By Isaac Akugizibwe

KIU, Main Campus - Micah Ngusu, a graduate student of Mass Communication, is one of the many sole proprietors that have embraced the KIU trade exhibition that started on Monday 28th February 2022. Her enterprise is clearly unique from the rest, and one thing setting her apart, is that she makes everything herself.

Ngusu sells items that range from ornaments, to jewelry, to bracelets, to beads, to bags and to door mats, all of which she makes from her home, with the help of her fiancée Peter Kabagambe who is also a proud KIU alumnus.

Her enterprise is a product of innovativeness and creativity. She says her business is not only convenient but also very profitable, meticulousness, and is as a result of hard work and making rightful choices. Two years ago, she started harnessing an idea into what is now a wonder after finishing her diploma in Mass Communication.

Ngusu started with just making door mats before she would develop the idea of making jewelry, bracelets and ornaments from YouTube. The two first attended YouTube channel lessons before starting to make their products at home.

‘’We didn’t like to be idle while searching for jobs. We therefore started making door mats and through YouTube lectures, we developed this idea and harnessed it. Though it wasn’t easy at the beginning, it is now very encouraging,’’ she explains.

With only two days at the exhibition, Ngusu has already started seeing light at the end of the tunnel. She says people are falling in love with her products each day that passes.

"The KIU community has embraced our products. We have received so many customers in just two days and the demand is beyond what we initially expected," she admits.

The price of her products differs from one item to another. For instance small bungles are sold at 3000shs, bracelets range from 5,000shs to 50,000shs, while wedding ornaments start from 40,000shs onwards.

She also receives orders online whenever she publicises her products. This has been her main source of market since she started and it has always favoured her to work from home.

"I don't move out for market in most cases. I receive orders online. The only thing that sees me out is delivering of which I just send to the buyer using public transport especially Boda Boda," Ngusu says.

"Sometimes people think I am inside sleeping or perhaps watching movies but that's the time i use to make my products, carry out transactions and get more knowledge on YouTube," she adds.

She is looking forward to establishing a jewelry shop where she can be able to display her products to the general public for she has realised a need for more visibility.

Her advice to students and fresh graduates is to avoid wasting too much time online while watching or attending to useless information. Instead, they should borrow her example and embrace using social media to learn new skills.