The International Womens day on March 8 couldnt have been marked at a better time for IMMY JULIE MUSOKE NAKYEYUNE, an enterprising young woman, who celebrated reaching 600 women for her Mkazipreneur, a platform for women to learn and showcase their business and entrepreneurial skills. And, as Ernest Jjingo writes there is more to Nakyeyune than just helping women realize their dreams.

In the midst of hustle and bustle of Ntinda suburb, I find Nakyeyune equally unsettled; she is preparing for a training session for women entrepreneurs but the slow turnout is getting to her head. Todays schedule is quite busy but some participants have delayed on the way, she says before picking her phone to make more inquiries.

On this particular occasion, Nakyeyune is trying to link women innovators with potential funders, also women, to create a cycle of entrepreneurship.

WORTHY CAUSE

The youthful Nakyeyune has already cut out her career path to create a linkage for women. We dont need to fight for emancipation when we have the capacity to determine our destiny, she says. Thats the mindset every woman should have to succeed as an entrepreneur.

With hindsight, many women in Uganda find it hard to start up and run businesses. Given their social responsibilities of motherhood and wifely duties, some women find themselves forced to stay home waiting to survive on their husbands incomes.

It is against this background that Nakyeyune started the online community platform for women entrepreneurs called Mkazipreneur in November 2018 to help fellow women start up small-scale businesses to provide best management skills essential for survival.

In Mkazipreneur, Nakyeyune provides a platform for women entrepreneurs to connect, engage and share ideas.

HOW IT STARTED

Nakyeyune works for a top corporate company (name withheld) where they work on a one-year contract which can be terminated anytime; therefore she thought it wise for her to have a side business where she can get some income in case she wakes one day jobless; so, she started a cleaning service company.

The company, MStran Cleaning Services, does laundry and general cleaning as well as making and supplying liquid soap, dog shampoo and hand washes.

I started a cleaning service company as a side business so that it is a fallback position in case I wake up to no contract renewal. When my female colleagues saw that it was doing so well, they pushed me to start a mastermind group where we could share business ideas and skills, Nakyeyune says.

The mastermind group was initially made of four people but as the numbers went on increasing, Nakyeyune decided to register the group as a social enterprise to become an online community for women entrepreneurs.

As new members kept coming in, I noticed that many women really had business ideas but they didnt have enough confidence to bring them to reality; so, in November 2018, I founded Mkazipreneur, a platform where we could support each other, market our products and grow our businesses, Nakyeyune adds.

She says she started Mkazipreneur after meeting women who were struggling after being laid off work, stay-home mothers and those who were starting businesses but failing to maintain them as well as reducing unemployment among women.

Currently the online platform has more than 500 women entrepreneurs not only in Uganda but also in other countries across the continent with over 300 members in Uganda, 96 in Kenya, 43 in Ghana, 23 in Rwanda and soon starting up in Zimbabwe.

All these cohorts coordinate through the organizations website and other social media platforms such as WhatsApp groups, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and quarterly networking events.

ACTIVITIES OF THE ORGANISATION

Under Mkazipreneur, there is a programme called Mkazi Create, which encourages women to start their own businesses. Nakyeyune first meets the women who want to join individually, understands their needs and ideas and places them in the best position possible.

Many women have the ideas and desire to venture into part-time or fulltime entrepreneurship. However, some do not have the confidence to start or do not have the right resources and mentorship to guide them, she says.

She adds that such women are matched with other women entrepreneurs in similar fields who offer them a step-by-step guidance and mentorship until their idea comes to life.

One of the major skills that Mkazipreneur has embarked and emphasized on in the past months is business plan development and writing. So far, they have had three physical trainings with a total of 93 women entrepreneurs in Uganda. Women entrepreneurs in Kenya and Ghana are taken through this step-by-step guidance through the website and email engagements.

Mkaziprenuer also carries out skills trainings in both soft skills and technical skills with the latter majorly aiming at stay-home women who are trained in skills like making wigs, candles, bakery, liquid soap, weaving, tailoring and farming.

There are so many women who are seated at home but would like to start up an income-generating activity; therefore, we reach out to them and train them in different hands-on skills which they can use to earn an income. In 2019, we trained over 600 women and we hope to train over 1,000 women this year, Nakyeyune noted.

The community has an e-commerce platform where members market their products. A member who has a product to sell uploads it on the organizations website with its price and other members or people who visit the website can view it and make an order if interested.

Nakyeyune said; We have women who work from home and these no longer need office space to sell their products, we just put them on our website with their contacts and deliveries are made to anyone who picks interest.

ON-SITE TRAININGS

However, women who cannot access internet services, especially those outside Kampala, have also not been left out as the organization carries out field visits and workshops in villages across the country where such women are taught soft skills on business management and marketing. Some even get a chance of having their products displayed on the website and get connected to potential customers.

Nakyeyune, however, says they are focusing so much on personal growth before the business growth. We believe that before your brand grows, you as a person you have to grow. There are some things you need to pick up like public speaking, having constructive friends such that with our continuous mentorship and engagements, the women grow both personally and business-wise.

Empowerment to women entrepreneurs is done through social media platforms, mentorship programs, master classes, workshops, showcasing events, the media and also through daily articles and blogs on the organizations website.

Mkaziprenuer organization also works with other organizations like UN Women, Akina Mama wa Afrika, Innovation Village, Xeno Investment Management, and NSSF for financial literacy and skills trainings.

FUTURE PLANS

The organization is planning to start up an investment club soon where members will be able to save collectively part of their income and eventually invest the savings in something which will benefit all the members. The women will also be able to borrow loans from the investment club and invest into their businesses.

Interest rates in banks are high and many women do not have collateral which can enable them obtain loans from banks; so, our investment club will enable women to borrow against what they saved to inject in their business, Nakyeyune said.

Mkazipreneur also plans to strengthen its e-commerce platform and make it more aggressive such that all women entrepreneurs are able to use it to sell their products online and also make it continental where buying and selling is done across Africa.

Currently, the women on the platform do not contribute funds towards the organization but in the near future, Nakyeyune hopes to charge one dollar for every woman to be in the community. She said; I want to first make sure that I am adding value to the women on the platform and eventually I will charge them to be in the community or for using the e-commerce platform.

The main challenge Nakyeyune says the organization is facing is lack of finance for executing the projects, especially when it comes to carrying out workshops and trainings. However, she says they have been getting aid from partner organizations and well-wishers who appreciate the works of the organisation.

HOW TO JOIN

Any woman who owns or is willing to start up a small business is free to join Mkazipreneur by contacting Nakyeyune who then sends them a link through which they connect to the website.

Anyone who wants to join contacts me and I engage them on what they want to do and how they want to grow. Then afterwards, I join them on the platform and even get for them mentors, she says.

The organizations website through which interested women can join is http://www.mkazipreneur.com.

What the MKAZIPRENEUR members say

Aidah Kasana

Mkazipreneur is not just about linking up but it has trained us to be more productive. For instance, Im currently attending a digital class for free and it has greatly improved my marketing skills for my products on social media.

Im in the field of printing and graphics and Mkazipreneur has given me opportunities to network with suppliers and clients to expand my business. It has also opened my eyes to different clubs like the 5am club that gives me more hours in the day.

Then there is the book club for reading and reviewing inspirational books. All in all, Mkazipreneur has empowered me to realise my dreams.

Barbara Nantume

I got to know about the organization through Nakyeyune herself since we are both members of Rotary club. When she got to know that I am an entrepreneur as well, she picked interest in me and I also picked interest in her idea.

I make solar driers mainly for agricultural products like fruits and vegetables and add value to them. To me, Mkazipreneur has helped me get a lot of exposure and attract new customers for my products through showcasing them in different expos here and abroad.

It has helped me acquire knowledge and skills from other entrepreneurs and finding market distribution channels as well as improving on the quality of my products.

Who is Immy Nakyeyune?

Nakyeyune graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Actuarial Science from Makerere University in 2011 and then went to attain a Master Degree in Financial Services from the same university in 2015.

She describes herself as an experienced business consultant with more than five years experience in the field of business operations with a proven history of aiding and significantly improving the success of numerous businesses most especially for women entrepreneurs.

Besides Mkazipreneur and her corporate job, Nakyeyune also runs a wine and spirits business where she buys and resells them to people planning to have weddings, house parties and other events.

She also does consultancy for companies where she trains their employees on data analysis, proper reporting and data presentation. Most employees do not know how to compile, present and explain reports; so, companies hire me to train them and in a month I may get about two gigs.

She has done mentorship programs not only in Uganda but also invited in other countries like Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia. Nakyeyune is also a volunteer and member of Rotary Uganda and the country secretary of Rotaract Uganda and the deputy district executive secretary, Youth of Rotary Uganda.

She is an enthusiastic reader of books in her spare time because her leadership positions require her to be knowledgeable about the current trends in business and she has read 16 books so far this year.

She says that although she does not get direct income from the organization, she feels contended that she is serving her community and changing the lives of many women out there, reducing on unemployment and also the experience of sharing her vision of empowering women, developing and growing the community and having people believing in it.

jjingoernest1@gmail.com

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How Nakyeyune created platform to lift up women entrepreneurs - The Observer