Women have been tipped on leveraging the opportunities that lie in mobile as well as child-oriented businesses which present a comparative advantage to other business ventures in terms of profitability.The advice was given by the URA Commissioner General, Doris Akol on Wednesday while speaking to hundreds of women who attended the Annual Women Conference organized by the tax body in Kampala.Themed “An equal world is an enabled world”, the event sought to discuss issues that affect women involved in trade in line with the theme for this year’s Women’s Day and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda.
Focus was placed on knowledge gap, impediments and success stories of women who are doing business.In her remarks Akol said women can transform the nation if they have ambition, are willing to do the hard work, put in the time to learn new things and make groundbreaking experiences that bring positive change to the world. She shared what she called trending and lucrative business ventures that women can engage in to make an extra buck.“Mobile business. Take your business from in-house to on wheels and start traveling to your customers. There are several benefits associated with running a mobile business and conducting services from anywhere,” Akol said.She noted that not only does this increase one’s opportunity to earn revenue from different places, but it also enables them to work on their own terms. Akol says the increase in online ordering and service delivery, enable anyone with mobile business to better serve their current and potential customers.
She cited food delivery, ice cream trucks, repair services as some of the profitable mobile ventures.Akol also asked to consider child oriented services as opportunities to do businesses. With a fertility rate of 5.5, Uganda has a 49% proportion of the population comprising children under 15 years, she said.“So, child-oriented businesses are guaranteed to see profit. These include; post natal mother care, child minders, childcare organizations and entertainment services for kids. Depending on your skill set and business goals, you can start a child minding home, kids park, or new mothers nursing home to earn money”.
Women were challenged to adopt a positive attitude in order to face every challenge with passion. Hope Atwiine, the Vice President for Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) appealed to women to embrace cooperation and share opportunities that can improve their income, rather than being individualistic. She used the event to appeal to government to support women doing business to access affordable credit.At the same forum, Damali Ssali, a trade facilitation expert from TradeMark Africa spoke to the need for traders, especially those targeting the international market, to prioritize standards. She urged women who fall in the same sectors of trade to form associations as well as acquiring certification from Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS).
“For you to get the UNBS certification, you might be charged as low as Shs 300,000 if you are an association compared to about Shs 800,000 that you would be charged if you were an individual. This certification is important if you want your product to be on a supermarket shelf say in Nigeria”.Damali also said financial institutions will often prefer offering a loan to groups as opposed to individuals.A number of businesswomen shared their experiences with formalizing their trade, urging their colleagues to work with URA rather than the traditional way of being elusive which they warned comes with risks.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of TradeMark Africa.
