Groundnut vendor to top tile importer

 

Today, through his Mirage Trading Company, Ssentamu is one of the top importers of furniture, tiles and other construction hardware material. He told Isaac Baligema and Sebidde Kiryowa his story

 

I was born on October 14, 1969 in Bulemeezi, Luwero district. My father, Israel Ssengooba, was a sub-county chief, while my mother, Mariam Namusoke, was a peasant farmer.

 

I spent most of my childhood with my mother because my father travelled a lot. 

 

I attended Bbale Primary School and later Nandere Primary School in Luwero. It was while I was in Primary Three at Nandere that I was introduced to business. My mother would give me roast soybean and groundnuts to sell at school during break time.      

However, my education was interrupted in 1982 when the National Resistance Army guerrillas that brought President Yoweri Museveni to power invaded our village in Bulemeezi. They pitched camp there in their battle to oust Milton Obote’s government, forcing us to flee our home. 

 

I went to live with my elder brother, Muhammad Ssengooba, in Kawempe, Kampala. My mother went to Lugazi in Mukono district, where she had got a job at Sudaplast Industries, a plastic footwear company.

 

I completed Primary Seven at Kawempe Mbogo Primary School. Since my mother was working in Lugazi, I joined Lugazi Secondary School. However, my mother was earning so little that we could barely make ends meet, so she looked for better employment opportunities at Sudaplast in Mbale. I went with her.

 

In Mbale, I joined Mbale Senior Secondary School, where I sat my O’level. I did not proceed further with education after S.4 due to financial difficulties. Around that time, my mother, who was nearing retirement, quit her job to trade chicken, which was more profitable.

 

She would buy chicken from Mbale and Busoga sub-region and sell them outside Middle East Market in Bugolobi in Kampala. I then moved to Kampala to help my mother buy the stock. 

 

Over time, the chicken business proved to be so profitable that my mother came to be known as Hajjat Nkoko. She bought a plot of land in Kitintale, Kampala and constructed rentals.

 

In 1990, a few months after I arrived in Kampala, my mother, who was still trying to establish herself in the chicken business, introduced me to Rogers Kakooza, a long-time friend of hers. 

 

Kakooza traded in tiles in a shop called V. Rogers, which was located on Luwum Street, where Kizito Towers sits today.

I started working with Kakooza as a shop assistant and salesperson. Since I was honest, hardworking and good at what I did, he soon made me permanent staff.

 

After five years working at the shop, I learnt how to lay tiles, among other skills. Technical people, who knew how to lay tiles in homes, were hard to find those days.

 

The few charged clients an arm and a leg. I watched with envy as clients paid them an equivalent of my six months’ pay in one day. I knew I had to cash in on that trade.   

 

Luckily, at about the same time, my boss acquired a tile cutter, a rare machine at that time. I was trained to use it and I was the only one who knew how to do so.

 

This meant that whenever a client hired it, I had to go with him to the site to operate it. I took this opportunity to learn the art of laying tiles at the sites where I worked.

 

When my boss learnt of my new skills, he got a contract with the Sheraton Kampala Hotel, whom he used to supply tiles for renovation and sent me there.

 I only worked on weekends and my boss would pay me monthly

 

Soon I started getting side jobs from clients, who came to either buy tiles from the shop or hire the tile cutter.

On a sad note, my father died in a motor accident in 1994 and my mother died of natural causes in 1995.

 

Over the years, the side jobs increased in frequency. The work became so overwhelming that I had to recruit people to help out. With this team, I was able to attract and handle huge contracts to lay tiles at residential and commercial premises. 

 

However, I retained my job at the shop despite the fact that I was earning more money from my side projects. My boss did not mind my side jobs because I also hired his tile cutter and paid him for it. 

 

In 2005, after working with Kakooza for 15 years, I quit the job because the side jobs had become very many. They were also lucrative. I foresaw this becoming a source of conflict with my boss, which I did not want. 

 

I charged sh6,000 per square metre of floor tiles laid and sh8,000 per square of wall tiles laid. I was getting about four to five jobs a week and before I could complete them, more work came in.

 

With sh1.5m from my savings, I opened up a hardware shop on Market Street in Nakasero, Kampala. I started out trading in plumbing materials and other construction material. I called my business Mirage Trading Company.

 

I continued working hand-in-hand with my construction team. At that time, we were working on big projects for individuals and organisations in and outside the country.

 

One of the biggest deals I got was to lay tiles in the offices of MFI Office Solutions, not only here in Kampala, but also in Rwanda, Arusha, Nairobi and Dar-es-salaam. I employed an assistant who kept the shop running when we were away in the field.

 

One of my greatest inspirations was James Kanyije (proprietor of KK Foods, who was featured in Pakasa last month). I met him when I went to lay tiles at his place.

 

Kanyije  told me his story and I realised we had gone through similar challenges. I admired the fact that he had come from far to achieve so much. It made me realise that I too could make something of myself. Today, Kanyije and I are best of friends. He is my adviser.

 

Although I had been forced to sell an assortment of plumbing and construction material because they required less capital, my passion and interest remained in tiles; that was what I understood best.

 

That was what I wanted to deal in.  

At the end of 2005, after accumulating savings from both my shop and the construction business, I went to Dubai with a capital of $10,000 (sh25m today) to import tiles. 

 

Interestingly, when I embarked on that trip, I had no idea where I would buy the tiles from or the processes involved. My efforts to find information from traders who were engaged in the tiles business were always frustrated. They kept making promises of how they would even take me with them in vain. I only got the information I needed after landing at the airport and bought the tiles.

 

In 2006, my business started to pick up. With larger stock from Dubai, I realised that my shop was too small to accommodate it.

 

I shifted to a shop at City Centre Complex on Luwuum Street and shared the rent with a woman called Lucy Muwonge.

Because business was good, I returned to Dubai in no time.

 

Because of increased stock, I opened another shop at Shoppers Stop Plaza in Kampala in 2007. My wife, Aisha Ssentamu, began to manage it. 

In 2008, I travelled to China for my next consignment. I had discovered that the traders from whom we bought merchandise in Dubai were middlemen, who also imported the items from China.  To reduce expenses and increase my profit margin, I decided to import from China, the source. 

 

This time round, I turned to a friend of mine called Rosemary, who helped get me the right contacts of the suppliers of tiles in China.

 

While on these trips, I developed strong relationships with several local traders and international suppliers. I did not require capital. These suppliers would give me goods on credit and I would pay them back after selling.

 

That made it easier for me to expand. In the same year, 2008, I opened another branch of my business on 6th Street in Industrial Area, next to National water and Sewerage Corporation in the building that used to host the Central Purchasing Corporation.

 

Today, we have two warehouses on this street fully stocked with furniture, filling, ceramic materials and tiles, among other construction materials. 

 

Because this branch is located in a spacious environment, it has since become the main branch. We are one of the biggest importers of digital, ceramic and granite tiles, as well as office and home furniture from Malaysia and China.

Diversifying into other businesses

 

In the process of importing construction materials, we often got a lot of stuff that was either not sold or the market did not like it. 

 

We decided to start utilising them ourselves. That is how we got into the real estates business. We buy chunks of land, put up estates and then sell the houses.

 

With the help of our savings, we have since embarked on the construction of Mirage Plaza, a five-storey complex in Kitintale, which will house a couple of my businesses and the first-ever tiles supermarket in the country, among others. It will also house showrooms for furniture and filling. 

 

I have also gone into agro-forestry with 30 acres of eucalyptus in Bulemeezi, Luweero. 

 

Handling loans

I have not yet had the need for a loan. I have made most of the investments and developments from my savings. 

 

I have been able to take all my children to school; my first born is studying statistics at Portsmouth University in the United Kingdom. My other daughter recently graduated and she is a full-time employee at Mirage.

 

I have constructed a house and I am generally leading a comfortable life.

The biggest challenge is the fact that I deal in fragile goods (tiles), so I sometimes register losses in case someone drives recklessly.

 

Companies, which transport our goods from Mombasa, normally breach agreements. They often deliver cargo more than a month after the agreed time and yet they charge us demurrage (compensation paid when there is a delay in loading or unloading a carrier causing a delay in the carrier’s departure). This costs us money.  As I speak, I have sued one of these companies over breach of contract.

 

The other challenge is the fact that sometimes the business is seasonal yet other bills like workers’ salaries remain constant.

I am adversely affected by the South Sudanese war because I had a number of clients who used to buy goods in bulk. I am stuck with stock I cannot sell as fast as I had anticipated. 

 

I want to be the biggest supplier of imported tiles in this country. I intend to go on a countrywide drive to change the mindset of Ugandans from using paint and cement to embracing tiles. You use tiles once, while paint fades. Digital tiles, for instance, cannot fade, so it is cheaper to use them on walls other than paint.

 

I also intend to open up more branches countrywide and reach out to more people.

We are looking at going into manufacturing. We are already adding value to the products we import, but we want to get into full-scale manufacturing of tiles, filling and furniture. We are in talks with our Chinese partners about the technical assistance required. We have already secured land. This project will cost over sh10b.   

 

 

I want to start an organisation, which brings together businessmen who share the same philosophy. It will be similar to Kwagalana Group except we want to be able to support each other through sharing markets, networks and other resources.