SOME people would never have thought they could start a business with just $50.

Fifteen years ago, 62-year-old Nina Ledua came to the Suva market to look for a job. She did not attain any tertiary education, but her determination drove her to where she was today.

In June 1999, Ms Ledua bought three bundles of fish from a middleman at the Suva sea wall.

She halved one bundle into two then sold each bundle for $13. That evening she went home $78 richer.

This was the beginning of her life in the city.

Today, she still sits at that table selling fresh fish.

Ms Ledua is from Dravuwalu in Kadavu.

She left her village at the age of five and only returned last December.

When approached by this newspaper for an interview, Ms Ledua was sitting by her table, smilling and greeting potential customers that went by.

“I have not regretted anything since the day I came to find a job here,” she recalled with a smile.

Her life at the market has revolved around fish. She’d buy a bundle of fish for $25 from the middlemen. She would then halve it and sell one bundle for $15 or that same bundle would be sold at $30 or $35.

“At the end of the day, I need to make some profit for my expenses such as the ice, plastics and food to keep me on the job,” Ms Ledua explained.

Her fish are sold at $15, $20, $25, $30 and the highest can fetch up to $80.

On a good day, Ms Ledua makes $70-$100 profit. But sometimes she just goes home with $50.

But she does not stop there.

Every morning she would leave her home at six to wait for middlemen at the market. She reminisced on how life was not easy and she had to make sacrifices to provide for her husband and two children.

She said it was important that people positioned themselves in the word of God so they could overcome their challenges.

“Learn to give thanks to the Lord, because he will abundantly bless you with whatever you ask for in His name through your prayers,” she said.