How school vacation unlocked Musuba’s business acumen

Life is a perpetual struggle. But 25-year-old Raymond Musuba has managed to beat all odds and made a living through sale of eggs which he started in his senior six vacation.

Mr Musuba, a resident of Nansana in Wakiso District, started rearing chicken immediately after his senior six exams. This is now his third year in the business.

He tells young people that having millions of Shillings to start business does not mean it will automatically succeed.

Vision is born

“ I had just finished my senior six and wishing to join university but could not stop thinking where I could get the tuition fees from since I come from a poor family,” he narrated.

But he had always had an idea of starting a good paying business. He always wondered where he could get the required amount of money and which kind of business he could do to support himself and his family.

From his daily earning of Shs5,000 he got working in a small hotel where he used to help in cooking, Mr Musuba started saving some small amounts of money. And not long, he had made about Shs800,000 which he used to start his chicken business in 2014.

He said: “At first I was scared to put all my money in the business knowing how sickly chicken can be in just no time.

However, I later gathered courage after watching several farmers’ successful stories on television.”

Start of business

Mr Musuba actual business started in 2015. On completion of his senior six, he immediately started building the chicken house, buying of chicks and food together with all the needs birds wanted. He went for layers because his main interest was to sell eggs. Out of the initial 100 chicks he bought, only 80 survived.

Within less than six months, Mr Musuba’s birds started laying eggs. He was getting slightly more than two trays per. He says he was feeding them with almost 50 grams of mash a day which used to cost him Shs105,000.

In the space of about two years, the number of chicken has increased to 385, collecting more than a dozen trays of eggs per day from the farm, with each tray going for Shs9,000. This fetches him not less than Shs100,000 daily.

Mr Musuba says feeding the birds well determines the quality and quantity of the produce out of the chicken.

What others say

Mr Andrew Wasswa, a regular customer and friend to Mr Musuba, says there is no single day he has ever failed to get the number of trays he wanted from him because the latter is a very hard working man.

He says: “I started working with Raymond when his business was still small. I could only see his hard work and future success. And when you look at chicken in our area you can easily differentiate those from Musuba’s farm and those from other farms because of their size and quality.”

George a worker, at Musuba’s poultry farm, says: “I started working at this farm from the time it was put in place. By then, as a worker, I did not see a lot of future for the business but because of my boss’ determination and hard work, the business grows day by day and I see a greater and bigger farm tomorrow.”

Mr Musuba says he sees a bigger farm of chicken in the next two years and though he is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication, he is going to concentrate on his business because he believes he will achieve a lot in poultry.

Achievement

Mr Musuba, has been able to take care of his family and his young ones, paid school fees for them together with his own tuition fees. He has also been able to buy a plot of land where is he planning to take his business in a more secure and permanent place.

He says the market for his business has been so good, emphasising that he particularly sell his eggs to mostly to the shops, those who make Rolex, and also families in his area have been able to buy from him saving their transport to buy from far and hopes he will be able to serve across the country in Uganda in few years to come.

Mr Musuba says sometimes there are diseases that afflict the birds but he tries to maintain cleanliness on the farm to keep his poultry safe.

On driving a business into success, Mr Musuba advises that for one to start a business they do not need to have millions of Shillings in cash. One can always start with the little they have, and profits will build up a bigger business.

He says: “Always have a goal and a positive mind. With hard work and determination you can make it and your business will pay off.”