Mutesi Jackie, a 25-year-old woman from Lufula Zone of Bwaise II, experienced some troubles with her small business that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic. “I started my chip frying business in 2017, but had to close it due to the outbreak of COVID-19 as the ingredients had become so expensive that I could not afford them anymore,” she explains.
Mutesi is a married woman with four children and a hair dresser by profession. But when she failed to raise enough capital to start her own salon, she decided to venture into selling potato chips to support herself and her family. In the face of the pandemic, she explained that she shifted to frying cassava chips because they were cheaper for her to buy.
It was the decision to undertake AFFCAD’s entrepreneurship training, though, that helped Mutesi’s business the most. She says, “The entrepreneurship training has been beneficial to me as it has taught me how to keep records of my business. But, most importantly, I learnt about stocking. Previously I would just buy stock without knowing whether it was the stock I needed at that particular time, or whether it was the right quantity I needed for my business, which resulted in many losses. But now, after gaining this knowledge, I no longer just buy stock anyhow.”
Mutesi says that, with time, she plans on expanding her business into a restaurant because she is now able to make plans that allow her to save much of the money she earns. She also now uses saving groups and banks to be able to acquire enough capital for her ventures. She is grateful to AFFCAD for their help and thanks them for the opportunity to gain knowledge that has positively impacted the way she runs her business.
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