The Entrepreneurial Program is at the heart of our strategy to assist members  to leave poverty and be independent of BeadforLife.  These businesses will provide them with a source of income after graduation from BeadforLife. The businesses tend to fall in one of the following categories:

1. Retailing: selling vegetables and produce in their neighborhoods, selling fabrics and ready made clothes and setting up a small grocery store for every day necessities like bread, flour, sugar, beans.
2. Food: small restaurants or preparing snacks for sale
3. Other Services: tailoring, knitting, hairdressing, houses for rent, hiring out motorcycles for transport.
4. Agriculture/Animal rearing: Cultivating yams, sweet potatoes, rice and rearing chickens and pigs

Rose with her fish scraps ready for transit to congo

Members are selected into the BeadforLife program based on a competitive selection workshop. Four major criteria are used for screening:

1. Demonstrated ability to solve problems
2. Basic numeracy skills
3. Attitude towards work/motivation levels
4. Determination and a belief in their own ability to change their lives

Savings accounts are opened  for each woman in the first month.  Savings is critical to escaping poverty.  Members are encouraged early to develop an “entrepreneurial” mindset. After they learn to make beads, they receive preparatory business training sessions on managing their incomes, costing and tracking profitability of their beads, looking for business ideas and so on.

Sanyu member Alice Kisakye in her earings stand

They also go through a formal numeracy training program for two months to improve their arithmetic skills and learn to use a simple calculator.

This is followed by a seven day business training workshop where topics covered include customer relations, advertising, pricing, keeping records of income and expenses, market research and how to prepare a business plan. Many of the sessions are facilitated by alumni who have successful businesses.

Members are then required to submit a business plan for their future business. Those who have difficulty in coming up with a plan or a business idea are provided additional mentoring by staff and successful alumni.

Members are divided into case loads and have a designated member of staff from the Entrepreneurial Program who guides and supports them. The same staff member also recommends disbursement of the business fund, depending on the requirement of the specific business.

The Business Fund provides the capital for each member”s business and is built up from compulsory savings from their income from selling beads. Each member accumulates one million shillings or approximately USD 500 in this account. Members with viable businesses are also recommended for a further Business Grant which is a contribution by BeadforLife to support members’ businesses.

Skills training, inspirational talks, opportunities to apprentice with alumni and visits to markets and businesses in Kampala are some other services provided by the Entrepreneurial Program to the members in order to help members with their ability to succeed as entrepreneurs.

Faridah's business grows to selling bunches

Living Fund Period
The last three months of the membership period at BeadforLife are known as the Living fund period when members do not produce beads for sale but instead focus entirely on nurturing and growing their businesses. They receive money from BeadforLife to meet their living expenses and regular visits and guidance from the Entrepreneurial team to help with their business. As a result members have the opportunity to build and strengthen their business before they graduate from the program.

Recent Evaluation of Graduates of the Program 
Evaluation is an important aspect of our work.  Here are the results of two recent groups shortly after graduation.

Suubi and Sanyu groups are the most recent graduates of the BeadforLife program. Suubi members graduated from BeadforLife in September 2010 and Sanyu in November 2010.

Suubi spent 22 months in the program and at the time of graduation, 68% of the members had a business.  58% of the members had businesses that provided an income of Shs 200,000 or more per month (about USD 100). About a third of the members who started in business had an average of two businesses.

Sanyu was the first group that spent 18 months in the program and had the benefit of a Living Fund period when they did not make beads but focused on growing their businesses.  Interestingly, 87% of the Sanyu members had a business at the time of graduation and 67% of the members had businesses earning Shs 200,000 a month or more which would allow them to be out of poverty. 23% of those in business had an average of two businesses.

Type of business	Suubi %	Sanyu %
Farming and animal husbandry	14	30
Trading ( clothes, produce etc)	49	48
Food  (restaurants, snacks, bar)	16	16
Services (salon, rental houses etc)	21	6