The Best 8 Small-Scale Business Ideas in Uganda To Start With Little Capital

If you have little or even no capital, you can still be able to succeed and make it to the top but how? The answer is by trying out these best 8 small-scale business ideas in Uganda. Contained in this list are worth ventures anyone can do and earn unlimited profits. Remember, how you handle the kind of work you do is one of the determinants of how much you will make. People with good customer care share making it when compared with those with less or no customer care.

8 Best Small-Scale Profitable Business Ideas

Below are the different business ideas you can start in Uganda today with UGX 100,000/=, 200,000/=, 400,000/=, 500,000/=, 1,000,000/=, 2,000,000/= or even with little or no capital. The size of capital you use may not be that determinant of the much you will make since the below types of businesses have been proven worth even with the smallest capital.

Secretarial

The secretarial business is lucrative. You have many chances of earning no matter where your business is situated. The need for photocopies of different documents including national identity cards, land titles and sales agreements, car logbooks, academic documents, birth certificates, typing and scanning of documents, and others is a reason you stand to earn.

Starting a secretarial business is very simple and requires very little capital. You can buy a new 3-in-1 printer at only UGX 160,000/= or even between UGX 50,000/= to 100,000/= for a used one. A used computer can also go from as low as 150,000 full sets with office programs installed. The above being all you need to start a small secretarial bureau means earning unlimited yet using very little capital.

Tailoring

When you move around the Kisenyi area, Owino market, Ovino mall, Roza market, and other places around town, you will be amazed by the number of cottage industries. Both men and women are very busy tailoring the different styles and clothes. Best of all, anyone can learn tailoring within a few weeks and it requires no much money.

The tailoring business is in high demand since many people who sell second-hand clothes want them to look real and thus end up with sewing needs. You buy “ndibota”, you select those clothes which require tailors work and you do it. I have been watching this tailoring business closely and added it to my list of popular demand ventures that anyone can start and earn. Another interesting secret is the fact that you can even get a sewing machine at very low prices.

Mobile Money

I can’t spend a day without transacting on mobile money. Either I am sending money to friends, family, businesses, etc, or receiving money from clients as payments or even buying airtime or internet data bundles. Just like it happens to me, the same happens to very many other people in Uganda.

The need to transact is a single reason why the mobile money business is booming. You can start with say Airtel money, add on MTN mobile money, UTL’s M-Sente, etc. Best of all, clients ready to transact are everywhere. Also, it requires less than 2M (Two million Uganda shillings) to get started. For example, between One hundred thousand Uganda shillings and three hundred thousand shillings, you can get an Airtel mobile money agent line. MTN agent lines also can be got between 300,000/= to 1,000,000/=.

Salon

Think of the amount of money you spend every time you go to the salon to do your choice of hair styling or trimming for men. Salons make good money and profits if you never knew. Just take an example, you buy a hair weaving (any style) at say 7,000/=, and you sell it at 15,000/= or 20,000/=. You also take on the job of styling that woman and you are paid say 30,000/=. When you add all you have made, wow, you discover that you have over-profited.

Be a men’s or ladies’ salon, you are on a sure deal of making some good money out of your business. Men trim all day in their respective styles and haircuts and so do women. And if you never knew, women spend so much on their hair as they look at it as where beauty begins. Why not take on that opportunity and profit? For sure why?

Also read: How To Change Paid TV Decoder Into FTA?

Chapati

Also known as “Kikomando” which means beans mixed with chapati, this is a kind of business with the highest sales no matter the time of the day. Being sold at cheap prices for example 1 chapati with beans at 1,500/= UGX, you attract a lot of buyers for this. The same happens to others like 2 chapati’s, etc thus allowing you to earn unlimited over and over as you profit.

And guess what, starting a chapati business required very little capital. Even with less than UGX 100,000/=, you can start your business. Involving in chapati business doesn’t mean that you are doing it yourself, you can rather employ others who are qualified to do the work as you rest and enjoy profits.

Point of sale

Have you ever heard of Payway machines, Ezeemoney, etc? Yes, those are all point-of-sale terminals. POS terminals offer services similar to banks and mobile money. They allow clients to transact and transfer money, and pay bills like Umeme, URA, National Water, Yaka, etc. The POS agent earns a commission on every transaction as is the case for mobile money services which concludes that you profit on every single transaction right from airtime selling to all others.

Becoming a POS agent is very simple and easy. It requires some cash between UGX 500,000/= to 2,000,000/= depending on the provider you are affiliating with. Different providers have different requirements and amounts of money to have to join. Also, other requirements apply. Read here for more details.

Vegetable farming

Did you know that vegetables mature in between a few weeks and not exceeding 3 months to mature? If you didn’t know, that is the same time you wait to start earning. If you have land small or big, you can profit from this. Cabbages, “Nakati”, and others are some of the vegetables you can grow and start earning.

Mobile apps and music

This can’t be left out. If you have a computer and access to the internet, you can do this type of business. You will be helping phone owners install apps on their smartphones and also burn music on the same. This is something I have tried and found it working.

Also read: USB Type C Vs Micro USB, Which Is Better?

How to start a business online?

You can start a business online just like you can do to that which operates from offline. Being a researcher, I have found out that online kind of businesses are profitable in their niches. Yes, you can sell, trade, affiliate and do much more which all requires very little capital.

An example is starting a website with not more than $1 eg domain at $0.99, hosting, designing, etc at free. You can then use this domain name to sell your products, affiliate with other products, promote, etc. You can also do this while in Uganda just like many people including KWS Adams (my mentor) share how possible it is.

Winding up

There are very many different ways you can try and earn money but these creative 8 small-scale business ideas in Uganda to start with little capital have been proven to be worth your time. Best of all, they all require no more paperwork and can be done straightway from zero.