What is an online business?

An online business is one conducted online. This involves the different processes of exchange of goods and services between individuals. These processes may involve purchase and delivery of goods and services.

Why you should start an online Business?

There are many reasons why you should start an online business. From them being easy to start, being plentiful, the fredom they give you to work from anywhere, to mention but a few. Consider the link below for more reasons you should start an online business.

Read also: Reasons you should put your business online.

Online businesses to start in Uganda.

Online retailing.

Topping the list of online businesses to start in Uganda is Online retailing. It is the selling of goods and services online. Nowadays, this has been made easier with the creation of sites where different sellers can post and sell their products in Uganda. Some of these sites include Jiji Uganda, Jumia Uganda, Dondolo Uganda, and more. 

If you don’t mind and you have the finances to start big, you can start your online store, market it and make sales.

Advertising and Marketing.

Advertising and marketing is another of the online businesses to start in Uganda. Many people have businesses that need marketing both on social media and online. If you have the free time, then taking this on as a side hustle is worth it. All you need is social accounts with a good following so that when you post, a lot of people can view the information you are trying to put across. Some of the social sites you can try are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and many more.

Data Entry Services.

This is one of the easiest side gigs you can do online and earn good money. All you need is a computer, internet connection, and fast typing skills. If you are not good at typing, that shouldn’t worry you as you’ll develop speed with time. When you have all the above, what next is signing up with the different freelance sites on the internet and you start. This side gig is good for people whose main job gives them a lot of free time. Some of the freelance sites you can try out are fiverr, kwork, upwork the list is long, you can find these online.

Blogging for Money.

Starting a blog today is easier than ever before with most hosting companies prioritizing numbers to help them achieve their target revenue hence this driving cost down. Now you can have a website up and running at as low as 3$ per month.

This has made blogging a Worthy venture especially for those that can find some time to write content or even hire someone to write content and be a manager. Don’t leave this to the dogs, give blogging a try as a side venture and earn from blog monetization.

Freelance Writing Jobs.

This is another easy-to-do side task. Blogging as stated above is a mother of this, but remember there are those individuals with blogs who can’t write content. This is your task here. Write content for their blogs, books, and whatever writing deals they have. You can find these jobs too on the freelance sites mentioned above.

Digital Photography.

Doing digital photography to produce images can be a source of side income. You can capture images in your free time and later Sell Your Photos on Stock Photography, start a Photography Blog or Do Freelance Photography Work for Magazines and newspapers. With photography, the options are vast. You can exploit the ones we’ve stated here and keep looking out for more opportunities.

Video Production and Editing.

This provides another opportunity to make side income in your chill time. Though for this, it requires a little more skill that you should acquaint yourself first. (Video production and editing skills). Though these aren’t impossible to get. Later you can look for work online for video editing on freelance sites or even Crete yourself a YouTube channel where you can keep these videos running and earn for that.

Read also: How to start a produce business in uganda.

Website Design and Development

This is easier than ever before today given the vast number of resources available to help one do the design themselves. Nevertheless, even with the available resources, it has never been easy to do website design for the first time yourself. For this reason, most people hire experts to do the work. If you can acquaint yourself the skills, you can then look out for these gigs of website design on freelance sites above and enjoy that side money.

Mobile Apps Development.

If you have programming skills and love it, then you can earn good money doing what you love to do. The digital trend is taking over the era and most businesses, companies, and institutions require apps to run their task, coordinate as a company and do many other company tasks. If you are good at this, then give it a try.

Conclusion

I hope this blog post has given you some new ideas on online businesses to start in Uganda. There are many different options out there, so take your time and think about what might work best for you. If any of the above suggestions sound interesting, feel free to contact us if you want help starting up your venture!

What is an online business?

An online business is one conducted online. This involves the different processes of exchange of goods and services between individuals. An online business may comprise of one or the other transaction processes.

Based on what is being done, online businesses may call for integration of other mechanisms to safely see the purchased goods reach the purchaser such as delivery, clearance, and more.

Why you should start an online business in Uganda?

There are many reasons why you should start an online business that severely overpower the advantages associated with businesses offline. Nevertheless, it all depends on your plan and strategy. Offline businesses make good money also.

Below are the reasons why you should start an online business.

• Online business opportunities are plentiful.

There are many online businesses so it’s quite easy to look for what falls in line with your likes and preferences. In this very blog post, we shall highlight some of those online ideas.

• You can work from home and control your schedule.

With online businesses, you needn’t leave your home to work. Any comfortable place can be your workplace.

• Starting an online business is easy.

You don’t need a lot of money or know-how. Most of them require little skill, startup capital, and commitment.

The reasons for starting an online business are many. You can consider the link beow for more reading.

Read also: Reasons you should put your business online.

How to start an online business in Uganda.

This is the most critical part of an online business. How you start it up matters a lot.  A lot has been said and suggested but there are some steps we will suggest you follow in your process of starting up an online business.

Get an online business idea.

The very first thing you should do is get a business idea. What service are you going to offer? or what goods are you going to sell? By answering these questions, you are getting a business idea. Some of the ways you can get an online business idea are through brainstorming, solving an existing problem, and more of the sort. You can read more about how to find your business ideas. If you mind the stress of finding an online business idea yourself, then worry no more, we have a post about the Top online business ideas in Uganda.

Read also: How to find the right business idea.

Research more about your idea.

There are many online business ideas that you can start today and one of the most important steps to start an online business in Uganda the research whether the product/s you want to deal in is worth every drop of your sweat. It’s very important to look at the demand trends of the product to ensure that you have a ready market. The other aspects can come later and they may be optimized to suit what’s on the ground after the assurance of a ready market.

Some of the steps you can take in researching your idea are;

• Reaching out to prospective buyers and asking them if they shall support or purchase from you. This can be done through questionnaires
• Research your competitors and see how well they are doing.
• Find out if potential customers are looking for a product like yours or something else.

Take this research seriously as it can speak volumes for your new idea and help you in decision making.

Create a business plan.

This comes after you’ve researched your online idea and you know what you are going to do. The next step is to plan that idea. Below are some important elements you should include in your business plan for your online business.

Executive summary.

An executive summary should contain a brief introduction and summary of your entire business plan.

Business description

In this part, you write about your business in full depth. Clearly describe where your business will be located and more of the sort.

Business goals and objectives

Goals are achievements you want to attain while objectives are methods to help you achieve your set out goals in your online business.

Market analysis.

This involves a detailed study of your target market and your competitors to determine how best you can beat them.

Sales strategies.

You need to develop some strategies on how you are going to make sales online. These need to be included in your business plan in this subsection.

Funding.

 As early as the planning stage, you should already know the possible source of funds for your online business. These should be included in this section.

For further details on how to write a business plan for your online business, do more reading in the post below.

Make sure you have enough money to start the business.

Your online business will require startup capital to get it on the wheels. There are many ways and strategies you can use to raise capital some include using your savings, getting loans from friends and banks, through partnerships tension but a few. You can get more tips on how to raise capital for your online business from one of our posts below.

Read also: How to raise money for your side business.

Register your business and get done with all the paperwork.

Registering your business is one of the main requirements of business startup in uganda especially on a large scale. Go for it as its worth it. With the increse in scammers and con men, most online purchasers are vigilant to check authenticity of whichever company they are dealing with. Therefore, to get good deals from NGOS and the Government, registering your business is worth all the energy.

We have a complete post on how to register your busines in Uganda where you can find the details on how to register your business.

Find suppliers for any products or services you’ll need to offer.

This is based on what exactly you’ll be doing. Some online businesses may not involve suppliers while others shall. So, if yours does, then this is the right stage you’ll need to get some. If you are going to do the whole process yourself, then it’s time to get the required resources in line and ready for work. But it’s on rare occasions that you’ll do the whole business alone. At some point, you may need some assistance and this is the time to get the sources of such help or assistance that you’ll need.

Decide on pricing.

What will people pay for your product or service? You’ll want people to pay some good-worthy money for your products or services I know, but this is a time for brand development. Charge less than what your competitors charge as a move to attract more buyers to your juicy offers as they get to know your brand well. This doesn’t call for operation in deficits but in small profits as a move to attract and get the attention of the public.

Develop a delivery mechanism.

This will also depend on the goods or services you offer. Some online websites can do it all. For example, if you are selling movies online in downloadable formats, the product will be downloaded by the buyer hence no need for delivery systems. But if you are selling goods like clothes, you must then devise a delivery mechanism that delivers to different geographical locations.

You may have to charge a delivery fee to cater for costs but try to optimize it not to drive the final cost up. These are some considerations consumers shall look at before they purchase your products. Try to make them friendly.

Get a website and payment mechanism up and running.

Getting a website up and running is easier than ever before. Nowadays the hosting companies have made the whole process easy as you can follow the steps to get everything done.

YouTube has further eased these processes as you can learn everything from the start to the end there.

Never worry, if you still don’t trust yourself to set this up especially for the first time, hire a professional to do the whole process at a friendly cost. You’ll get your website up and running in no minutes. Now that you have an online presence, it’s high time you got your payment mechanism inline.

You’ll open a bank account for your business and connect it to your website so that clients can make payments to your bank through your website. Doesn’t this sound interesting? you surely need this when to start an online business in Uganda.

Market your business.

An online presence alone won’t get things on the wheels. You further need to do intense advertising to get your online business in the client’s eyes.

Here are some tips to market your online business;

• Do both off-page and on-page SEO to get your online business in the search results. You can hire professionals to do this for you.
• Get your blog up and running.
• You can also run ads on both social media and Google to make your business easily discoverable.
• Create social media pages for your online business and try to be active on these platforms

If you don’t mind, you can also hire professional digital marketing specialists to help you with this process.

Conclusion.

There we go with onlne business start up. With this, you can successfuly start an online business in uganda. Its one of the means of doing business that are slowly but surely gaining popularity in uganda. Surely, this can improve your sales and hence income. if you have any thing you wish to ask, please feel free to contact us.

What is Rabbit farming?

Knowing what rabbit farming is if you are going to start a rabbit farming business is important. let’s get over it. Rabbit farming is the practice of breeding and raising domestic rabbits as livestock for their meat, urine, fur, and droppings. To get all the above, it’s important to raise rabbits on a large scale to get realistic amounts of the above-mentioned products.

Why start a Rabbit farming business?

There are many good livestock rearing businesses but I’ll surely discuss that a few or none is better than this. Anyway, it all depends on your strategies and how you achieve your targets. Below are the reasons you should start a rabbit farming business.

Rabbits produce white meat whose demand is growing and highly recommend by health personnel. No wonder its meat is way more expensive than others. This is good news to all prospective rabbit farmers.

Rabbits provide lots of products. Some of which are listed below;

• Rabbit meat
• Droppings as manure and fish feeds
• Urine as organic fertilizer and pesticide or insecticide.
• Skins to make leather and more.

They have a higher conversation rate than any other livestock.

It requires less capital and skill to start. These are some that caught my eye, you can think and suggest more and share them in the comment box below for further reading.

Read also: How to start a produce business in Uganda.

Is rabbit farming profitable?

This is a question you should ask before starting any business and the rabbit farming business is not exceptional. The answer is yes. That is if it’s done the right way. The right way I’ve discussed in this post. You needn’t worry? All you need to do is read this post and you’ll be good to start your business. A Kilogram of rabbit meat goes for (25000-35000) Ugx currently in Uganda. On average, a hybrid rabbit can yield 3 kilograms. You can do the math.

How to start a rabbit farming business.

Now we shall walk you through the different steps and look at them in detail on how to start a rabbit farming business.

Plan your rabbit business.

It all starts with planning your rabbit business. Planning is very important and so you should take it seriously. We highly recommend you plan your business according to the scale of your rabbit business. Here are key elements you should look at in your rabbit business plan.

Executive summary, Business Description, Business goals and objectives, Market analysis, Sales strategies, Funding, and more.

For detail on what you should include in all these components, we have a detailed post about how to write a business plan. This can be of help.

Select a good breed to raise.

Breeds have different genes and growth characteristics. They resist diseases differently and some cannot easily adapt to the weather conditions in different geographical areas. Therefore, it’s very important to choose a good breed that shall meet your needs especially of size (use), weather, and disease resistance.

Rabbits are further classified in sizes and weight I.e., small rabbits that weigh 1-2kgs at maturity. These are usually the locals, medium that weigh 3-5 kgs. Most of these exotics listed below lie in this category and hybrids (giants) that weigh 5+ kgs.

Read also: How to start a popcorn business in Uganda.

Common breeds of rabbits in Uganda.

California Rabbits

These are usually white with grey or black or greyish noses, ears, and legs. They grow to a weight of 3-4 kgs at maturity.

Dutch rabbits

This has black eyes and ears with a black back. The color can vary from black to brown. This breed is not so common and doesn’t grow so big. It weighs 2-3 kgs at maturity.

Flemish giant

The Flemish Giant is a very large breed of domestic rabbit. These are not so common in Uganda. They weigh 5+ kgs.

New Zealand white and New Zealand black.

This is the commonest breed of rabbits in Uganda. These are purely white for new Zealand white with reddish eyes and black for blacks. They grow to a weight of 4-5 kgs at maturity.

Chinchilla.

These are grey/ brown breeds that also grow to a weight of 3-4 kgs.

I would advise if you are to start a rabbit farming business to try California, New Zealand, and chinchilla Breed as they do so well in Uganda.

There are many more rabbit breeds though these are the best for starters in Uganda. You can do more research to find out more breeds.

Read also: How to start a poultry business in Uganda.

Raise capital.

To start a rabbit farming business, you’ll need to raise capital for that cause. The capital requirement for a rabbit business varies from small to big depending on your scale of production. Most of the funds go into rabbits’ structures i.e., the hutches. We shall discuss these in detail at a later stage.

The different ways you can raise capital are through partnerships, bank loans, loans from friends, savings to mention but a few. We have a full blog post about how to raise capital for your business. You can find the details there.

Read more: How to raise money for your side business.

Set up Rabbits’ houses (Hutches)

If you are to start a rabbit farming business, Rabbits’ hutches shall take 70% of startup capital their construction and design are very important. The hutches should be of a good size not to waste space and not to make the rabbits uncomfortable but keep them healthy and lively.

They should be large enough for exercise, and to accommodate the doe and its nesting box during the time of multiplication.

Buck houses should not be too big to tire the male during the time of service.

They should safeguard rabbits from bad weather and wild animals

And finally, should be easy to clean and keep tidy.

Modern self-cleaning hutches.

These are the many types of hutches constructed in different designs.

What is most important is;

• How easy is it to clean the structure?
• Is the structure spacious and aerated?
• Is it safe from predators like cats?
• The durability of the structure is also important.

The modern design of the rabbit hutch comprises of;

The mother structure.

This is the big structure that houses the hutches inside.

It should be roofed with iron sheets so that it’s waterproof.

It should be high with the roof raised at least 1.5 m from the top most hutch to avoid heat from the roof as it stresses rabbits.

Its walling should be made from materials resistant to water and strong to resist thieves. Such as tree offcuts or bricks.

It should be big enough to house the required hutches.

The internal rabbit hutches.

This houses the rabbits themselves. They are made from timber prices or 10*10 cm for frames, iron sheets to tap urine from the upper hutches, and rabbits wire mesh that is coated with plastic.

Does hutch measure 1*0.5*0.5 m and buck hutches are half the does hutch. i.e., 0.5*0.5*0.5 m

Roof angles for hutches should be at 30- 45 degrees for easy flow or rabbit urine and drooping off the roofs to the gutters.

Read also: Books every businessman should read.

Buy tools and equipment.

To start a rabbit farming business, you’ll need to buy several tools and equipment o be used in the business other than the construction of hutches. some of these include nesting boxes, feeding bowls weighing scale, and many more that shall be of great use in your business.

Start your business.

When you have all the above in order, what’s next is starting your business. As we discussed, the breed is very important and can lead to the failure of your business if the right breed is not selected. Now that you are starting your business, it’s time to look for the breed you selected. It’s good you look for your Breed from respected breeders in your area.

To start a rabbit farming business, three months old rabbits should be purchased. At this age, they are mature enough that they don’t require a lot of special care and young enough to adapt to their new home before they start breeding at 5- 6 months.

Rabbit health care.

The health of your livestock is important for your success. What is most important in health care is proper feeding that we shall talk about in detail later, general cleanliness, and disease or disorder control.

The self-cleaning rabbit house should be adopted for healthy cleanliness. Further, dropping should be removed from the gutters and on rooftops of hutches daily.

Proper feeding should be practiced as we shall see later to avoid nutrient deficiencies and disorders.

Vaccination against diseases is a good disease control measure. Further, deworming and dusting can help control parasites hence healthy animals. Inquire from your veterinary personnel for details about vaccination.

Bunnies are not as resistant as mature rabbits, therefore, you should give bunnies extra care and attention. We shall look at this in detail later.

Read also: 3 ways to get your business online in Uganda.

Feeding your Rabbits correctly.

The key to a successful rabbit farm is keeping the animals happy and well-fed! It’s funny how the whole success of the business is summarized in feeding correctly. It shows how important It is. In this section, we shall discuss that in detail.

Feeding rabbits correctly is not only about giving them enough food and pellets. It’s about;

1. Giving your rabbits clean and enough water.

This can be done using a lot of methods. ie.

Using rabbit nipples.

This is the best method. Nipples can be connected to bottles or a nipple system interconnected with tubes and to a tank. It’s wise to use the tank nipple system, especially on a large scale. It’s easier to expand it and to manage.

Using bowls.

These bowls are usually made of clay to prevent playful rabbits from pouring the water. It’s not so good to use bowls as the water in the bowls is stagnant and usually contaminated by rabbits themselves.

2. Feeding the rabbits with sufficient greens and pellets.

Rabbits are naturally green eating animals(vegeterians) and their diet should comprise 80% greens for proper digestion and 20% pellets.

Pellets are important to;

Give supplementary nutrients that may be lacking in greens and promote fast growth especially in the bunnies.

The greens are good for proper digestion and keep the rabbits busy chewing.

Therefore, a good meal should comprise clean water(always), pellets, and plenty of greens.

Some of the common examples of greens that rabbits eat include.

• Blackjack
• Cabbages
• Banana peelings
• Potato vines and more.

Commercially, rabbits can be feed on;

Potato vines

Chloris Gayana/ Rhodes grass

Timothy grass

Oat grass

Alfalfa

Rabbit feeds should be withered especially greens to control bloating and pellets should not comprise of fish. Rabbits don’t eat meat. All their nutrients should be plant-based. For the case of good pellets, consider purchasing from a reputable producer.

Maize bran is not good for rabbits as it’s dusty and may cause coughing and sneezing in rabbits.

Rabbits should be given feeds at least twice a day and should always be availed with clean drinking water.

Rabbits are so active at night. It’s a good practice to keep them busy at night by providing greens at night for them to chew.

Read also: How to start a beekeeping business in Uganda.

Breeding and reproduction.

The success of the business depends also on breeding to multiply and have more rabbits. The gestation period of rabbits is 30 days. And rabbits are ready to start producing at 5 months+ does and 7+ for bucks.

Rabbits can breed monthly but it’s not a good practice. Always give a doe time to breast feed and thereafter resting time. It’s wise to service the doe 1.5 months after her previous birth. This enables her to give birth to strong and healthy bunnies and additionally, breastfeed them well.

Serving the does.

Does should be transferred to the buck’s house for one day for mating/ servicing, not vice versa to prevent fights. The male that serves the doe should be older by at least 2 months. The bucks’ hutch should be smaller i.e., 0.5* 0.5*0.5 to prevent tiring the buck while chasing the doe.

A doe should be given to the back for service at a time to prevent doe-doe fights.

A buck related to a doe shouldn’t serve it to prevent inbreeding and thereafter its negativities such as poor-quality offspring.

Caring for pregnant does.

Just like any other animal, does too need special care when pregnant. They should be given more nutritious food and water.

Pregnant does should live alone in a 1*0.5*0.5 hutch.

Pregnancy can be confirmed in does by smoothly caressing the belly of the does. A feeling of round balls in the belly is a pregnancy sign. This can be felt at 1-week pregnancy. Care should be taken not to injure the unborn bunnies. Do it after learning from experienced personnel.

3 days to her delivery date, she should be provided with a nesting box properly prepared with dry grass, not wool or cotton. This is because some does tend to eat the wool which can lead to intestinal blockage and death.

Read also: How to start a car washing business.

Caring for bunnies.

If you start a rabbit farming business, Bunnies are the future of your business so it’s very important to give them a lot of attention and care.

When bunnies are born, check that they are all alive and remove any dead ones while wearing gloves.

Check that the bunnies are well fed by checking if their bellies are a little swollen with milk. If the bellies are shrunk, consider forced breastfeeding or giving them to others does.

If the bunnies are well fed, then you are good to go for the day. Do the same tomorrow until the bunnies jump out of the nesting box themselves, i.e., at 1+ months.

Weaning bunnies.

After bunnies are one month old, they should be gradually removed from the doe. Bunnies should be given pellets and greens 3-4 times a day with sufficient clean drinking water.

Sudden death in bunnies.

It’s so common you’ll find a bunny dead in your hutch. Here are the causes of sudden death in bunnies.

• Stress and shock/ fear.
• Hunger.
• Inadequate nutrients in feeds
• Any slight disease attack or worms.
• Cold

To avoid sudden death, it’s is advisable to prevent the above. i.e.

Give bunnies enough nutritious feed all the time.

Contact your veterinarian personnel as far as disease is concerned.

Market your Business.

Marketing your business is very important when it comes to rabbit business. You need to implement the marketing strategy that you planned in the business plan. Some marketing hint is to look out for restaurants and hotels that have rabbit meat on their menu. These are potential customers. A requirement for this is to have the capacity to supply. That is 200+ rabbits.

There are many more ways you can market your business. Here are some tips.

1. Join a rabbit farmers group in your area. This can help market your rabbitry.
2. Create awareness of your rabbit business. Let people know your business and what you provide.
3. This can be through;
4. Social media platforms like Facebook.
5. Create a website for your business and do good SEO.
6. Giving out free products such as rabbit urine is a good way to market your products such as rabbit urine itself.

Read also: The key elements to success for a new business.

Conclusion.

There we are. You have all it takes to start a rabbit farming business at this stage. If you had one already, then I guess you’ve learned something. The most important aspect of rabbit keeping is feeding and caring for the rabbits well including the rabbits living in a good hutch. if you have these in order, then you’ll have a lively and productive farm.

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The produce business is a great way to make money. It can be done as a side job or as a full-time job. But how do you get started?

This post will tell you all you need to know about starting a produce business. It has the most important aspects of a produce business discussed, strategies you can use, and tips to be successful doing a produce business.

What is a produce business?

Produce is a term that refers to agricultural products ranging from cereals, fruits, and more in that category.

A produce business is one where the business owner exploits the price difference between two localities and fluctuations in price by buying from a cheaper source and selling at a profit or keeping the products till the price increases due to limited supply or scarcity and then selling for a profit.

How does the produce business work?

It’s easy to Start a produce business as it runs on two simple principles.

1. Price fluctuations (inflation).

In this method, you buy produce at a cheaper price and then wait for the price to increase due to scarcity and then sell-off. The price difference is your reward as a businessman

2. Price difference in two different localities due to different conditions in the areas.

Produce is cheaper in production areas compared to consumption areas. All you do in this method is buy at a lower price in production areas and sell at a profit in consumption areas.

What different products can you deal with in a produce business?

In a produce business, you can deal in any agricultural products. As long as you can get a cheap source and some other place where you can sell the products at a profit. Such products include;

Maize/ corn, Millet, Simsim, Rice, Beans, soybean, groundnuts, cassava, etc.

Is doing produce profitable?

Just like any other business, produce too is profitable as long as.

• You can get a cheap source especially in the production areas and resale in urban areas.
• You try to cut down costs especially of transport and processing.
• You do the right price estimation analysis so that you sell when the price is high.

How much money is required to start a produce business?

The capital requirement for a produce business range from small to big based on your strategy and the product you are going to deal in. We shall elaborate more on this at a later stage. Though if you have small startup capital, you need to look out for cheaper products, buy them, sell and make a profit and then later come back for more.

How to start a produce business.

Plan your produce business.

Planning is the first step in the procedures on how to start a produce business. You don’t need to make a complex plan. All you need are the key issues that shall affect your produce business addressed.

The key elements you should have in your produce business plan are an Executive summary, Business goals, and objectives, Market analysis, Sales strategies, and Source of Funds. All these are important to your produce business and you should have them developed and we’ll plan.

For details on all these elements, Read the article below that is about how to write a business plan.

Read more: How to write a business plan.

Find a strategy and product to deal in.

A strategy for this case is a business mechanism that you’ll use or adopt to make a profit.

There are two strategies in the produce business;

Buying cheaply in production areas and reselling right away in consumption areas at a profit. This strategy is good for people with little startup capital.

Buying in production areas and storing the produce for prices to rise and then reselling at a profit. This method is good for people with a lot of startup capital. Simply because capital is tied up in produce in the storing phase. If you have little capital, you can run out of business. This strategy doesn’t work for perishables such as fruits.

It’s also possible that you can use both strategies especially if you have good startup capital.

Before choosing a strategy, it’s important to consider;

• Your startup capital. This can dictate the strategy you should use.
• Market trends in your area and how stable prices are. Are there efforts by any bodies to keep prices stable?
• The products you wish to deal in. They too can dictate the strategy.

After you’ve chosen a good strategy, now you can choose the product/s to deal in among the many products. You need to choose those that meet your criteria and strategy.

Raise capital.

Earlier, we already looked at the capital requirement for a produce business. We’ve further discussed the strategies in detail and how they influence the capital requirement. In summary, any amount can work based on your strategy and the product you are going to deal with.

Now that you know how much money you need, it’s time to look around at how to raise that money.  Some of the ways to raise startup capital include Personal savings, Partnerships, Bank loans, and loans from friends to mention but a few. We have a full blog post about how to raise capital for your business. You can get detailed information there.

Get a store in a good location.

A store in a good location. These are two aspects, a store and a good location. You can have two stores as it’s tricky to get a spacious store in a busy town place. A small store at your sales point and a spacious mega one on the side. This is because there is a lot of produce to store especially if you fall for that strategy.

Location is another aspect you have to consider. Most developed and developing areas have groupings for different produce. For this case, get a good location in the agricultural production area. Make sure it is;

Easily accessible, with parking, loading, and offloading space.

Get suppliers and agents.

If you are to start a produce business, you’ll need suppliers of produce. These can be middlemen, producers, and whole sellers.

Read also: The key elements to success for a new business.

Start your business.

Now that you have all the above set, it’s time to start your business. You should start your produce business in the season when the specific product you are to deal in is ready. this will get you straight in business.

Tips to cut costs in a produce business.

• Cut transport costs.

When you purchase from production areas, consider transport cost as it’s a key element that can lead to losses if not considered

• Do market analysis the right way.

Price fluctuations are two-sided, both positive and negative. Watch out for price drops when you have the products in your store.

• Have permanent employees especially those that carry.

It’s wise to pay employers based on work done as sometimes there is no work to be done to cut costs.

• Have a big store to avoid shifting produce multiple times.
• Have agents in the different well-known production areas to make the process of getting produce easy. This is a trick to beat the competition.

Conclusion.

That is it on how to start a produce business. We hope you have good knowledge and are now well equipped to start your produce business. Just like all other businesses, produce too requires hard work, persistence, and patience. Equipped with those three, there is no way you’ll fail to make it in the produce industry. All the best doing business.

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Popcorn is one of the most liked chewable by travelers, school-going kids, and people of all ages. If it has been on your mind to start a popcorn business, here you are in the right place. We shall discuss how to start a popcorn business in Uganda and hint at some tips for success in this competitive world as a popcorn maker.

Why start a popcorn business?

There are many small-scale businesses you can start but this is why popcorn making is ideal.

It doesn’t require a lot of skills. You can learn how to make popcorn in no time.

It requires small startup capital. This is one of the businesses you can start with less than 500000 Uganda shillings.

There is a ready market from travelers, school kids, and more.

There are no heavy start-up legal requirements such as registration. You can register your business but it’s not a legal requirement especially on a small scale.

How to start your popcorn business in Uganda.

Plan your business.

Just like any other business, you need a plan to start a popcorn business in Uganda. Remember failure to plan is planning to fail. So, take this seriously.

In your plan, you can look at some critical parts that shall heavily impact your business for example a production strategy.

When will you be producing popcorn?

Most people like them when they are still hot and fresh.

Will you have hawkers to move your popcorn around? Or you’ll sell all your popcorn in one place? Your plan should involve such things as production strategy, sale strategies, and more of the sort.

We have a full blog post about writing a business plan. If you don’t mind, you can find more about what exactly to put in your business plan.

Read also: Mistakes we make when writing business plans.

Raise capital.

Raise some startup capital for your popcorn business. There are many ways to raise startup capital for your popcorn business.

From savings, partnerships, bank loans to mention but a few. Popcorn business doesn’t require a lot of startup capital. We shall do a detailed look on a later stage on all the requirements and how much it may cost to start your popcorn business.

Read also: How to raise money for your side business.

Purchase tools and equipment.

As I said before, there isn’t a lot with a popcorn business. The tools and equipment too are simple.

Tools and equipment for a popcorn business

Popcorn machine.

There are many types I.e. those that use electricity and charcoal. I would recommend the electric one especially if you are in an area with power as it is clean and efficient in comparison to its counterpart. You can buy these online on Jumia Uganda for as low as 320000 Uganda shillings.

Operation table.

This can be of any form as long as it can carry the popcorn machine. A wooden table is ideal and can cost from 50,000-100,000 UGX depending on your location.

Miscellaneous tools and equipment.

There may be some tools and equipment that you may purchase that are not listed here such as extension cable, packaging bags, and more. Generally, a startup capital of 500000 UGX can be sufficient to start your popcorn business.

Read also: The key elements to success for a new business.

Look for a good location.

To start a popcorn business in Uganda, Your location is very important when it comes to the popcorn business. A location with plenty of your target market is a good one.  Several passersby, school-going kids in a location can be a good sign that your popcorn business shall thrive.

What to look out for in a good popcorn business location.

• A busy place with plenty of passersby and school going kids
• A cinema hall in the neighborhood. People like chewing while watching.
• A park with people seeking vehicles to their destinations.

Take time and look for a good location as this shall heavily impact your sales and hence your business.

Secure popcorn supply.

Raw popcorns are usually orange in color. A good and steady supply throughout the year is important. Price too is also important when you are choosing a reliable source. A Kilogram of popcorn fluctuates from 2000-5000 Uganda shillings. Choose wisely.

Read also: 7 habits of highly successful businessmen.

Start your business.

Now that you’ve gotten all the above in line, it’s time to start your popcorn business. It’s always advisable to start making popcorn at 2 pm till late. You can always play with this based on your strategy. If you have hawkers to move your popcorn around, you can start a little early.

As you are starting your popcorn business;

• Have a brighter light so that it can catch the attention of customers especially in the evening.
• Try to pack more corns to attract customers especially at the start of your business. You can always reduce the corns later.
• Have good customer care such as packaging and language to get yourself customers

Tips to earn more from your popcorn business;

• Quality and quantity should be your priority. People always look for quality corn. But quantity kills hunger. Try to balance the two especially at the start.
• Stork popcorn when the price is still down. The price of corn fluctuates as above though 2000 would be the best price. If you can stock at that price, the better.
• Look out for many sales points
• Employ hawkers to improve sales

Conclusion.

That’s it. If you go through these steps, you can’t go wrong with your popcorn business. It’s always a good idea to have some side business for different reasons. You never know what money needs you’ll have tomorrow. Congratulations that you’ve started yourself or are preparing to start a popcorn business. If you feel there is anything to share with us, feel free to do so in the comment box below.

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One will rarely be wondering why they need side income. But am certain some are. If you are one of those, don’t worry. We have a full blog post about why you need a side hustle. You can read through to see how side income will change your life forever.

Below are the websites to make side income.

Fiverr.com

This is the first of the Websites to make side income. Fiverr is a good site to earn side income especially if you have the skills and can deliver very good work. If you are skilled at something, then try it out today as you can earn as much as you want from anywhere you feel is comfortable.

eBay.com

Selling products is a great way to make money on eBay. eBay connects millions of buyers across the world and this provides a great opportunity to make side income selling products on eBay. The trick is finding product supply cheaply then reselling them on eBay. Your product source shouldn’t be eBay itself. It should be somewhere else where the product is cheaper.

Read also; Reasons you should put your business online.

YouTube.com.

YouTube is another great way to make money anywhere. no wonder it’s on this list of websites to make side income. Of late, a lot of people have embraced this, especially in Uganda. There are more people with YouTube channels. Unfortunately, most channels are suffering from no subscribers and viewers.  To effectively make money on YouTube, try to get a good niche. A natural one “one that you are actively engaged”, it’s better this way simply because,

• You won’t struggle to generate content
• As you generate content, you’ll be doing that task hence killing two birds with one stone.

This way, you can be more patient as you are not only looking at YouTube, it’s just a side hustle.

Steemit.com

Steemit is another website to earn side income. It is based on blockchain technology. It uses the consensus algorithm “Delegated Proof of Stake” (DPS). On this platform, users are appreciated for the content they produce and for interacting with other users using the STEEM and SBD currency. You can then simply convert them to BTC or other preferred local currency. If you like reading and content creation, you can earn good doing what you like.

Instagram.com and Twitter.com

Don’t simply pass the time on twitter or Instagram. Use these as side income generators instead. You can use these platforms to markets your products to improve your sales. If you don’t have a business, you can accelerate your following and do shout outs for other people with businesses. You will earn side income doing this.

Amazon.com

Amazon is another website to make side income. There are various ways to make money here and you choose what is most appropriate for you.

You can sell or join a marketplace and get paid to do virtual tasks

Through Kindle Direct Publishing, you can Publish an e-book or a printed book and earn from the sales.

Read also: 3 ways to get your business online in Uganda.

Upwork.com

This is another interesting site to make money easily especially if you are skilled and good at a specific task. All you need to do is open up an account and set up your profile, Search for jobs, Win job bids, perform the tasks and Build your reputation. Completing tasks appropriately will let you have a good rating and this shall Get traffic to your profile and higher your chances of getting more tasks.

Freelancer.com

This is another site for freelancers. You can be able to do anything based on your skillset that is reflected by your profile. It’s not any different from upwok.com. You can head to the site, create a profile and roll off with your next task. Remember a neat and clear profile is very important as one can judge your ability to do tasks based on your profile. Take time and make your profile clear and neat.

Taskrabbit.com

Task rabbit is a site where people offer to do odd jobs in their area. From moving furniture or assembling Ikea furniture to taking care of pets and shopping errands. If Task rabbit is available in your area, don’t miss out on the opportunities to help out people and in turn earn some good cash in your free or on the side.

Read also; The key elements to success for a new business.

Conclusion

These are the Top Websites to make side income. Upwork offers freelance work such as writing reports, designing logos, programming software, and more. Freelancer also provides freelance opportunities but does not focus on specific industries the way other sites do. To mention but a few. You can post any kind of service you need to be done on some of these websites from cooking meals to doing laundry or pet-sitting for an hour while someone runs out for groceries. The best part about these websites? They all allow you to set your prices!

This post will introduce potential poultry farmers to some of the basics on how to start a poultry business/ farm. From understanding what type of chicken breeds would work best for their climate and terrain, all the way down to where they should buy them from. We’ll cover everything there is to know about this exciting adventure!

This post is not only suited for starters, if you are already a poultry farmer, you can also read through. You will find tips on how to improve your existing poultry farm.

Why start a poultry business /farm?

There are many reasons why you should start a poultry business. Some are listed below;

• You can start on a small scale.
• It doesn’t require a lot of startup capital.
• There is a ready market for chicken and its products.
• There are adequate resources and expertise in this field.
• Chicken rearing doesn’t require a lot of skill to do
• Chicken rearing doesn’t require a lot of land to carry out.

How to start a poultry business.

Write a business plan.

A business plan is very important in every business but most importantly in a poultry farm. You specifically need to;

Choose a production strategy.

As we shall discuss, there are many types of poultry, in the many types, there are subtypes too. You need to strategically look into this. What type specifically are you going to deal in. We shall look at this in this post but at a later stage. What factors should you consider when choosing a poultry type to deal in?

An example of a production strategy that I use is rearing broilers up to 4 weeks and selling them off.

Other strategies are;

• Yours can be, buying 4-week old broilers, rearing them, and selling them at a higher price.
• Rearing layers for eggs
• Raising kuroilers for eggs or meat. You need to come up with a good profitable one.

There are many more strategies. You just have to think about something that works Marvels for you.

Other key elements of the poultry farming business plan are;

Market analysis.

Market analysis is key and you need to take it seriously. It will show you areas of high demand, those without supply, and help you to come up with a sales mechanism and strategy.

Sales strategies.

You need to get a method through which you’ll be selling your chicken. Will you be supplying hotels and restaurants, hawking them and their products or otherwise?

We have a full post about How to write/ Come up with a business plan. It can guide you through the whole process.

Read More: How to write a business plan.

Choose a  breed of poultry.

There are many breeds of chicken currently being reared in Uganda. As a starter, you need to choose a breed based on your strategy and the amount of money you have.

Some of the breeds of chicken in Uganda.

Exotic breeds.

These are breeds of chicken that are not native to Uganda. These are in specialties. That is for meat, eggs, and multipurpose chicken.

• Broilers ( Meat breed).

These are for meat. They are usually white and can fatten to a weight of up to 6 kg live weight at maturity. A good business idea is to rear these up to an age of 4 weeks and dead weight of 1kg.

• Layers ( Eggs breed ).

These are egg-laying poultry birds raised mainly for the commercial production of eggs. There are many layer breeds in Uganda but all are under the brown category. These include the Bovans, ISA, and Hisex. The commonest are the ISA breed.

• Kuroiler ( multi-purpose i.e. Both eggs and meat)

Kuroiler chickens are the ones with indigenous or local traits but lay more eggs and mature faster in a period of up to 10 weeks to weigh up to 4 kg live weight. These mature faster than the locals and lay more eggs than the locals.

Local ( indigenous) breed.

These are the ones that originate here in Uganda. They are not good for commercial purposes as they take longer to grow though they are more resistant to diseases. Rearing local chicken is a good business option for those that don’t have good startup capital. These are more resistant to pests, diseases, weather and can do well on a free-range system.

All these breeds of chicken are good though you should consider your strategy and available capital before choosing which one to take on.

Factors to consider when choosing a breed to deal in.

Target market.

Your target market demands determine what poultry you should rear. The target market that needs meat requires raising broilers and kuroilers. If you are targeting a market that is interested in eggs, then layers are your choice.

Available revenue.

Revenue is another factor you need to consider before choosing the breed. Layers require a lot of capital to raise while kuroilers and broilers require less.

If you are just about money, then you can look out for what matches your revenue.

Available rearing space and location.

Generally, Kuroilers require a lot of space as they can also be released in the free range for exercise. Layers don’t like noise, usually on noisy days, and in noisy environments, they don’t lay. Meanwhile, broilers require less space and need to be in places with a ready market. Your location can dictate what breed you can take on.

Read also: How to start a car washing business.

Raise capital.

Next on the start-up process is raising capital. At this stage, You have a clear poultry farm plan and you know what it will take to come up with a decent farm.

What does it cost to start a poultry farm?

The cost to start a poultry farm varies from one breed to another due to the raising period, feeding, methods of raising, and more of the sort.

Layers require a lot of capital and carry the benefits of large-scale production. A decent layers poultry farm can take up to 15 million Uganda shillings.

Kuroilers don’t require that much and can cost up to 5 million shillings to come up with a decent farm.

Broilers require the least start-up capital. The cost of raising broilers to 4 weeks of age and 1kg of weight is 7500 Uganda shillings. You can multiply to see how many you Money can raise. The assumption of this is that there is no fixed cost such as the mother structure.

Now that you have a clear estimate of the capital required, it’s time we devise means of raising capital for your poultry farm.

There are no alien ways to raise capital, it’s still through bank loans, savings, partnerships, and more of the sort.

We have a full blog post about How to raise capital for your side business. It’s can be of help.

Choose a poultry farm location.

Choosing a location for your poultry farm should be based on the breeds you’ve chosen as discussed above. That’s if you have multiple locations. If you have one location, then the variable is the breed.

Ideally, a good place for poultry farming should be;

• Spacious.

There is a need for space to store manure, a slaughter place, and more of the sort.

• Accessible especially to customers.

In case you are around town, some customers especially retailers can come over to buy both chicken and their products.

• In a quiet place.

Noise causes stress for the birds, it causes layers to miss laying some days, it stresses broilers and slows the fattening process. Either way, a noisy place isn’t ideal for poultry farming.

Read also: How to start a beekeeping business in uganda.

Raise shelter for your Birds.

The shelter is necessary for any method of raising poultry be it free range. That’s the mother house.

Common methods of raising poultry.

Free-range system.

This is the traditional method of rearing chicken. The farmer allows the chicken to roam freely on the farm in search of food and provides water. Later shelter is provided for safety in the night. This method is not ideal as chicken is overworked looking for food, exposed to bad weather, diseases, and pests.

 Deep litter system.

This is a modern method of rearing chicken. They are kept indoors all the time. The structures are large and allow free movement of the chicken. Food and water are provided for the chicken in the structure. This is my favorite and it’s what I also use. It’s cost-effective and provides all that is required.

Battery system.

This is also a modern method of rearing chicken. Chicken is kept in its cages in this method, food and water are kept at the front of each cage. This method is commonly used for layers. The main shortcoming is the additional cost of purchasing cages. Cages are usually prefabricated and expensive.

The shelter you raise shall be based on the system you want to use.

Purchase Equipment and feeds.

Equipment.

Next will be a one-time equipment fee. The equipment you’ll buy include;

Feeders.

These are for providing feeds to birds. Feeders may not be used for day-old chicks as we shall see later. Use chick feeders of 0.5m lengths for every 20 chicks. Poultry should use small feeders at 1weeks age, medium at two weeks’ age, and large for 1month + old poultry.

Drinkers.

These are for providing poultry with water. Drinkers that chicks can reach but not fall into are appropriate to avoid drowning. Provide one drinker for every 50 chicks.

Cages ( if you are using the battery cage system).

If you plan on starting the project on a large scale, then a vehicle is important to help you transport feeds, manure, and products.

You’ll also need a heating system. These can be artificial heat sources such as infrared bulbs, heat lamps, electric and gas hovers, a stove, hot water radiators, and clay pots( locally). If you want to look after local chicken, then this shouldn’t worry you as the mother hens do all the work though that shall be on a very small scale.

Depending on the type of heat source being used, allow 1,000 chicks per hover or 200 chicks per infrared bulb or clay pot. If the temperature is right, chicks are evenly distributed throughout the brooder area which is a sign of comfort. If the temperature is low, chicks tend to cluster under or around the heat source. If the temperature is high, chicks move away from the heat source towards the brooder walls.

Feeds

Feeding is an important aspect of a poultry farm. 70% of the cost goes into feeding and the success of your project is based on how well you feed the birds.

On this note, you must purchase the feeds from genuine producers that I’ll recommend at a later stage.

Tips to reduce feeding costs.

As I’ve mentioned before, 70% cost of poultry is feeding. It’s therefore important to try and optimize feeding costs to maximize profits.

Here are the tips to reduce feeding costs:

• Buy quality feeds.

These get the work done perfectly and on time to save you further  expenses

• Stock feeds when the price is still low.

This specifically applies to maize.

Litter.

These are waste absorbent materials that poultry lie and step onto during their stay in the brooding house. Good litter should;

• Have good waste absorbent capabilities
• Should be cheap and readily available.
• Shouldn’t be dusty as this may cause cough in the poultry.
• Wet litter should be immediately removed as it forms a conducive environment for coccidiosis.

The most ideal litter that I also use is rice husks as it meets all the above.

Read also: Top small startup side hustle ideas in uganda.

Hire staff.

Poultry farming especially (exotics) is a very sensitive business. For this reason, I advise you to hire experienced staff. Starting small to minimize losses if any is always a good option as it also helps you to test your business strategy. You’ll need;

• Manual laborers
• Accounting and managing staff( especially on a large scale)
• A part-time or full-time veterinary personnel ( based on your scale of operation)
• Driver ( of you are operating on a large scale)

If you are operating on a small scale, you don’t need all these. You can work on the poultry farm yourself or hire external experienced persons only for the start.

Purchase Chicks.

This is another important element of the poultry farm. Now that you have everything set, it’s the stage to bring in the baby chicks. You’ll have to purchase the chicks from any reputable company that provides chicks in your area. If you don’t have any in your area, then you’ll have to move to the capital and you’ll find many of these. This is on rare occasions. In case you plan to produce very large numbers >5000, incubating and hatching these chicks in your hatchery would be a better option.

Different sources of chicks in Uganda.

Ugachick poultry

Biyinzika poultry

Kukuchick poultry

Those are the common chick sources on the Ugandan market.

Note; Chicks from different sources are of different genetic nature and exhibit different growth and disease resistance capabilities. Ensure to get chicks from genuine reputable sources, preferably the one I have mentioned above.

Caring for Poultry.

This is another important aspect of the poultry business. A good poultry breed that is not cared for the right way is worth nothing. If you don’t care for the poultry well, they’ll not grow and fatten fast, they’ll fall sick and die, they’ll not lay. Whichever targets you have will fail if you don’t care for the poultry well. This is how serious it is.

Feeding poultry.

Providing your chicks with high-quality feeds is very important as I mentioned earlier. Preferably from their respective sources. i.e. all the chick sources have feeds. It’s better to buy feeds where you bought the chicks.

Follow the bird feeding schedule that can be got from your respective source of the chicks that I mentioned before. This clarifies the type of feed i.e. starter, grower or finisher to be given to the birds at a given age.

In case you’ve developed your mix proportion for mixing feeds, ensure the feeds contain coccidiostat to help control coccidiosis and antioxidants for broiler starters.

Provide chicks with abundant clean drinking water in clean drinkers. Add vitamins to boost the bird’s health or boosters into the drinking water.

Health management.

Brooder house should be isolated with restricted access to people to help reduce disease outbreaks. A footbath with a disinfectant at the entrance is sufficient to control some poultry diseases. Ideally, having specific shoes or boots that everyone that enters the poultry house uses is better.

Windows to the brooder house should be covered with mesh to prevent wild birds from entering. Wild birds can cause disease outbreaks in poultry.

Litter should be changed immediately if wet. Further, it should also be changed at the appropriate time( when filled with dropping).

Feeders should be cleaned before adding more feeds to prevent birds from eating dirt. This can cause digestive disorders.

Vaccination.

Just like other animals, poultry is vaccinated to prevent diseases. It’s usually an oral vaccine administered with a drop in the eye.

A combined vaccine of Newcastle Disease (NCD) and Infectious Bronchitis should be done on the first and third week. Gumboro (IBD) should be administered in the second and the fourth week.

All second vaccination doses are booster doses. On vaccination days, chicks don’t receive water with any Groth booster apart from Anti-stress or glucose.

Birds are not vaccinated in case they are sick. If they are sick, the dosage is shifted to the next week.

These vaccines can be got from veterinary supply shops in any area.

Read also; Why you should consider agribusiness for business.

Caring for day-old chicks.

This is the first test in poultry farming. Perhaps the hardest. Caring for day-old chicks is demanding and you need extra care at this stage. I’ll break down this process into steps that you should closely follow for success.

Transportation of the chicks from the hatchery.

Before transportation, chicks should be examined and checked at the hatchery or office of the hatchery. They should be dry clean with bright eyes. They should further be active and alert and make noise.

They should be able to sit and stand when placed on their backs.

If the chicks meet these conditions, then they should be transported in an aerated vehicle to their required destination. Chicks should not be transported in vehicle boots.

Preparation of brooding house.

Before arrivals of chicks is the preparation of brooding house.

Clean and disinfect the brooding house and all equipment with a good disinfectant at least one week before the arrival of chicks. I recommend Naro cleanse as a disinfectant simply because,

• It’s not toxic to poultry and the farmer.
• It does the work effectively.
• It has a residual effect of 1 week.
• Its cost is also friendly.

Disinfection should be done at least two times.

Choose litter material that helps in temperature regulation of the poultry house and is easy to manage. Litter should not be dusty. Rice husks or coffee husks can do the work.

A good litter thickness of at least 1 inch should be spread on the brooder floor as a cushion for chicks.

The brooding house size can be reduced to floor spacing of 25 chicks per square meter for layers and 20 chicks per square meter for broilers to prevent overcrowding and the requirement of more heating equipment.

For the first week, it is good practice to put feeds on spread papers (cement bangs or newspaper) to help chicks easily find feeds. These should be changed as soon as they are messed with droppings.

Material for this purposed should not be polythene. They should easily absorb the droppings.

Six hours before the arrival of chicks on the farm, the artificial heat source should be turned on to preheat the brooder house.

Ensure the brooder is corner-free to avoid piling of chicks in corners which can lead to suffocation and death.

A drinker per 5O chicks should be provided for easy access. The drinker size should match the chicks size and drinkers should be put at a level to avoid chicks drowning in water.

Chicks should only be given water with an antistress agent or glucose for the first two hours then feeds there after.

Ensure to feed the chicks as recommended, and always provide them with clean sufficient water, and do not forget the vaccination days.

Propper management of chicks in the first four weeks is the most important part of poultry farming. Your success shall all depend on this so try to put in your best and do it well.

Market Your Business.

This is another important aspect of the poultry business. It’s wise to have a ready market before your chicken maturity especially kuroilers and broilers. The more days ready chicken spends on your farm, the more losses you are making as you continuously incur feeding costs.

Read also; Top roadside businesses in uganda.

How to market your business and make sales.                                                                                               

• Reach out to possible customers before your chicken gets ready.

Possible customers include;

1. Hotels and restaurants
2. Roadside roasters
3. Retail sales
4. Supermarkets and butchers.

• Transport the chicken or eggs to high-demand areas. (Look for the market in other localities)

• Use media to market the products especially if you are operating on a large scale.

Tips to make your venture successful and profitable.

Never compromise on the quality of feeds to cut costs. This shall delay the maturity of chicks and you find yourself incurring more feeding costs. It can also compromise the health of your poultry.

Biosecurity is very important. Keep a water bath at the entrance of your brooding house. Naro clense is a good disinfectant to use for this.

Have Ready market before the birds get ready. This can save you extra feeding costs.

Follow all the vaccination dates as indicated. Never vaccinate sick birds.

Always call veterinary personnel to visit your farm and check on the health of your birds.

Read more: The key elements to success for a new business.

Watch out for some of the signs of sick birds.

• Dosing birds
• Coughing birds
• Diahhorrea and droppings with bloodstains.

For more, you can contact your veterinarian.

Conclusion.

A lot has been discussed in this article. I hope you’ve picked something. Poultry is a good business that I also do myself. Whether you have little money or space, there is no excuse for failing to give poultry farming a try especially if you are unemployed. Give it a try today and you’ll share your success story. In case you need more information about poultry farming, we are ready and willing to help. Contact us. If you feel this article has helped you, feel free to comment or add something to it in the comment box below.

Please subscribe to our newsletter for more such ideas in your inbox.

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First, let’s look at why you should start a mobile money side hustle.

All the other reasons for starting a side hustle may apply here. You can read about them here. But I want to encourage those with retail, wholesale, and majorly roadside businesses to try this out. It’s easy to add it to your business at a small fee of Ugx 20000. Then share operating capital with your business and earn a monthly commission.

Requirements

Just like any other mobile money business, the requirements that you’ll need to start include capital or operating funds in form of cash, the means of transacting, and an accessible place where customers can easily see your posts and come to you.

The main concern is the means of transacting of which in this case it shall be your smartphone with an internet connection.

Read also; How to improve your mobile money commission.

How it works.

You shall register with an online transaction company that can do the transactions on your behalf and pays your commission with a small fee of over 4%+ of the commission given by the mother companies taken as their operation fee. The fee the companies charge differs. After you register with the company, you’ll transact with them through their app. This is all that you do on your side. The companies later deal with the mother companies.

Different companies that work in this business.

These are the different companies that do transactions on your behalf with the mother companies.

General requirements that most of these companies require.

• A valid national Identity Card.
• Registraction fees. most of these companies charge very little registration fess. Some of these have been highlighted below.
• Photographs of the person registering.
• Operation area and site photographs.

Chap chap merchant.

This is one of the major companies. You can download the app on the Google play store and create an account to start transacting. A small registration fee of Ugx 20000 is charged and other additional requirements such as national ID, photographs, operating site disclosure, and more in the registration process. You can read more about chap chap.

Quick teller.

Just like the above, you can download the app from the play store and create an account to start transacting. A small registration fee of Ugx 20000 is also charged. you can read more about quick teller.

Pebbu

Pebbu also does just what the others do. The only difference is that pebbu registration fees are a little higher. They charge Ugx 100000. You can read more about pebbu.

There are many more companies doing this and the choice of the company to use is yours. All the companies provide the service. Though I recommend you register with two companies as sometimes, the systems of one of the companies may have issues and you consider using the other not to lose customers.

The first two are the best options as they charge less registration fees and the services are good.

Read also: Rules for successful mobile money business.

Why start a mobile money business with your smartphone?

I prefer transacting with my smartphone through these mediator companies simply because;

• It’s all in one.

The companies transact for most of the mother companies such as Airtel, Mtn, Africell, and more which is easier compared to having all those company agent sim cards.

• It’s cheaper in the short run. 

All you need is a smartphone connected to the internet and registration fees. This cheaper compared to buying agent sim cards of all networks

• It offers more services.

There are many more services that these companies offer compared to parent agent line companies such as buying airtime of many networks and paying most bills.

• It’s easier to transact and their customer/ agent help services are way better than those of parent companies
• It’s easier to track your earnings commission wise as all systems show your commission compared to the sim card system which doesn’t. If you want to always track your earnings, this is a good one.
• It requires very small registration fees and the registration process is fast. Very small registration fees are charged as shown above compared to the registration fees charged by mother companies to get agent sim cards. Additionally, The duration it takes to register is short and sometimes instant.

Nevertheless, there are shortcomings too.

• It’s expensive in the long run.

You always incur data charges and a 4%+ charge on commission.

• Different company systems keep getting issues. You can solve this by opening two accounts for different companies.

Conclusion.

Operating a mobile money business with a smartphone is a wise idea if you wish to do the hustle for a short time and quit or have little startup capital.

Note; All fees discussed in this post are subject to change.

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