A Cut Above!
An Idea In Action
33-year-old Leakenha*, from Siem Reap in Cambodia, lived with her husband’s family, also taking care of their four children without a stable source of income. Occasional work as a beautician at wedding ceremonies only provided seasonal income, leading to frequent disagreements within the family.
After thinking long and hard about her prospects, she decided that setting up her own barbershop and beautician business, working from home, would offer her the financial stability and opportunity she needed. So last August she walked into the Kaliyan Mith Futures** Office and enrolled in their barber class!
Gathering Skills
Alongside the barbering skills she acquired, Futures provided more – career counseling, life skills training, Khmer and English language classes, math lessons, plus sports activities. There were also various soft skills trainings, including general skills, job skills, digital skills, and basic sales techniques. Additionally, they provided a bicycle for her to get to and from the school.
After just a few months, Leakenha was ready to set up shop with some further help from Futures, who provided necessary fixtures and fittings for her business.
On January 8, 2024, Leakenha opened her doors!
Business Planning
Since then, she has been working hard on improving her skills and gaining more confidence in her work. However, she was initially concerned as she wasn’t making much money. She was, however, getting some bookings over the phone, which was a relief.
The Futures team then came up with a marketing plan to support her. This included creating a Facebook page, providing digital training for promotion, basic sales training, money management training, and posting regular Tik Tok videos.
Future Plans
The result? Currently, her business is doing well! She earns between $15-$20 per day, with regular customers from her community. She has already received training on promoting her products on Facebook, using digital tools for banking and communication, updating her shop’s products and hairstyle pictures, and managing her finances.
She is pleased with the range of support she has received from Kaliyan Mith Siem Reap, which has helped her to not only secure financial stability, but to also improve her technological and technical skills. In the future, she plans to expand her shop and even open another one, hiring staff and offering internships to other Future’s Vocational Training students!
*name changed
** Futures is the employment project run by the Friends-International Kaliyan Mith program in Siem Reap.
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