Adding to basket
Sohiba is 35 years old and has three lovely children. Her eldest daughter, Sitora, is 14 years old and attends school. Her middle daughter, Begaim, is 7 years old and attends kindergarten. The youngest son, Azis, is one year old. Sohiba is divorced. She is an independent, goal-driven person and likes her business to be well organized and efficiently run. Sohiba has earned two college degrees. For 15 years she has been in private business, providing hair styling services (hair cuts, women's hair styling) and cosmetic services (facials, tatoos etc). She has all the necessary education. Her beauty salon is open from 8 AM to 9 PM. Her monthly revenue is about 17,200 soms (KGS).
However, Sohiba is not used to resting on her laurels. She constantly attempts to expand her knowledge and skills by participating in seminars and forums. In May of 2015, Sohiba has received training in business planning within the framework of the competition "Launch your own business," which was conducted in the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan. Sohiba was one of the 35 finalists and one of the 9 participants who were eventually offered a business launch loan under preferential conditions from the Bai Tushum microfinance institution.
Sohiba gladly accepted this opportunity since her longtime dream has been to start a new direction in her business--teaching professional development courses. Sohiba will teach some of the courses herself and also hire qualified instructors. There will be courses offered in the following areas: hairdressing, languages, cooking, sewing, computer literacy, and bookkeeping. Sohiba has already leased the necessary space. She will plan to use her loan of 150,000 soms (KGS) to buy 10 PCs, 10 computer desks, one projector and two printers. There will be 8-10 students in each student group. Each week Sohiba plans to have at least two groups. Individual courses will also be available upon request. Sohiba decided to set affordable prices: for example, one 3-month course in bookkeeping will cost 4,500, which is an attractive price for young professionals.
Sohiba uses every opportunity to develop her business or start something new, with her main goal being to increase her income and provide a decent quality of life and the best education for her children. Her additional business ideas involve purchasing her own business space and opening a private kindergarten.
Translated from Russian by Kiva volunteer Katharina S. View original language description.
