Kisitu turns around hair business through Stanbic business incubator 

MARGARET NAKATO KISITU loves hair, especially natural African hair.

Over the years, she, together with her twin sister Maria Babirye, have turned their passion into one of the leading hair styling businesses in the country.

Recently, Kisitu, a former banker who resigned from her job over 10 years ago to venture into entrepreneurship, was recognized as one of the standout graduates from the famed Stanbic Business Incubator Limited (SBIL), writes Johnson Thembo Kachinire.

Kisitu and Babirye run Afros & Mo, a top beauty parlour in Kampala city with two branches, one at Mukwano Courts on Buganda road and the second one at Marigold building in Bukoto.

Their passion rides on a new trend of people eager to express their African heritage through hair. The business is also to encourage and guide women of African descent to keep their natural afro-textured hair beautiful, whether coiled or curly.

Afros & Mo is a natural hair care brand that specializes in products for afro-textured hair. They offer a range of products including shampoos, conditioners, styling creams, and oils that are specifically formulated to nourish and enhance natural curls and coils. Their products are made with natural ingredients and are free from harmful chemicals, making them suitable for all hair types.

Kisitu, a former banker who resigned from her job over 10 years ago to venture into entrepreneurship, is one of the standout participants from the famed Stanbic Business Incubator Limited (SBIL).

Kisitu considers her training stint at the Stanbic Business Incubator Limited (SBIL), a real game-changer. For one thing, she learnt how to identify and limit operational losses in her steadily expanding hair salon business while also gaining greater confidence in running it better.

“The incubator enabled us to professionalize Afros & Mo. Nor do I have to physically be at any of our branches for the business to run smoothly. During my short time at the incubator, things turned around. I was able to learn financial literacy skills, formulate structures, strong policies and recruit human resources. The SBIL initiative also connected us to the advantages of a digital management system that helped us track and monitor our progress. Since that day, Afros & Mo has not made any losses, like it used to do before,” Kisitu said.

At one time, she had considered giving up on Afros & Mo after years of financial instability until a year ago when she joined SBIL. In fact, her story is just one of hundreds of business owners who have enjoyed a turnaround of fortunes after SBIL coaching.

Recently, the SBIL team led by Nelson Kasadha, the programs manager, had an on-the-spot check on her business and were amazed at her acumen.

Before joining the Stanbic Business Incubator, the venture had challenges with branding and strategic marketing, bookkeeping, managing staff turnover and compliance with regulations among others which all became history after the 90 days of enterprise development program at the lower Kololo-based innovation facility.

Looking back, Kisitu says most people fear starting up businesses because of uncertainties about the future. Of particular concern is financing the enterprise and meeting operational costs.

“The fear of the unknown has kept very many people away from venturing into business start-ups. Some people even fear to start because they are afraid they might fail. Failure is part of the learning process, and you should embrace it and move on,” she says.

“Whenever I shared my plans with my colleagues, some doubted me. However, when people doubt you, do not get discouraged. Do not let someone else’s fears determine your destiny,” Kisitu says.

Before quitting a job to start up a business venture, Kisitu advises that one has to be strategic and plan for a transition period of at least two years.

“Most people have days when they go for leave. Use such days to practice what you would like to venture into. Get side hustles to improve your skills. Entrepreneurship is all about selling your idea to other people. You need to master the art of convincing people to buy into your project.”

Kisitu suggests that other business owners, who are unaware of SBIL’s capacity building services, make contact and enroll for training programs to avoid making the same costly mistakes they did during the early years of their start-up.

She is also appreciative of how SBIL staff and consultants provided useful advice on how to weather the Covid-19 pandemic, which involved two lockdowns that wreaked havoc on many small businesses across Uganda.

Cynthia Mugabe, a client of Afros & Mo, says she has worked on her hair from the Bukoto branch since mid-2019. She notes that the quality of services and customer care robustly improved after the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, something that has kept her coming back over and over.

“The staff are now well-trained, professional, and provide exceptional customer service that one can’t find anywhere else,” she says.

“This salon has invested in updating its facilities, introducing new services such as the in-house café and enhancing its marketing efforts, especially on digital platforms. As a result, customer satisfaction has increased, leading to a growing client base and higher revenues. The salon is now seen as a top choice for beauty services in the area, with a strong reputation for quality and innovation.”

On his part, Kasadha says their key focus is on three core areas namely; access to markets, access to finance and business operational skilling necessary for start-ups’ management and growth. The incubator is one of the five business units of Stanbic Uganda Holdings Limited, with Stanbic bank as the main anchor subsidiary.

SBIL programs are largely structured to provide business development training and follow-up on support interventions. The learning environment involves workshops and panel group discussions, networking events and access to subject matter experts, mentoring and coaching of entrepreneurs and provides avenues for accessing both markets and funds.

“We have so far supported over 2,000 small-scale businesses across the country since 2018. Our goal as Stanbic Business Incubator is to contribute to the transformation of the society particularly by supporting the growth and sustainability of a vibrant SME sector,” Kasadha said.

He said SBIL was initially developed as the Enterprise Development Program (EDP) in 2018 supporting 190 small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) in Kampala, to focus on building their capacity to actively participate in Uganda’s rapidly growing oil and gas sector. Since then, other programs have been introduced to support small business owners in various economic sectors.

In April, SBIL flagged off two more innovative programs aimed at supporting businesses to access finance. Inadequate collateral to secure loans remains a leading challenge for Uganda’s SME owners. With the launch of these programs, SBIL wants to enhance their chances by helping enterprises to be investment-ready.

Dubbed the Stanbic Accelerator Program (SAP) and the Supplier Development Program (SDP), they will be implemented in partnership with MTN, Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum, Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), NSSF, GIZ, Petroleum Authority of Uganda and many more strategic partnerships.

The aim is to bring together other key players to support SMEs that enroll for these programs to drive scale and create social-economic impact. Meanwhile, Francis Karuhanga, the chief executive of Stanbic Uganda Holdings (SUHL), says the implementation of the two innovative programs feeds directly into their purpose: Uganda is Our Home, We Drive her Growth.

“Each year, we inject about Shs 2 billion into the incubator. The two new programs mark a significant milestone in SBIL’s commitment to empowering entrepreneurs and small business owners across the country. These initiatives are designed to equip SMEs with the essential skills, knowledge, and resources needed to thrive in today’s competitive business landscape,” Karuhanga says.