Lwanga used tuition to start business
A section of Shaban Lwanga’s video library in Wandegeya, Kampala. Inset is Lwanga
Fortune favours the brave, so goes the saying. For Shaban Lwanga, the reason to join university and go through the routine cycle of burning rubber knocking at prospective employers’ doors in search for a job, was unthinkable.
After completion of the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE), it was time for him to join university. However, when his parents gave him money for tuition, he decided to use it to start a business.
He opened a video library, an idea he had toyed with for some time because he liked entertainment.
During high school, he would escape from school to go out and watch films in local video halls, locally known as bibanda, and while he enjoyed the visuals, he also appreciated how much owners of the semi-permanent video halls made.
His parents had given him Shs3.5 million, part of which he used to buy computers and to rent the place. His parents did not get to know until later.
“They didn’t know I was starting a business since I was opening it in Wandegeya near the university. I could leave in the morning and come back in the evening so they would think I was coming from lectures,” he recalls.
However, it would be a matter of time before they got to know, and they surely did. And Lwanga was prepared for the repercussions so he made sure that he grew his business, and real fast.
Getting a breakthrough
Within two years, his business had become self-sustaining and had started paying him a profit. He used part of the returns to move out of his parents’ home and even buy his first car - a Toyota Premio.
When his parents learnt of it, they did not confront him. Rather, they encouraged him because within that time, there were friends and had relatives who had graduated but did not have jobs yet he was living a fairly comfortable life.
For every hilling Lwanga made, he invested back into the business. He was buying and duplicating DVDs. His stock grew. He would buy soft copies of movies and this necessitated him buying hard disks so he could back-up.
When he started making business sense, with growing profit, he decided to legally register the business. He turned to friends for a business name. Many names came up but one of his friends, a lawyer with Uganda Revenue Authority, advised him to use his name.
Growing his trade
Lwanga used the advantage of having a friend who is a lawyer to seek further advice on registration of his company. He registered it as Shabs Xclusive Limited. The company that started as a single unit video library selling movies and music now sells electronic gadgets, PlayStation games, shoes and ladies clothes.
The self-made young entrepreneur says he has been able to grow his business due to financial discipline. During his first month in business, he made a profit of Shs200, 000.
In the subsequent months, the profits kept increasing, so he developed appetite for expansion and growth. To maintain his books, he has an accountant who visits his offices to audit so that he is at per with URA. Besides making sure he worked day and night, Lwanga also made sure that he took good care of his customers.
“I started with few customers but at least I made sure I didn’t lose any. I made sure every customer became my friend. Just like that, I made so many friends and they supported me by bringing other friends to my movie library,” Lwanga recollects.
At the premises where he first rented, he was paying Shs250, 000 in rent dues. He is currently paying Shs1 million. He says that rent is high so this keeps him on his toes to make sure he works hard enough
