The moment you meet Beatres Kachema, her inviting smile makes you feel instantly welcome. It’s almost unimaginable that, only a few years back, she mainly stayed at home. Her transformation since joining Solar Sister Tanzania in 2018 has been remarkable and inspiring.
Under the guidance of her Business Development Manager, Victoria Mfinanga, she has learned to think like an entrepreneur and effectively start and run a clean energy business.
“My life has turned since I became a Solar Sister Entrepreneur. I’ve had the opportunity to meet countless people, and now, I’m a familiar face in the community. It is a change from when I used to stay at home.”
Beatres’s entrepreneurial spirit has led her to diversify her business endeavors. In addition to her clean energy business, she has recently started a fish-frying business. She sells her delicious, freshly fried fish and bananas to people on their way home from work in the evening. Beatres credits Victoria’s training for helping her calculate the risks and then evaluate the potential of this new business. She figured out exactly what was entailed to get this business going and what would make it profitable. After calculation, Beatres decided that it would be profitable.
Her products, small bags priced at 1000 Tanzanian Shillings and large bags at 2000 TZS, reflect her newfound entrepreneurial mindset. (.39¢ and 78¢ respectively)
Beatres’s success story doesn’t end with her achievements. She is actively paying it forward by recruiting and mentoring other women to become entrepreneurs. Several women in her Sisterhood group were recruited and mentored by Beatres before they joined Solar Sister.
Beatres has been a part of our advanced business training, the Business Booster Program, since 2021.
Beatres joined Solar Sister in 2018 and participated in our advanced training, Business Booster, in 2021. In this program, entrepreneurs train in Connected Selling, Credit Benefits and Risks, Reinvesting Capital and Profits, and expanding their market, among other business topics.