She loved parties, she started organising them

A decoration for a corporate function by Ashton Events Ltd, Inset is Clare Galabuz. Photos BY DEUS BUGEMBE

Howard Washington Thurman, an influential African American author and philosopher of the 20th Century once said: “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive.”
Clare Galabuzi, a 29-year-old Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management graduate from Makerere University, knew what would make her come alive as early as her Senior Six vacation when she opted to turn her passion into profit with a patched up public address system. “I always loved parties which would later lead to my keenness to start organising them,” she says.

Birds of a feather
Things were about to get better when she discovered that her future husband Andrew Galabuzi, a Uganda Revenue Authority official, had the same fanaticism when it came to entertainment thus, leading to the birth of Ashton Events Ltd in 2012. Galabuzi is the company’s creative and administrative director. “I can count myself lucky.

My husband and I share the passion in music. He had owned a mobile disco before with friends and he had the technical expertise. So we pulled resources and bought our first set of music equipment. We have never looked back,” she says.

The company which deals with weddings, corporate functions, introductions, graduations and birthday parties now boosts of six permanent employees while many more are contracted on events days.

Galabuzi still has a vivid memory of the first event she managed. Clouded with nerves, she knew it had to go well if she was to last in such a competitive industry. “I was really nervous,” she recalls. “It was our good friends’ wedding and many of our friends were going to show up. It had to be perfect.”

The day went perfectly well and just like that, the offers started piling in. To survive in any competitive industry, you have to be good at what you do. “We try to offer the best services because no one wants their ceremony half baked,” Galabuzi says.

The good work has paid dividends by attracting more customers by the day. “We get most of our clients through referrals especially from those who see and appreciate our work at events.”

Challenges
Galabuzi’s journey in events management has been a rollercoaster with some testing challenges like the fact that the business is seasonal. “During some periods of the year people don’t organise functions citing financial issues. The dilemma also caught up with us in February and March because of elections and lent. Few people got married, introduced or partied,” she says.

Offering the best services sometimes means you must have good equipment which is of course expensive. “That means your price might be a little higher than others in the business which might push away potential customers,” she says.

Managing outdoor events becomes a nightmare especially when nature does its rounds. “Things like weather that we have no control over especially for outdoor events, heavy rain can destroy decorative materials, music equipment, deter you from completing work in time, and sometimes a client can blame you for eventualities of rain yet it was beyond your control.”

When it comes to registration of an events company before it starts operations, the legal fees have also left proprietors pondering. “Licence fees are so high. For example, last year we were paying Shs530,000 to play music but this year the figure shot up to Shs1,100,000. This is so high considering we have so many other costs,” she laments.

Galabuzi says passion is the major driver in business.
“It’s a good business but you need to have passion above everything else,” she stresses. “Passion will drive you to be creative to remain relevant. It will keep you going through the “dry” spells when business is slow. If you are driven by the money, you will end up doing mediocre work to save money on each job you do.”

Goals
Galabuzi has set goals and objectives for Ashton Events Ltd. “We want to be a one-stop shop for all services without outsourcing for anything.” She also gives the company most of her time as she has turned to it as her main source of income. “We invest back most of the profits and that’s how we have managed to grow. The company also pays me a salary and I am fully dedicated to it,” says the mother of two.