While officiating at the recently concluded 2nd annual Developing Businesses seminar as the Chief Guest; the Minister of Trade and Industry, Hon. Amelia Kyambadde explained government’s commitment to developing the small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs); highlighting the key factors affecting its performance as well as government intervention to address these challenges. Below is an abridged version of her speech.

Speaking at the Unlock Your Potential seminar, Jackie Namara Rukare, advised entrepreneurs to develop a brand for their business and market their services aggressively. She offered the following insights.

What is marketing?
Marketing starts with finding out who your customers are and what they want. It involves everything you do to meet those needs in a way that keeps them coming back for more.  In other words, marketing is your entire company, seen from your customer’s point of view. Read More

You do not need to wait until your business reaches a crisis level. You must plan today for what your business needs tomorrow. The economic downturn is a global phenomenon: Greece is seeking for a bailout and many people in USA have no jobs. In Uganda, the dollar is escalating, fuel prices are going up and energy is intermittent.

As an entrepreneur, you have to constantly figure out how to serve your customers. You need customers in order to keep your business afloat. Most times as a start up, or a small business, you have a shortage of resources.

Most times when you ask business people from across the region what their limitation is the answer is standard: lack of enough financing. The question then is how do you break through that? Are you going to get into a venture with many shareholders, dip into a savings club, or come together with some smart people and start up shop? Read More