A motivative STORY: Young Women Entrepreneurs “Voice for Better Business Environment” project participation

Ms. Hin Soklina was born in Kandal province with a farming family background. She is currently living and doing business in Phnom Penh by owning 2 businesses such as San San Mini Mart and San Serey rice shop which are both located on National road 1, Chbar Ampov district. Her business was just started at the beginning of January 2022 with one of her friends as a business partner. By the time she started the business, several challenges were faced which included fewer customers, unrealistic and impractical business plans, plus ineffective financial planning and management. 

Ms. Lina was selected to join the Young Women Entrepreneurs’ Voice For Better Business Environment (YWEVBBE) project funded by USAID through Pact Cambodia, in late June 2022. Throughout the project participation, she has learned and improved plenty of skills such as Business plan development, Effective communication, and Resource mobilization strategy for business expansion. With the equipment of skills and practical sessions provided by the program, she is able to identify improvement areas for her existing business plan while continuously adjusting it to be precise and well-structured. Not only was business planning well-understood, but she also built up strong confidence in communicating as well as enlarging business networking with others through joining different events. Moreover, Ms. Lina also has gained a better insight into business governance and leadership toward the efficiency and sustainability of business management. In the next 2 years, she plans to expand the business from a small type to a medium-sized one; meanwhile, open a 2nd branch if the first one starts to be stable and has a good number of customers and revenue. She also plans to register for IP (intellectual property) avoiding any stealing-related matters. Lastly, she has demonstrated that the program is beneficial to young entrepreneurs like her to further enhance their skills in managing a business. “For young entrepreneurs, developing a realistic and practical business plan is significant. Also, frequently check whether or not your business is going on the right track.”

Ms. Dy Sokhary is currently a fourth-year student at the National University of Management (NUM) and also a Sponsorship staff at an organization. As Sokhary is planning to start a business in the near future, it is a challenge for her because she still lacks necessary skills such as business planning and financial management to support her business.

In late June 2022, Ms. Sokhary was selected to join the Young Women Entrepreneurs’ Voice For Better Business Environment (YWEVBBE) project funded by USAID through Pact Cambodia. During the project participation, she has learned and improved lots of skills such as Digital marketing usage for business, Business planning and reporting development, Resource mobilization strategy, and effective advocacy skills. As a result of joining the training provided by the program, Sokhary gained a better understanding of effective digital marketing usage and business plan processes along with its structure. More specifically, she also increased her knowledge on resource mobilization for startups to carry the business and how to effectively advocate for issues that entrepreneurs may face.

As of now, she has already applied some skills she gained from the training in her daily life. Sokhary has created her own Facebook page for a business that she’s planning to start in the near future; moreover, she has also been fixing and controlling the way she spends money after gaining practical tips from basic financial literacy training. She has demonstrated that her skills and confidence have remarkably improved after joining the program. On top of that, she plans to spread the knowledge she has gained to other people too.

“YWE or Youths should join the program to have an opportunity to learn and gain more ideas about business management which could lead them to the right path.”, Sokhary said.