Rasheed, a 22-year-old student, is single and lives with his family of eight brothers and sisters. In his situation, living in a large family is not easy, especially when he has to work in order to meet their needs.
After school Rasheed works as a grocer. He sells food in a small shop, but because of his age and his lack of experience, he could not manage his small business, he did not know how to behave with his customers and how to manage his store to make it attractive. He also had problems with simple finances – for example, how to calculate profit and loss.
Since the 100 Hours to Success business training that Rasheed received with MEDA, his behavior with his clients has changed: He welcomes them with a smile, and presents his goods in an attractive manner.
He began to plan his business by drawing up a table of his income and expenditures and he calculates his profit margin.
He has also taken a loan of 8,000 Moroccan dirhams (about $940 US) from Al Amana, a MEDA microfinance partner, to manage his store and to add new merchandise.
He has opened a saving account in which he deposited 3,000 MDS (about $350 US) that he earned from his business.
Rasheed's now has a more flexible attitude towards his customers, which allows him to build better relationships with them.
He studies his competition to keep his prices in line with his competitors.
"The training program offered by MEDA Morocco helped me enormously to improve my business and also to increase my grades," notes Rasheed. "Now I feel proud of myself."
