The economist who won’t give up on the camera lens

Varelia Nassolo’s photography skills have won her lucrative gigs including weddings. Photo by Eronie Kamukama.

What you need to know:

  • Versatile. After several failed attempts at formal jobs, Valeria Nassolo decided to turn her love for photos into an income generating project. Although the beginning was bleak, she was determined to make it work at all costs. Today, her photography skills have won her wedding gigs, writes Eronie Kamukama

When the 26-year-old Valeria Nassolo first dipped her toes into business, the first thing she learnt was that entrepreneurship was key to financial independence and rewarding.

After completing her bachelor’s degree at Makerere University in 2015, she started working with a non-governmental organisation (NGO) as a field assistant. For some time, she was undertaking communication tasks such as photography.

When the project ended in August 2017, she was convinced she would find another job. Although she found another job at a media company, this time, she was hired as an administrative assistant.

“They had photographers, would do events, set up stages but I didn’t mind, I looked at it as passing time as I wait for the job I wanted,” she says.

Four months passed by and there wasn’t another job. All she worried about was whether she could be in this position forever. She could start a business, so she thought. She was already running a boutique in downtown Kampala and she could hardly cope.

“I did self-evaluation asking myself what I love to do. I realised I am always asking someone to take my picture wherever I go. I knew I could turn this love for photos into an income generating business,” she says.
But how would she do it? There was only Shs3.5m in savings. With Shs2.5m, she got her first camera.

“I would go with it to office and take shots. One day, I went to Nasser Road, did a logo and posted it telling people I do photography. I got my first customer,” she says. “I took the pictures for editing but they were of poor quality. It was at birthday, in the night and in a client’s home. I was just starting out and did not know much about professional photography.”

Val Media Consultancy, an audiovisual company focusing on photography, videography, branding and social media was supposed to transform the next chapter of her life after employment.

Luckily, the customer was understanding. The second customer wasn’t. “I refunded Shs150,000 out of the Shs200,000 I was paid. She said the pictures were ugly and one week was too long a delivery period,” Nassolo says.

After two failed attempts at business, she turned to a media company for apprenticeship. There was a catch though. She was to bring in revenue for the company. She became part of the field team and learnt all about photography, videography and delivering quality work to customers. The different shots boosted her social media pages. Given that the company only concentrated on high end customers, she sought the smaller clients to start her business.

“In a good month, we got two big marriage related ceremonies. We do two smaller events per week, sometimes we are shooting documentaries,” Nassolo says when we first talk about what her work is like. But personal business can be challenging as well. You have to be determined to hang in there despite the challenges.
But when one customer showed her dissatisfaction, Nassolo planned to exit the industry in 2018.

“My closest friends were not supporting me at all yet they were holding events. At some point, I contemplated giving up on the business. Then one businesswoman I had shared my pictures with called me for a birthday shoot, I was encouraged, believing that I had to now focus on finding business from people that did not know me,” Nassolo narrates.

“Some customers had Shs150,000 and I could not turn them away. So I worked with another colleague for the smaller events,” she says, “I started hiring better equipment from the photography school I had enrolled in and also started outsourcing photographers with the aim of sharing the proceeds with them.”

After some time, she broke off to build her brand and when the time was ripe, she invested in equipment and hired female photographers. Today, she has one full time photographer, editor as well as other part-time employees that work on last minute jobs.

Marriage ceremonies remain her cash cow with services costing between Shs2.5m to Shs15m. “Even when someone pays Shs3m, with all my costs worth Shs1.4m deducted, the rest of the money goes to the business account. I ensure not to do events where I do not earn a profit of Shs500,000 for reinvesting in the business,” she says.

Partnerships have been very key in giving her the business support she needs, especially because one cannot have all the equipment they need. For more than two years now, Nassolo has concentrated on event-based media services and says it is time to set the company apart.

“We are planning to establish a studio and specializing in lady boss photo shoots,” she says and she is yet to collect the Shs25m she needs.

“I need to save more than Shs3m a month to hit this target in a year. That means we must have one big wedding worth Shs7m. In two months, we do one big wedding and profit off Shs3m,” she explains.

To see her plans to fruition, she says some things in the industry must change first. Customers must stop looking at photography as a casual job. Customers must also adjust to prepayment plans to avoid defaulting. “They do not know how costly it is to provide this service so they expect to pay as little as Shs100,000 and get the same quality as someone who pays millions,” she says.

Last year, she participated in the Rising Woman business proposal writing competition organised by Daily Monitor and Dfcu bank, and emerged forth out of 20 businesswomen shortlisted for a Shs30m prize.

The trainings on customer retention, financial principles, accounting and scaling the business have turned her into an outstanding businesswoman. “I think females are better leaders than men. I think the business is doing well as there is less destruction for me as a leader. I set a pace for the business to be respected, for my workers to know what is expected of them.”

Making it work

To see her plans to fruition, Valeria Nassolo says some things in the industry must change first. Customers must stop looking at photography as a casual job. Customers must also adjust to prepayment plans to avoid defaulting. “They do not know how costly it is to provide this service so they expect to pay as little as Shs100,000 and get the same quality as someone who pays millions,” she says. Training on customer retention, financial principles, accounting have turned her into a model businesswoman.