Ssenabulya reaps big from Irish potatoes

Eating is an essential and inevitable need. On many occasions, you move from one stall to another looking out for the best food stuff.
Ibrahim Ssenabulya, 24 years has devoted his time and money to Irish potato stalls.
Driving off from Nyanama to Star- Kitebi stage you will not miss taking a second look at the Irish potato stall that stands by the roadside.
Heaps of Irish potatoes in all measurements stand high signalling at every passer-by.
Clients struggling to find parking space and others waiting with polythene bags, two young men cannot help but increase the rate at which they are attending to each one of them.
Carrying sacks of Irish potatoes, covered in dust, welcoming every client, you cannot distinguish Ssenabulya from the rest of his employees.

Inspiration
At a tender age, Ssenabulya found himself juggling school and work. Working with his uncle John Bosco Mulwana during holidays, Ssenabulya started doing business at the age of 14 while in Senior Two.
Running his uncles’ Irish potato stall in Kyebando, he learnt different business tactics. Failing to continue with school, in 2013, Ssenabulya says his uncle asked if he would be one of his employees.
He earned about Shs80,000 to Shs200,000 depending on the sales outcome.
“Watching my uncle offload six trucks of Irish potatoes weekly attracted me to this kind of business. At the stall I was running I would make sales of more than Shs700,000 per day,” he says.
Realising how profitable selling Irish potatoes was, Ssenabulya did not look any further. Saving his monthly earnings, he kept waiting for the right time and opportunity to get started.

Turning point
Ssenabulya says after three years of working with his uncle. His breakthrough came in 2016 when the uncle decided to sell off his Kitebi based stall. This was a blessing in disguise.
Before embarking on the journey to invest in Irish potatoes, Ssenabulya had savings worth Shs2.5m. Buying the stall at Shs2m, he mentions that the remaining money was not enough for his start-up capital. He borrowed Shs500,000 and started with a working capital of Shs1m.
“The journey into this business began with 10 bags of Irish potatoes. Buying each at Shs125,000. I did not have enough money for all the bags. Pleading with the supplier, I asked him to let me sell first and clear the remaining debt in the evening,” Ssenabulya says.
As luck may have it that day, Ssenabulya was able to sale off all the 10 bags thus clearing the debt.

This earned him trust from the supplier who asked if he needed more Irish potato bags the next day. Supplying him on debt, business boomed as he started realising more profits.
From 10 bags he started stocking 25. Before he knew it, his stock increased to a 100 bags and so did his clients.

Why an Irish potatoes stall?
People have never stopped eating. Unlike other foods stuff that are too perishable, Ssenabulya says Irish has a longer shelf life. They can last for a week.
“Two or three might rot but that is not a big loss. Besides Irish is on high demand especially in hotels, restaurants and roadside markets. Receiving clients from all walks of life made it an ideal job because different customers consume Irish potatoes differently,” he says.

Determination
Starting, Ssenabulya had stalls he admired. The owners were older with more experience but hoped that one day he would run and manage business like any of them. This zeal kept him focused.
“When I started the stall, the one thing I kept in my mind was, I am here to compete because my stall was not the only in the area,” he says.

Thinking of how he could attract more clients, Ssenabulya thought of coming up with a nice display to help him expose his produce.
Making it eye-catching and inviting he says, this was going to say lot about him and stall because most customers demand is impulsive.
Moving to different street chips vendors, Ssenabulya started telling them about his stall. The fact that many had seen him work with his uncle, trusting him was easy.

Opening up other stalls
“Realising I would now sell more than 100 bags in a week. I was then convinced of regular customers,” he says.
With Shs3m in 2017, Ssenabulya opened up his second stall in Kawuku market.
Like the first he made sure to set it by the road side. Today the 24-year-old owns five stalls, in Kalerwe, Kitebi, Kawuku, Zana and in Seeta.
For each of his stall Ssenabulya has employed two people to run them. Visiting each one of them weekly, Ssenabulya keeps records of his stock.

Market
“I sell 500 bags every week. Each stall receives a hundred bags a week. I sell both in bulk and in small amounts,” he says.
A basin of Irish potatoes at Ssenabulya’s stalls costs between Shs28,000 and Shs30, 000. A bag costs Shs165,000
He mentions that in November and December the market is flooded and the prices are low. January to May Irish is scarce and the prices are high. He says during scarcity a bag of Irish Potatoes can cost up to Shs300,000. Having worked with his uncle for some time, winning clients was easy for him. He says being friendly and trust worthy is his secret to success in life and business in particular. Having been at it as a helper during his school holidays, Ssenabulya appreciates that keeping in touch with clients has helped his business flourish. He sells different Irish varieties, but mainly Kabale.

“Irish from Kabale is the most preferred on the market. Each time a client walks to my stall, I take time to explain to them the different types available. Depending on the price one makes a choice.”
Ssenabulya’s most selling days are Easter, Christmas time and Eid. He says on such days demand is high. On such days he sells a hundred bags in one to two days. “For the usual days I make profits of Shs1m in a week.”

Challenges
Ssenabulya also faces a challenge of unreliable employees, on many occasions employees disappear with his money.
The transport fee charged by truck owners to bring the Irish from Kabale to Kampala is also expensive. Like employees he says at times you pay the transport fee then one decides to switch off their phone with no trace.
The other challenge is theft, since his business is located by the road side one can easily carry away a bag of Irish especially in the night.