University students start business in lockdown

Sep 30, 2020

Around the beginning of June this year, our mother gave us some business ideas and capital.”

BUSINESS | COVID-19

The closure of universities during the COVID-19 lockdown has got a number of student to think innovative as they make handcrafts and other vocational skill business. 

Apio, a third year student at Kyambogo University and Adongo, a finalist at Makerere University Business School (MUBS), are into the business of making daddies and crocheting.

"Around the beginning of June this year, our mother gave us some business ideas and capital," Apio, who is pursuing a bachelors' degree in human nutrition and dietetics, says.

"We chose daddies because it was not new to us. We always did daddies for home consumption but not to the business standard.

All we needed was to perfect the skill." Apio added that their aunt enticed them with her delicious recipe.

"With my knowledge of nutrition, I was able to advance this recipe to make our daddies tastier," she says.

Adongo, who is pursuing a bachelor's degree in commerce, narrates that towards the end of June this year, a new idea of crocheting also crossed her mind.

(L-R) Katwesigye, Nyapendi, Apio and Adongo crocheting


"We checked it out on YouTube and within a month, we had mastered our new skill of crocheting different products, such as scarfs, tops, socks, in-door shoes, sweaters and skirts,"she said.

The two are working with Magdalene Nyapendi, a family friend and Noella Katwesigye, a niece.

Nyapendi says she enjoys working with the twins because it enables her to contribute to the family business and also gain knowledge for improvement of the products.

Katwesigye says she has learnt how food is managed.

"I am also perfecting crocheting, a skill that will help me start a business even before I finish school," Katwesigye says.

Adongo praises her mother for the strong support.

"Apart from giving us start-up capital, she has ensured quality is maintained.

So we refer to her as the quality control manager. She has also connected us to various customers and helped us with timely deliveries," she says.

Apio also praises her sister, Adongo, whose accounts skills have enabled them to have proper accounts books. "She handles the numbers as I deal with the food part," she said.








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