Owner: Ben Daudi, 29
Opening hours: 8am – 7pm, 7 days a week
Business: shoes
Ben grew up in Dodoma region in central Tanzania. He belongs to a tribe that is mainly pastoralist and instead of going to school, his father wanted him to graze the animals. He left his village at the age of 21 and went to Dar es Salaam. He had a dream of opening up his own shop, and after a few years working in different places he finally had enough money to start his own shop, if only in a small scale.
His small shop has now been running for two years, selling men’s and ladies’ shoes from a mobile construction by the side of the road. The shoes are mainly second hand and comes from a wholesale in Ilala in Dar es Salaam. The business has grown slowly since he started up. The prices has increased, but competition is low. One day he is hoping to own a bigger business.