Nagasha needed courage to start talking about her head wraps

“During one fellowship, I got the courage to tell the people in attendance about what I do. Had I not made that first announcement, I wouldn’t have kick started my business.”

The 24-year-old entrepreneur as well as a final year student of medicine and surgery at Mbarara University of Science and Technology is the proprietor of Sage Head Wraps, an online shop that deals in African print hair accessories (head wraps, satin lined bonnets, head bands and turbanettes).

The idea

Nagasha had always been passionate about African print and many people always complimented her own head wrap styles. With that, she decided to share her style with as many people as possible. And that was how Sage Head Wraps was born.

While the idea had been around since 2019, Nagasha became serious about it during the first lockdown.

She started with about Shs250,000 that was part of her pocket money for school. As expected, the beginning was scary, she knew how to make the head wraps but had never imagined herself as a sales person.

“However, I took baby steps; starting with friends, they later recommended more people. With that, it got easier.”

Nagasha may not fully remember her first client, but she knows they were within her Rotaract circle.

“I brought my stuff for sale during one of our fellowships and many of the girls there bought some pieces.”

From this sale, she realised it was possible to make money as long as one was willing to put themselves out there.

“You have to show people what you have, convince them that they need them then everything else will fall into place.”

Like many creative people of this time, Nagasha is self-taught, she says he has utilised the internet to learn different things, for instance, she learned how to sew by following YouTube tutorial videos. This has paid off as she currently does all the sewing herself without a need to spend on labour.

But staying on the online space has also eased her marketing since, with platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, she has managed to ably target a wider market without opening a physical shop.

 “We make use of social media to market the products. My friends and clients have also been helpful through recommendations,” she says.

These stylish head wraps appeal to young women; mainly students and young professionals.

Nagasha usually spends about Shs150,000 a month on fabrics, other sewing requirements and electricity. Her earning is however not as predetermined, it varies according to the number of orders she gets.

“In a good week, I will make between Shs40,000 to Shs150,000.”

Challenges

Nagasha is a student, a finalist at that. Most of the times, she becomes very busy at school and cannot attend to the business or even market it online. “This means I could miss on the next customer or disappoint one waiting which affects the revenue as well,” she says.

Her other problem is transportation, being a student at Mbarara University, she finds it hard to deliver products for clients based in Kampala.

“However, I am lucky that my sister helps me with transport at times. In Kampala though, I use the reliable mobile phone application hailing boda bodas.”

Testimonies/victories

Today, Nagasha prides in the fact that she gets orders from people she doesn’t know - “It shows that my marketing strategies are definitely working or that someone has enjoyed my product well enough to recommend it. This is a real pat on my back.”

Looking back at the beginning, she wishes someone had offered her a financial discipline lesson.

“I might have known a thing or two but something had not yet sunk it; making money is hard but spending it is the easiest thing. Without financial discipline, it really gets hard to maintain a business,” she says.