Angel Asenov Isaev

Thanks much to those of you who've lent money to Angel. It's already being put to good use. He has almost completed the renovations to his space, including putting in a window, electricity and painting the space. He's purchased most of the tools he'll need, comprised mostly of various welding equipment.

Given his extensive experience working in a bike shop, Angel already has the knowledge he needs to provide high quality repair services. As a result, he is focused on driving business. He knows that it is going to be tough to make this business work, given the poverty level of the neighborhood, and he’s going to have to do a great job of pulling in all the business possible.

Right now, Angel is spending a fair amount of time and energy putting together an advertising and marketing campaign to raise awareness of and drive business to his shop. There is a metal fence that runs outside his house, which forms the boundary of the Roma neighborhood. Except for random graffiti, it is otherwise unused, so he has painted a large, colorful advertisement on it. We’ve designed flyers that he is going to be putting up around the neighborhood. Most notably, Angel had the idea to put together and sponsor a children’s bike race around the neighborhood, which should have the double effect of raising interest in biking as well as awareness of his shop.

I asked Angel yesterday how he felt about starting his own business. His face lit up. He said he felt more relaxed and more secure in his future, now that he had the ability to control it and build it himself. I thought that this was an interesting contrast with the anxiety often felt by American entrepreneurs at the start of a new venture. He said he had more desire for work now that it was his own business, and had already begun to feel a higher level of satisfaction with the small repair jobs he has completed than he had felt working for someone else.

We’ll be posting more photos shortly of both his renovated shop and advertisements.

Just a quick note to clarify one aspect of Angel's business. The space he is renovating out of his home is going to be his storefront, which is physically in the Roma neighborhood. He'll keep some tools there, but the preponderance of his equipment and his main workshop will be located in the Sliven Business Incubator. In the incubator Angel has access to low-cost space, as well a common set of power tools, which is shared among the entrepreneurs working there. By taking advantage of the benefits the incubator offers, he has been able to make your loan go farther.

Angel was estatic about making his first payment.  He brought us chocolates into the office to thank us again for making this possible... and we pass his thanks on to you (although we had our way with the chocolate).  His plans for a bike race are temporarily on hold.  Too many people were concerned that a race with little kids would end up with a lot of injuries, in particular through the neighborhood where his shop is located.  The road is part gravel, areas of pavement, massive potholes and open sewer drains (most of the metal grates have been stolen).

Business, however, is strong.  He does not think he'll have any problems making his next payment on time. 

Angel held an exceptionally successful race last weekend, attracting approximately 150 riders.  He had 2 competitions, one for kids up to 12 years of age, and another up to 20 years.  Attached is a photo of about half the riders. 

Business is going better than expected.  He averages a minimum of 10 clients a day, although usually for very small transactions.  One of his machines which was purchased with your funds is now being repaired, which is slowing him down a bit.  Regardless, he is thrilled with the state of business. 

Per the last entry, another photo from race day...

Angel made his third payment today (the posting of his second payment was late due to an administrative error on our part in Bulgaria; two payments did not occur back-to-back).  We read him your comments and he greatly appreciated hearing your kind words and the distance they had traveled.  He sends his thanks for both the loan you've extended him and the encouragement. 

One of his machines, which had been under repair, has been replaced.  Business is booming now, (he is working seven days a week) and he faces a new challenge: how to determine to whom and how much credit he should be extending.  As most of his clients are poverty-stricken, Angel is attempting to balance his instinct to provide services for all who want them and his need to continue creating a viable business.  In addition, Angel is a social guy, and correspondingly, has a lot of friends; unfortunately, that means a lot of clients expect hefty discounts.  But he is working through these issues, learning how to seperate friendship from business and tell a good credit risk from a bad one. 

This is a photo of Angel's finished shop.  Angel, on the right, is standing just a few feet forward of where he was in the original photo when this business was posted to Kiva.  His brother is on the left who is working their part-time. 

In preparation for the cold winter season, Angel started to think about diversifying his business several months ago. He knew his bike repair business would slow to a trickle and he wanted a way to continue making money. So, with the same tools he uses to repair bikes, he now performs a variety of small repairs on household items in the neighborhood where he lives. He put together a trailer into which he can put his metalworking tools. The trailer hitches on to the back of his bike and he is a mobile repairman. Most of his repairs are on door, window and bed frames. The net result of this work is that Angel walked into our offices today and made his November payment two weeks early. As you can see from his payment history, October was above the required amount. Just as we had planned to step down his payments into the slow winter, he wants to step them up.

Angel has continued to diversify his business. He is now a metal equipment leasing agent. On some levels, this is surprising. Angel knew bikes... at least, that what I thought the investment thesis was when I brokered this loan.

On the other hand, he did quickly realize that his metalworking skills went farther than bike frames. And so he became a general metalworking man-about-town. Didn’t see that coming. When his machines broke we made him a supplemental loan. In the process of getting new machines, he impressed the local sales agent to the point that he was asked to become a leasing agent. Surprise number two. Should’ve learned to expect something like this. Turns out, Angel is one of those guys whose ambition, when given the smallest chance, will open doors for him the rest of his life.

Angel is now on his way to becoming the largest (and only) shareholder in the most powerful conglomerate in the biggest Roma ghetto in the Balkans. Nice work, lenders.

There are a couple of photos I am going to put up in this posting and will continue in others. Here are the captions:

- Angel in front of a metal door he constructed.

- The new sign in front of Angel’s house that, if translated literally, reads, “Metalworking equipment, services of leasing.”

- Angel’s brother putting up wallpaper in one of the two rooms of his house. He’s papering directly over the concrete walls; there was nothing there before.

Those of you who get Current TV can see a short piece on Kiva that features Angel. The schedule can be found here:

http://www.current.tv/pods/currency/PD05224

The new sign in front of Angel’s house that, if translated literally, reads, “Metalworking equipment, services of leasing.”