Although Kafeero Aziz owns Kafeero foundation, the young entrepreneur talks about how he started a business with a capital of just 50K UGX something that greatly defines who he is today.
Kafeero who lived a normal life in Ntinda, developed his desires for business as early as his senior six vocation after being pushed by his undying entrepreneurship fire inside him. Kafeero says that he was a huge customer of the by then Shs500 rice which was his daily supper in Ntinda, a Kampala city suburb. “One day in my S.6 vacation, I was seated with my friend eating the cheap shs500 rice…haha… and that’s when I developed my first business idea,” Kafeero revealed.
While seated, Kafeero overheard some men talking to the lady who used to cook the cheap rice asking her to deliver the rice to their working areas. However, the lady turned their request down and that was Kafeero’s entry point. “It took me about five days thinking about how I can deliver food despite not knowing how to cook it myself. But I later decided to approach the woman and asked whether I can deliver food directly to customers,” says Kafeero. However, he did not have any confirmed customers by then.
His food delivering request was accepted by the lady and later rushed to borrow Shs50,000 which he used to process his business tools. Like any business, Kafeero printed business cards and stormed various companies asking the employees whether they were willing to take orders for the food he was yet about to deliver. “When people saw my business cards, they were left wondering how I benefit from the food business to the extent of branding myself as a big company… to be honest I benefited nothing apart from the transport costs,” Kafeero narrates.
To cut the long story short, Kafeero managed to raise more capital and started his own food company (first food delivering company in Uganda) by hiring chefs to cook his own food. He later scooped a deal in one branch of shoe making company “Bata” and was later granted an opportunity to supply the rest of the branches after his business grew bigger. “After getting this deal, I developed an idea of putting my business on the internet. I created a website which enabled my customers to order their favorite food direct by clicking on it,” says Kafeero.
The company grew bigger and he later got more orders from other companies. “I remember when money started coming in, I upgraded my living standards. I bought my first car at 18 years…it was actually a Benz,” Kafeero fondly remembers. Unfortunately, the food company later collapsed after some people tried to steal it. “We battled in court and in the end the company closed. I opened other several businesses in between there… I think that was my first year at campus.”
A few years later, Kafeero founded a social enterprise named “Kafeero Foundation” which is aimed at inspiring young individuals and communities. Today, the foundation has managed to scoop a three year contract with Google, and it will move across more than 21 African countries training young people on digital skills.
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