Nurturing young entrepreneurial minds

2011 is a year Ms Faith Logose (29) will live to treasure. It is in that year that she turned into a millionaire. She started out as a hair dresser in her small hair saloon in 2009 in Ndeeba, a Kampala suburb. But two years later, she hardly made any returns to sustain the business. With a low profit margin— almost in negatives—she closed shop.

Then, she attended a-four day training that inducted her into business. Organised by Living Business Education (L.B.E), the free training equipped her with a wealth of knowledge— how to accumulate capital, invest in profitable ventures, keep books to ensure proper cash flow in business and customer care.

“My work place was congested, untidy and saving was not my culture. But with the training, I got to master the importance of all these,” Ms Logose narrated to Prosper.
Today, she saves about Shs200,000 a month. As a single mother, she has educated her children, expanded her business and looks to owning a piece of land from her savings.
She is not the only beneficiary. Mulwanyi Joseph of Nansana, formerly a boda boda rider today owns a motor cycle, thanks to the training sessions in July where he mastered the essence of saving.

Wairanda Teddy of Kasubi- Kampala, a nursery school teacher has established her own Kindergarten and increased the number of her pupils from 17 to 30 in just one school term while Matembo Sarah, who owns a hardware shop can now save a minimum of Shs700,000 a month, having learnt how to operate her business by separating business matters from her family affairs.

But the brain behind this fruitful entrepreneurs’ training is Mr Livingstone Mukasa, 35, a businessman who equips people with business skills to manage businesses.
As CEO and senior manager Clean Consults Ltd, Mr Mukasa has handed over the business to his managers, and concentrates on training people through the Namirembe based civil society organisation L.B.E. As the lead trainer, he has tutored over 5,000 entrepreneurs who have turned into successful business people.

The venture started out as a small training project for Full Gospel Church, Nsambya with a $10,000 (Shs24,700,000) grant with the aim of turning Uganda into a land of entrepreneurs.
“I did not want to become rich alone but prosper with others so I offered knowledge since the power of wealth lies in knowledge,” Mr Mukasa told Prosper magazine.

In 2007, they began traversing the country; one region at a time to train all categories of people— the illiterate, disabled, old, youth and the educated. To date, about 5000 people in over 21 districts of Gulu, Amuria, Oyam, Mbale, Sironko, Jinja, Tororo, Wakiso, Mpigi, Kampala, Ntungamo, Mbarara, Bushenyi, Fort Portal and Rakai have been trained but out of these, about 1500 people are doing lucrative businesses, a move that has impacted positively on their living standards.

The trainees are monitored at intervals of four months to assess their progress and from the documented field visits, statistics show that at least out of every 10 people trained, three of them start up viable businesses.

Better still, the group of over five trainees offers free services to any willing party wherever they go. With financial support from sponsors in United States and United Kingdom who finance the organisation to do such work, in an effort to curb unemployment.
“The sponsors offer Shs30,000 for every single trainee. Last year alone L.B.E received funding worth over Shs88, 920,000 ($36,000) which was sent out with a focus of training at least 3,000 people. This year, the organisation received over Shs96,000,000 ($40,000) to train 4,000 locals,” Mr Mukasa explained.

However, efforts to access funds from government to increase coverage have been in vain. Some trainees also expect the organisation to give them start-up capital which is out of their deal. These Mr Mukasa says are key issues hindering their work. “Many show up on day one but do not return on realising that trainees will not be paid. And these are mainly the educated lot,” he speaks out, rather disillusioned.

Mr Mukasa has shared his secret in being a successful entrepreneur in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Malawi at a fee. The minimum he earns in a day amounts to Shs3,458,000 ($1400). He has turned into a millionaire, something he never dreamt of. His joy lies in seeing people grow big in business, having started out small.

[email protected]