Sustaining a business is not for the fainthearted - Mbabazi

Sheila Yolanda Leta Mbabazi’s business was born after discovering her purpose in life and there is nothing more fulfilling than knowing that you are in the right place.
“I started the bakery as a result of my personal quest to discover my life’s purpose and the gifts God had given me.” As she embarked on this quest through prayer, Mbabazi discovered that she loved cooking. She was passionate about baking cooking.
After enrolling for cooking lessons at Richie’s Catering School in April 2016, she still needed a push to believe in what she had discovered and chosen to pursue.
Her teacher encouraged her to make cookies and give them to her friends and workmates to taste for free. His idea was that if they liked the cakes, they would make orders. And that strategy worked for Mbabazi.
At that time, her workmates at Airtel Uganda, were her first clients and her clientele has grown over the years.
Inspired by her journey, Mbabazi named her business, ‘My Destiny Bakery’ which she established in 2016. After gaining experience in making cookies and cakes, Mbabazi also longed to learn how to make ice-cream and yorghurt.

Starting out
Mbabazi spent long hours baking in the night because she had to work during day. She later decided to hire someone to help her with the baking, at-least thrice a week.
In a quest to bake more cakes and take on more orders within a short time, in November 2017, Mbabazi procured a commercial oven and mixer.
“I continued with one employee working thrice a week until November 2018 when I decided to hire permanent staff to handle orders as they came in.”
Mbabazi, who later realised that her business was flourishing, made a decision to resign her formal job on December 21, 2018 to focus on her business.
“I needed to nurture my business. I needed to give it more time and attention because it was at takeoff stage and had shown signs of being lucrative.”

Capital
Mbabazi used her salary when she was still working, to buy the first baking equipment as well as ingredients. “I started with Shs1m and when the business grew, I borrowed money from the company Sacco to purchase a commercial oven and mixer from China worth $1,500- approximately Shs5.5m. As a way of diversifying my business, I also started the icecream business on August 1, 2019 using partly, my savings as well money from the bakery.

Registration
Both businesses are registered and Mbabazi says the process was faster and simpler than she expected. “It was also affordable because initially, I expected to spend a lot of money and wait for a long time to get all the documents.”

Marketing
Mbabazi says: “We have an interesting marketing model dubbed ‘try and buy’. We give customers a chance to taste our cookies and cakes. If they like them, they buy. We have also had a lot of referrals from satisfied clients.”
She sells cookies and cakes in shops and supermarkets as well as to individuals. Mbabazi says she will use the same marketing model to market her icecream business, which is still in its infant stage.
Mbabazi is proud that through her business, she is able to take care of her family. “Most importantly, I have used the profits from my business to increase the stock as well as start and support the icecream business.”

Challenges
Mbabazi’s major challenge was finding people to work with at the start. “Most of the workers lack commitment and honesty. You hire someone today and three days later, they leave. When you find someone else, they also work only for a month. Some leave without giving notice and this somewhat affects the business operations.”
Mbabazi’s other challenge was knowing how much profit the business was making and the operational costs. “This is a big challenge to many business owners. Many people are running businesses but their books of accounts are wanting. I have received some basic accounting training and learnt lessons on customer acquisition and retention.”

Future
“My plan is to have franchise outlets upcountry and outlets in different countries.”
Mbabazi believes that every business must ride on the ‘why’ question. “Each person must ask themselves why they are starting a business because this will determine how far you will go.”
Mbabazi adds: “Business is not for the fainthearted. You must be resilient because there are hurdles that you will encounter as a business owner that will will shake your faith.”
“Successful business proprietors have mastered the art of listening to customer’s needs, delivering a quality and timely product without, whining.”
About mentorship,
Mbabazi says: “The programme enlightened me majorly in the field of taxes and standardisation. Previously, I paid taxes without understanding how they were levied on businesses. Sometimes, we lack the confidence to challenge taxes.”