Meet “Mama Shalom”: Impacting a Community through Entrepreneurship
Rose Nalubega, a 42-year-old mother of three, is a determined entrepreneur who has transformed not only her own life but also the lives of many in her community.
An Uncertain Start
Before joining the SBS entrepreneurship training in 2018, Rose owned a small shop where she sold basic groceries like tomatoes, cooking oil, and soft drinks. Initially hesitant about joining the program, she pushed herself to attend all the training sessions. She recalls, “I never took it seriously; I thought I would only attend for one week and then leave. But after the first week, I enjoyed the training and kept attending.”
Foundational Bookkeeping Skills
The training modules that made a lasting impact on Rose were those focused on finding capital, starting small, and bookkeeping. She learned the importance of keeping track of her business’s financials and realized that her small shop was actually a valuable asset. “I learned so much from the topic of bookkeeping, I never knew that the small shop I had was my capital to something bigger. I never kept track of my business’s profits or losses.” Recognizing the potential of her small shop, she transformed it into a boutique and snack shop, featuring delicious chapati.
Business Diversification
Rose’s entrepreneurial spirit didn’t stop there. She expanded her inventory to include plastics, ladies’ bags, and shoes. With hard work and dedication, she began making profits beyond her wildest imagination. Motivated by her success, she decided to further grow her business and established another boutique, specializing in classy ladies’ bags, in a different community. She also rented out three fridges at $5.36 per day.
Parallel to her business ventures, Rose and her husband also built a rental property in another community. This property now brings them a monthly income of $401.95. Furthermore, they began cultivating maize, sweet potatoes, and cassava on their farm, which added another source of revenue through the harvest and sale of their produce.
Previously, Rose had no documentation of her business’s financial performance. However, things have changed for the better. On a good day, she now earns $53.59 in profits from all her ventures. Additionally, she has joined a savings group and sets aside $26.80 per month.
Giving Back to the Community
Known affectionately as “Mama Shalom” by her friends, Rose has a strong desire to give back to her community. To support more women, she launched a money-lending company that offers loans with minimal interest rates. This enables others to follow in her footsteps towards financial success.
“I take great joy in empowering other women to achieve financial independence, just like me.”
Rose takes pride in how far she has come and often chuckles when reminiscing about her early days as an entrepreneur. “I would just stick money in my back pocket whenever I was going to shop stock for my store, and after ordering all the items I wanted, I couldn’t find the money to pay because I had dropped it along the way. I used to be clumsy and careless.” These amusing mishaps were part of Rose’s learning journey, and she cherishes them.
Today, Rose is a confident woman who efficiently manages her businesses by keeping records of transactions and preserving receipts. She values her self-sufficiency and attributes her transformation to Street Business School. “I used not to care while running my business, but not anymore. I know how much I make from my different businesses and understand how to manage them successfully because I record my business and keep my receipts.”
Rose utilizes her income to support her family, pay for her siblings’ children’s school fees, take care of her parents, and contribute to her family’s overall development. Her dream is to expand her businesses and income by importing items in bulk from Nairobi.
Rose’s story is one of hope and the transformative power of entrepreneurship. From a hesitant start to a thriving entrepreneur, she has inspired and uplifted her community, leaving a lasting impact on those around her.
To learn more about how you can help bring Street Business School’s curriculum to more entrepreneurs and community change-makers, like Rose, please visit our website: https://www.streetbusinessschool.org/give/.
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