After receiving numerous calls from his fellow students requesting for job opportunities, Eric Bazadde was forced to think critically on how he can respond to his friends positively.
Eric graduated with a Bachelor of Business Computing from Makerere University Business School (MUBS) Nakawa during the 70th graduation ceremony of Makerere University in January 2020.
Eric narrates that during his study time at campus, he was getting calls from his friends requesting him to give them job opportunities since he was studying and thinking that he was the only one with connections. This gave him a challenge at the same time an opportunity later on when he thought of advancing his father’s hardware shop to an online shop also creating jobs for his friends.
“In my S6 vacation, I joined Kaweesi R & Sons general hardware which is my father’s shop in Shauliako Kampala though it was for my father, I decided to exploit my knowledge so as to get more customers for the business from online there I got the idea of Shauliako online in 2019,’’He narrates.
According to Eric, it all started when some of his colleagues contacted him requesting for jobs. This pushed him to create opportunities for them by building an e-commerce site which sales hardware online plumbing tools, hand tools, drills, water pumps, sprinklers and many other building and irrigation materials. Thus, attracting new online customers to the business and even create jobs for my friends as sales agents.
“I developed the system because when we were about to leave campus, I had an idea of being self-employed and also creating opportunities for others. I started developing my site slowly, with time I started getting customers,’’ he described.
The outbreak of coronavirus in Uganda that brought to the closure of all businesses hardware shops inclusive, promoted Eric’s hustle when he started receiving daily online customers.
“When the government introduced a national lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 most businesses were ordered to close. This gave my site a go ahead since we had a store and a shop at home, I started selling and delivering at door steps around Uganda using Boda- Boda and Trucks in Kampala heading to different parts of the country,’’ He adds.
Among the challenges, Eric says that payment delays always hinder the progress of the business and boda-boda riders who overcharge him when delivering materials to customers. Data and Traffic jam are not left behind.
‘’By 2021, most of my unemployed OBs and OGs will be employed by the business. I want to have stores in at least 30% of the districts in Uganda to ensure timely delivery,’’ He happily concluded.
Find him on: shauliako online facebook page, twitter @Ricky_Banxz
