FIJI: Get For Less – meeting the needs of local communities
Despite being the sole convenience store in the area, Get For Less Dairy Shop has become the go-to destination for approximately 500 residents from local communities. Nestled on Narendra Singh Road in Sabeto, Nadi, Get For Less is the brainchild of entrepreneur Saleshni Devi.
Established in 2018, Saleshni’s store offers a range of basic food items and homemade products. She supports local suppliers by buying fruits from local farmers and she uses these to make a variety of fruit juices and a range of homemade chutneys and pickles. Before venturing into entrepreneurship, Saleshni worked at a garment factory, and after its closure, she considered her options.
Having personally experienced frustration at the lack of a convenience store in her local area, she embarked on closing that gap and established the aptly named Get For Less Dairy Shop. “There was no dairy shop in our area, and it was very difficult for people to travel to Nadi town to purchase little things. Therefore, I decided to open a dairy shop in my area,” she said.
With a focus on providing everyday goods at affordable prices, Saleshni loves seeing smiles on people’s faces after their purchases. She has gained a loyal customer base within her own and nearby communities. Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, she continued to support her community by purchasing groceries in bulk, enabling residents to access essential goods without travelling to town, aligning with movement restrictions.
Saleshni lives in a rural area where most residents are farmers. She notes, “It is challenging for people to frequently travel to town to buy basic food items.” Having the Get For Less local convenience store allows them to purchase these essentials at affordable prices and helps them save on travel costs.
Saleshni applied for and received a Business Link Pacific (BLP) Business Support Grant of $5,000. Businesses applying for a grant must satisfy at least one of the five categories set out on BLP’s website (https://about.businesslinkpacific.com/project-eligibility/). Get For Less satisfied the Growth category and enabled Saleshni to invest in a freezer and restock inventory. This enhanced her ability to drive growth by improving her ability to meet the needs of her customers. This also increased demand for the products created with locally sourced ingredients, thereby advancing growth in her local business community.
During the festive season, Saleshni could purchase more frozen goods, creating and selling hamper packs at affordable prices. “I am delighted that I could bring happiness to people during this festive season through the sale of hamper packs, and I am grateful to BLP/BAF for enabling me to purchase the freezer and expand my range of frozen items.”
Saleshni learned about BLP and Business Assistance Fiji (BAF) during e-commerce training conducted by BAF for Nadi Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in June last year.
Saleshni encourages MSMEs to take up challenges and believe in themselves so that they will succeed in life. “BLP and BAF is a one-stop shop for MSMEs in Fiji, and I encourage MSMEs to visit the BAF office and take advantage of the services they offer.”
BLP facilitates access to business advisory services and financial support. To start your journey with BLP, you can self-assess your needs by using the free online tools available to help small- and medium-sized businesses diagnose areas in their businesses that an advisor could improve.
The first step can be the online Business Health Check. You can also check your business’s resilience to respond to crises or climate change challenges on the Business Continuity Planner and the Climate Action Sensor. If you prefer to meet a local BLP representative in person to discuss your business, get in touch with our local partners to arrange a face-to-face Diagnostic.