SendMe SL is an e-commerce platform that provides quality and safe deliveries like corporate delivery; door-to-door delivery; food delivery; pickup and personal delivery for businesses and consumers in Sierra Leone. It was founded by a young Sierra Leonean entrepreneur, Emmanuel Lahai.
WHAT IS SENDME AND ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW
SendMe is a delivery service that facilitates the transportation of products for businesses and individuals. SendMe’s delivery service is one of the best and most reliable and safest in Sierra Leone. With SendMe, you don’t need to stress yourself roaming the streets of Sierra Leone to buy or deliver something; the company does it for you with ease.
The service is simple and easy to use and it is also time efficient. With a call or text to their office, you can reliably give them the details of the delivery and they will surely fulfil the task in the quickest possible time. Most deliveries take at least 30 minutes to complete and the company has a policy that protects the clients from damaged goods. Currently, over 50 businesses in Freetown use the Send Me service regularly. The company can boast of over 3,000 deliveries and more than 10,000 people have seen the brand. As customer satisfaction is its number one priority, Send Me has proven to be transparent over its activities. There are stipulated terms meant to protect their clients and the company has an office that deals with every query.
The e-commerce website is free. “We are working a creating a robust delivery system to support this e-commerce platform”, an assured Lahai stated. Furthermore, some unique features of SendME are that they market your products and carry out successful delivery, they have skilled drivers who will handle your products with every bit of caution, and you are ensured of a swift response.
All products can be sold with SendMe as long as they are available, legal and morally accepted. The company is expanding its portfolio of products so not all products can be bought at the moment.
THE CHALLENGES SENDME SL FACES AS AN E-COMMERCE PLATFORM IN SIERRA LEONE
The company’s major challenges as of now are lack of financial investment and the unwillingness of people to invest in the e-commerce sector, and also the lack of grants for a small-scale business like SendMe.
HOW TO CONTACT SENDME SL
SendMe can be accessed via WhatsApp number +23278691733. You can also contact their social media handles on Instagram and Facebook. The testimonies of the businesses currently using their service are proof of the safety of SendMe.
A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE FOUNDER, EMMANUEL FRANCIS LAHAI
Emmanuel Francis Lahai is a 23-year-old student and entrepreneur. He attended Saint Francis Secondary School where he took the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in 2013, he was the best student during his tenure at Saint Francis in Makeni. He then later attended the Prince of Wales Senior Secondary School. In 2018, he gained university admission to Fourah Bay College where he enrolled to pursue a degree in Engineering. Later that year, he successfully acquired a scholarship to the Asian republic of China where he furthered a Bachelor’s Degree in the field of Engineering at the Southeast University of China.
WHAT INSPIRED HIM TO START AN E-COMMERCE COMPANY?
Emmanuel Francis Lahai’s driving motivator behind the formation of SendMe is born out of the sad reality of joblessness he saw his father encounter in 2017. “I realized that a lot of the youths in Sierra Leone are unemployed. This got me thinking why can’t I create an avenue that will help individuals earn without having a job,” Lahai told The African Dream. As a result, Lahai took up the challenge of creating a platform that would allow anyone to sell or buy online. He worked towards enhancing an e-commerce marketing system.
HIS MESSAGE TO YOUNG PEOPLE
When asked about his message for young people, Lahai emphasized the perseverance of young people to surmount challenges and not allow the difficulties to stop them from achieving greatness. “The reward is a positive change in the lives of those who will benefit from your solution.” Lahai also stressed the need for the government to provide more access to grants and other sources of funding. “They should create venture capitalist firms that will invest in early businesses. Reducing the interest rate on loans for individuals below 35 who start a business while providing advisors(mentors) who’ll guide them through. They should create workshops and seminars to equip young people.”
HIS GOAL AND WHERE HE SEES SENDME SL IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS
“Our goal is to create a seamless logistics infrastructure for Sierra Leone and Africa at large that will back the growth of e-commerce in the continent. In the next 5 years, we see ourselves launching our e-commerce and ride-hailing app, established across Sierra Leone and other African countries. And creating a service that will permit goods and services to be bought and delivered within minutes from the comfort of the customer’s home,” he told The African Dream.