Over 400 women entrepreneurs have benefited from a business training in Kampala organised by dfcu bank in partnership with Daily Monitor and Uganda Investment Authority. This marks the climax of a series of Business trainings that have been running across the country under the Rising Woman Initiative regional tours in Western – Ishaka, Eastern – Mbale, Northern – Gulu and Central Kampala mentoring women in business in fields such as business basics, business planning and enterprise management skills (Marketing skills, Communication, Recordkeeping and finance. A total of of over 1,200 women have benefited from this training. This brings to 2,700 the number of women who have been trained under the Rising Woman Initiative that’s currently in its second year.
The initiative is aimed at recognising and rewarding a culture of mentorship among women in business in Uganda. This initiative is running for a second consecutive year and will see over 100 women showcasing their products and services at an Expo that has been organised for Friday 15th and Saturday 16th November 2019 at Hotel Africana starting at 9:00 am.
The Expo is a culmination of the 2019 Rising Woman Initiative launched on June 19th 2019. The 2019 Expo will provide an opportunity for women-owned businesses and entrepreneurs to share knowledge and move their business forward. Over 200 exhibitors and attendees are expected to attend the two-day Expo. For instance, hotel owners might get educated on the importance of top hotel management software and how to use it to further their business, while a work from home professional might learn skills to market herself – the opportunities would be galore. Women entrepreneurs will also be offered an opportunity for their businesses to be profiled and advertising space in selected media.
According to Victoria Byenkya Head of Women in Business program at dfcu, women-led businesses often fail due to diverse challenges but on top of the list is lack of information, financial constraints, social barriers and skill set gaps. Through these trainings, these gaps are being bridged at a free cost thereby working at creating an enabling environment for women entrepreneurs to flourish.
Joan Akumu who runs a confectionary business said “Marketing has always been my challenge since I am a sole entrepreneur. I do my work from home and I have to market it myself. This training has exposed me to better practices and I believe I will stand out once I implement this knowledge.” This knowledge would better inform her whether to hire a provider of lead generation services or take the help of a software to improve the customer reach or continue doing it on her own.
According to Esther Kisaakye a Health and Nutritionist Marketer, who attended the training, it’s easy to forget the most essential things when running a business. It is easy to forget that, in order to be successful, it is essential to hire the right talent from the industry and streamline their work smoothly with the aid of a CRM or a HR software for instance. A lack of proper recruitment will likely result in the company having to spend a fortune again on finding new employees, but this time with greater attention to detail. However, according to Esther, “This training has reminded me and I have also learnt the business principles that I need to take my business forward. I enjoyed the training, especially the part about the 7P of business.”
As part of the initiative, over 95 businesswomen participated in proposal writing. The top 3 winners will win UGX 15 million, 10 million and 5 million respectively and the overall top 10 will take part in an all-expense paid study tour to Nairobi.
