The COVID-19 lockdown has taught me a lot

PAKASA   BUSINESS

Robert Mugisha is a 39-year-old businessman from Kibinge village, Masaka District. He dropped out of school in S4 and moved to Kampala in 2000. He has risen from being a newspaper vendor to owning two pork restaurants in Wakiso district, one in Namugongo and the other in Nansana.  

However, these were affected by the lockdown instituted to curb the spread of COVID-19.  

Below are his lessons from the lockdown.

1. Employee engagement: I have had time to engage my employees and listen to their feedback. Before the lockdown, there was never time to listen to feedback extensively. Everyone was preoccupied every day.  

2. Diversification is key.  As a business, we are thinking of including more items on our menu in the near future.  

3. Minimising expenditure: We do not have as many customers as before COVID-19, the sales have been low and we had to cut costs.  

4. Strengthening home deliveries: During the lockdown, most of our customers have been making orders from their homes so this has taught us that we needed to strengthen our delivery services.  

5. Preparation for calamities: The lockdown has also taught us how to prepare for calamities that may affect our business negatively, just like COVID-19 has done. I, therefore, sat with my staff to devise ways of how to stay afloat. This will help us going forward.  

About Mugisha's business  

Established in the early 2000s, Mugisha's first restaurant, Crane Gardens Namugongo, used to attract close to 300 customers daily before COVID-19 struck.  Early this year, Mugisha set up a second restaurant in Nansana. Just five months in business, this restaurant was attracting close to 50 customers a day.  

In your copy of Pakasa pull-out this Monday, find out Mugisha's full story.  He shares how the idea for pork restaurants was birthed, how much capital he invested, the hurdles he has had to jump over and what it takes to keep afloat.