me to go for more training and

education; I know that investing my money in other things will get me even more money to make

my businesses even bigger and better. After four years of being in business, I’m ready to

expand and have even more to call my own. Having my own business makes me feel free. I feel

comfortable and happy because I’m doing what I love to do and I’m supporting myself doing it.

The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Certificate Program

for Women Entrepreneurs is a five-year initiative to

provide a business and management education to

underserved female entrepreneurs in developing and

emerging markets. The program is designed to drive

greater shared economic growth, leading to stronger healthcare, education and greater

prosperity in the communities where it operates.

Global Communities is an international nonprofit

organization that works closely with communities

worldwide to bring about sustainable changes that improve

the lives and livelihoods of the vulnerable. Development is

not something we do for people; it is something we do with

them. We believe that the people who understand their needs best are the people of the

community itself. Read more about our work at www.globalcommunities.org