Oloya desires to see her seed become a big tree

The start was characterised by brainstorming to get plausible business ideas, research about its execution and profitability. That said, the driving force was the fact that while she was a business community trainer, she owned no business.  

After years of reflecting and several attempts, today, she is proud to finally have a business in her name. Her honey business gave birth of Haziel Agency located in Pece- Laroo Gulu City. She also packages materials and offer training and consultation in business skills.

Businesses she tried 

Just like other businesspeople, her early years in the business were marred with challenges and she suffered from indecision. “At first, I ventured into making candles. I used Shs300,000 from my savings to buy ingredients such as wax. However, when solar was introduced, the market for candles reduced significantly and I resorted to making liquid soap,” says Oloya.

After a year, she opted to sell chemicals used in making liquid soap, shampoo and petroleum jelly. She also sold perfumes, essentials oils and shower gel.

Being the ambitious type that she was, she constantly felt that she could earn better. To her, this business never met her goals. That’s why she continued processing honey and selling honey alongside business training.

“Honey is seasonal and requires a sizeable amount of capital and good storage facilities to buy enough stock that you can sell during off season,” she says.

Oloya re-echos that persistence is key in any business. Oloya started with Shs450,000 from her savings which she used to buy honey combs and other supplies. Apart from extracting honey, she makes bees wax, massage bees wax, scented candles and moisturising bee wax for cracking heel and tumeric facial masks.

“One kilogramme of processed honey is Shs20,000, unprocessed is Shs15,000 while bees wax is Shs15,000 per kg, among others.”

Lessons

It has been and continues to be a journey of learning and growing for Oloya and she says she has discovered that any business requires passion.

“It is the desire to see my seed become a big tree that drives me everyday. It takes time, continuous learning, skilling to reap the fruits of a business.

In terms of marketing, Oloya says despite the hardships, she aggressively looks for clients through networking, WhatsApp, business groups, emails, phone calling, and tradeshows.

Through this rigorous marketing, Oloya’s products are bought by friends, hotels, market vendors, NGOs, workers and travellers from Gulu to Sudan and neighbouring districts.

Training

Women in Business (WiB) programme was a real boost for Oloya’s business. The programme equipped her with skills such record keeping, business networking, collaboration, marketing and how to increase visibility for her business.

“This programme made me appreciate that there are several business opportunities but all it takes is creating meaningful partnerships,” she says.

Oloya was also among the top 10 winners of the WiB competition, which won her a trip to Nairobi, Kenya. “My trip to Nairobi was very productive. Business facilitators greatly motivated me, especially when they shared their business journey. These reignited hope in me that I can do better in business,” The cash prize also helped her to improve branding and packaging of her honey.

Sad moments

Oloya says the prolonged lockdown and restricted movement caused a reduction in production. “There were some positive cases among community members. This made things even harder because interactions were further reduced since we didn’t have gadgets for screening. However, we are preparing for the new season and believe the business will normalise.”Nonetheless, Oloya used the period as a light bulb moment and she is investing in the making of hand sanitisers. “I am working out the modalities for UNBS certification for Q mark.” She believes that when children return to school, she will get more customers.