Gaps at work presented her with a business opportunity

Ann Hope Anguyo, 32, is the managing director at Vendor Capital Finance in Arua, which provides quick and easy loans for businesses.
A teacher by training, Anguyo has never practiced teaching.

“I looked for jobs but it was hard because schools needed more science teachers than the arts teachers. I got frustrated and worried for my baby. My father was against the idea of using his friends to get me job arguing that I might not take it seriously if it is given to me because of him. I had to toil until I found one.
In 2008, I got a job a bank teller in Arua in DFCU. By 2014, after having worked in Abim, Kitgum and Pader on transfers, I was brought back to Arua as a branch manager.

Lessons from employment
People who work in the bank are like soldiers; they can be called upon to work anywhere any time. The movement to different branches taught me that you can work anywhere.
I also learnt to serve people with humility and treat them the same. This was a great inspiration for me and it was what got me thinking about doing a business that could help people at the grassroots.
At the bank, I realised how long and tiresome it was to acquire a loan. I thought of bringing this service quicker, easier and closer to people.

Starting my business
Arua is a district near the border and people need quick money to clear their goods in and out of the country. Seeing this need, I resigned my job in March 2016. Although starting was hard for me especially when it came to staffing, I got a break through and now I employ 13 staff members.
People feared leaving their jobs for my start up organisation whose sustainability was not certain. I paid the five staff I started with from my savings because we had not made any profits. We have nonetheless stood strong and survived and can even afford to give back by sponsoring the Miss Tourism West Nile pageant, Onduparaka FC and the Rotary Club for the cancer run.
In the next five years, we want Vendor Capital Finance to be a leading non-deposit taking microfinance with 10 branches across the country providing employment to over 250 Ugandans. We hope to have changed lives of people with small scale businesses.

AT VENDOR CAPITAL FINANCE
What you need for a loan
To acquire a loan with her, you need to have an operational business or be salaried, have an identity card, provide a passport photo, a bank statement for salaried people, proof of address and a guarantor who is a person of good repute.

Challenges
Unfaithful customers remain the biggest challenge but we mitigate this with strict analysis of the quality of customers focusing on their credit worthiness. Our emphasis is on small and medium size enterprises, who we lend from as low as Ss100,000. Payment is one or two months with emphasis on early communication if things do not work out as expected so we can discuss the possibility of extending the grace period.

Her advice to women
Hard work is important and it is not about going to office. In the past, we used to depend on men and then we were taken for granted. In this era, every woman should strive to put something at the table. We should work smart and be focused to impact ourselves and the communities we come from.

FACT FILE
Ann Hope Anguyo is the last born of four. She went to Arua Demonstration School, Buloba High School, Migadde College school, and graduated from Uganda Christian University with a bachelor’s degree of Arts in Education in October 2007. She had while at the university but has since parted ways with the father and lives with her parents. According to a close friend, Maxima Nsiimenta, Anguyo is a generous, kind, focused and tenacious woman. “Anne is causing positive impact by creating easier access to small scale funds; and in the process, boosting development.”