Samuel, micro-entrepreneur

Just how small does an enterprise need to be in order to be called "micro"?

Laura has been reminding me for days now (if truth be told, it's probably been two weeks) that I'm in need of a hair cut. What better opportunity than this to explore micro-enterprise in action, and to give you a glimpse into the life of a micro-entrepreneur.

Samuel is a young man that I've gotten to know through his work as a guard at the house where Laura and I are staying for the next week, and also as a guitar player at one of the local churches that we've attended a couple of times.

Samuel, who is in his mid- to late-twenties, is a high school student. Mozambicans are hungry for education. Many people missed out during the civil war that ended in the early 1990s, and are now trying to catch up as adults.

Last week I learned that Samuel also owns a barber shop, so I asked if he would take me there some day. That day was today.

Samuel's shop is a small building made of caniço (pronounced "kan-ee-soo"), which is a thick, hard reed that is Mozambique's traditional construction material. The shop also has a corrugated metal roof and a wooden door that is fastened closed with some stiff wire. Most days, Samuel has an employee who does the hair cutting. Today, however, Samuel would cut my hair because his employee didn't show up for work.

The shop doesn't have electricity, so it closes at dark (which is about 6:00pm). The barber's main tool, a set of electric clippers, is powered by a car battery running through a transformer. The battery is recharged at a shop not too far away that has electricity. Each charge lasts nearly a week.

Samuel had never cut "white" hair before. The trickiest part, he learned, was cutting the soft little hairs on the back of my neck. His blade was a little dull, but otherwise he did a great job.

Samuel has a price list posted on the wall. My cut cost 15,000 meticais, which is about 60 cents. Some fancier cuts cost up to 20,000 meticais.

Samuel's shop is relatively successful (at least, that's my observation). When he set up shop a year and a half ago, he took out a loan of 5,000,000 meticais, which he was able to pay back in just a few months. On this day, he had a customer at the shop before me, and by the time I was done, there were several other people waiting their turn outside.

If you're ever in Maputo, I would definitely recommend Samuel's barber shop, though I would have to show you where it is since there is no sign out front (Samuel assured me that everyone knew it was a barber shop). And you just can't beat the price.