Begin with what you have, start small and overcome challenges using your skills.

My journey as a woman entrepreneur has not been an easy one. Opportunities do not come easily to young entrepreneurs in Uganda, especially women.

I was born and raised in a remote village of Kabale, South Western Uganda. When I was very young, my mother taught me how to weave baskets and make beads and jewelry, while my father worked as a farmer growing pineapples.

My parents have been a great inspiration to me. My mother taught me my entrepreneurial skills and business principles. I worked with her in her business producing a local brew called ‘tonto’ which she sold to local bars. Through her business she raised money to pay our school fees and other family necessities.

Our family couldn’t afford my secondary education, but a relative offered to help so that I could continue my education. This act of kindness inspired me and taught me many things, including the value of respect and responsibility for one’s family and the larger community. I did not know then that this respect for human dignity would later become a very important influence in my own life and guide my approach to managing and training workers.

As the first-born child in my family, I had to set the example for my siblings. I had to be a role model.

Throughout my education, I knew that the only way to stop the vicious cycle of poverty was to work hard, and start earning money as early as possible. So after my secondary studies, I began selling second hand clothes using my savings. I also volunteered as a youth coordinator with the African Medical Research Foundation during my vacations.

After entering Makerere University, I started making and selling handmade jewelry using the skills my mother had taught me. I made the jewelry from waste paper collected from university offices. I earned enough money to support myself and to help my parents pay school fees for my siblings.

In 2007, the Government of Uganda banned the importing, sale and manufacture of plastic bags. Many people did not have appropriate alternatives to plastic bags. I discovered that the waste paper I was using to make jewelry could also be transformed into paper bags.

So, in 2009, I founded my company, Oribags Innovations with about US$300 generated from my jewelry business.

Making my company Oribags grow has not been easy. It has been a result of strong commitment and sacrifice. For over two years, I operated with no profits and I had to struggle to maintain the business. I have had a lot of help along the way. My guardian and friends offered me lots of support and advice. When I presented my business idea to the Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI), they offered me work space. UIRI researchers also helped me find the best methods to recycle the materials we find locally, such as banana fibers and old textiles.

Oribags now employs 19 staff: 13 women and six men. My vision is for Oribags to become the leading producer of environmentally-friendly products and services in East Africa by 2020. I am glad Oribags is already realizing this potential.

My employees and I make bags with our talented hands, one at a time, through a low-tech, zero-carbon production process that emphasizes natural beauty over mechanized perfection. We have developed a value chain approach to empower farmers and others who supply our raw materials. While the world’s paper bag industry uses wood-based paper, Oribags Innovations makes bags from traditional materials like banana fiber and cotton waste.

Throughout this journey, I have learnt a lot. To start a business, you begin with what you have. I have come to appreciate that mentoring and networking are vital, and that it is better to start small. The skills you develop as you overcome the challenges of growing your business are priceless.

I find that the biggest challenge is that some women still look down on certain types of jobs. They forget that most of the successful global businesses started small. If we change our attitudes, then each woman will be empowered globally. There are enormous indigenous opportunities around us and in our communities that can change our lives.

Questions to the reader:

1. What kind of values and personal skills do you bring from your childhood and your life experiences that can help you build or improve your business?

2. Do you see similar challenges in your country that you could address from a business angle? Remember that opportunities can often be disguised in the form of a problem.

3. What is your long-term vision for your ideas, solution and business?