Update on Heng Lay

Update on Heng Lay
Entrepreneur: Heng Lay
Location: Muk Kampoul district, Cambodia
Amount Repaid: $210.00 of $500.00
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=10906

This entrepreneur is funded by a Kiva loan administered by Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co., Ltd. here in Cambodia. This is his second loan with Maxima. Heng lives on an island in the Mekong River north of Phnom Penh. His loan is being paid off on schedule. With the funds from the loan he buys raw materials of sand and gravel directly from a barge that travels downstream from Kratie Province to the north. This saves him money and time. Before getting the loans, he had to take his small truck on a ferry across the river to buy from middlemen.

During the rainy season, which is ending now, construction slows and it’s difficult to make much money. Profit during that time might be $2.50 a day. In the dry season, profits increase to perhaps $10 a day. An important component of profit seems to be bulk purchasing. The more he can buy the better price he can get. He said if he gets another loan, he will use it to further increase his inventory. In the future, he says he’d like to buy a front-end loader and, ultimately, another truck. His primary long-term goal is to reduce his costs so he can continue to expand his business and stay ahead of his competitors.

He’s been in this business for eight years now. When he started, he was the only person on the island selling these materials. There are now two or three others doing the same thing.

His business supports seven people – two workers, his wife, himself, a daughter, son-in-law and their child.

As his business has grown and his family has been able to save money, his wife has started a venture of her own. She now buys hand-woven silks, the most common product of the island, from the weavers and sells them in Phnom Penh.

Posted by Darin Greyerbiehl from Muk Kampoul district, Cambodia
Nov 1, 2007