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How Elyanu built business empire from fish vending
Another of Mr Elyanu’s structures in Kaberamaido Town. PHOTOS/ EMMANUEL EUMU
What you need to know:
- From mere selling fish in the late 1990s, William Elyanu is now one of the top businessmen in Kaberamaido, with properties in different areas.
Fishermen have for long been known for spending their earnings on luxury and failing to invest.
This is not the case with William Elyanu, one of Kaberamaido’s most successful businessmen, whose walk to fame as one of the enterprising businessmen has offered hope to many.
Elyanu began his success journey from fish vending, oscillating between the lake and the nearby markets.
A Primary Seven dropout, Elyanu, 54, says at the time of the Teso insurgency, which lasted from 1987 to 1992, he had no hope of carrying on with his education after cotton ginning centres closed shop.
After a year out of school, Elyanu turned to fishing in 1985, ferrying his day’s catch from Kobulubulu Landing Site to Kaberamaido Town Council on his head until 1999.
“The start was rough. I had to first learn the fishing basics from people who had been in the lake before me. I later started hiring their dugout boats and the payment was in the form of fish,” he says.
Mr Elyanu at one of his shops in Kaberamaido Town.
“After three years of hiring people’s boats, in 1988, I managed to make my own small dugout boat, which helped me do my solo fishing expedition. Immediately I got back to the shore, I would rush the fish to the market. I saved every little penny that I got from the sale of the fish,” he adds.
At the time, Elyanu says, Lake Kyoga had a lot of fish to trade in. While struggling with his fishing business, Elyanu says there was a native man called Peter Elodu, who operated the only wholesale shop.
“So every day, I was able to have a basket full of fish to deliver to the market,” he recalls. I always looked at him as my role model. I used him to save my money and I found the man to be trustworthy and honest,” he adds.
Mr Elyanu, who owns three Fuso trucks, one taxi and a family car, alongside his hardware shop, also owns the only storeyed house in Kaberamaido Town, and two commercial structures.
By 1999, Elodu had handed him the money that he used to save with him.
“His advice was that I needed to try out some other enterprises. I took up the challenge and relocated to Lira. Here, I discovered that merchandise needed in Kaberamaido was being sold cheaply. By 2000, I opened up a small lockup shop using my little savings from fish,” Mr Elyamu says.
As luck would have it, by 2001, there came an Indian who started to offer him hardware materials on credit. At that time, Kaberamaido had no hardware outlet. This presented an opportunity for him to venture into it.
Mr Elyanu says on top of every item that the Indian supplied to him, he would earn between Shs1,000 and Shs3,000 as profit. By far, it is the hardware supplies that have propelled him to a position he finds himself in now.
By 2003, the father of 18 children says the trust he had built among the Indians enabled him to get additional supplies on credit, like cement and other construction materials, which saw accumulation of profits to his favour.
“At that time, a commercial plot was going for Shs300,000. After getting that first piece of land, I commenced construction and when I completed, I stopped renting other business premises,” he narrates.
In the same year, Elyanu was able to acquire his first canter truck for transporting cement from Lira and other items. The acquisition of the truck was a multifaceted benefit.
Mr William Elyanu’s hardware in Kaberamaido Town. PHOTOS/EMMANUEL EUMU
“Besides ferrying hardware materials from Lira, it also transported people’s produce at a fee. That was money coming in for me,” he says.
He also narrates that his earlier fishing expedition built a lot of resilience in him, and a culture of saving.
“It is those two factors which have played a big push in my business journey. I often come across challenges but I don’t let them wear me down. I often pick myself up as quickly as possible,” he notes, adding: “In the last three years, I have managed to complete a two-floor storeyed structure. It has not been an easy sail through the tides, it has been all about financial discipline and building trust among suppliers.
Mr Elyanu says to succeed financially, there is a need to avoid unnecessary expenditures.
“If something is not a necessity, why would you spend money on that? This is a baseline principle I urge everyone to embrace,” he says.
Challenges in Elyanu business
Mr Elyanu says the unstable prices for commodities that come on a seasonal basis tend to lower the volume of sales for commodities, as some hold on with their money until the prices for commodities get back to normal.
“That means if you purchased items at a high price, you will settle for losses,” the businessman explains.
Mr Elyanu says to date, his biggest problem of doing business is the nature of the roads.
“And we, who are deep in the rural areas, incur a lot of losses because of the fear and wear on vehicles. Customers who also transact with us from areas that are flood prone only return when water recedes,’’ he narrates.
‘‘So, anyone who intends to embrace business in the rural parts has to factor in such elements because the cost of transportation eats much into what would be the profit margins,” he adds.
