From Beans to Business

Pure Roasted Coffee is a start-up business operated by a local Ugandan school club full of young remarkable entrepreneurs who’s creativity and innovation knows no bounds. Through Asante Africa Foundation’s Youth Livelihood Program, club members created a school-based business that sells local coffee products. The forty member club saw an opportunity to put their learned skills into practice by creating their own business.

The creation of a business was not easy for the club, they had to evaluate their current local economy and build from there. With critical leadership, financial literacy, and budgeting skills gained from the Youth Livelihood Program, the club thought to create a Coffee Business. The starting of a coffee business is an innovative idea because the initial capital to start was inexpensive, it had an easy implementation, and resources were widely available. The business, named Pure Roasted Coffee, sells local ground coffee and whole beans.

The start-up costs were first gathered through member participation fees, donations from the local community, and from the school administration. With start-up costs collected, the club needed to establish an organizational structure with their business. The club then split their business into different departments that reflect a corporate structure: Human Resources, Procurement, Production, Finance, and the Sales Department. While the club members had different roles, they were all able to participate in the different sectors, enabling each individual to have the opportunity to develop their professional skills in multiple areas. 

Though the project had just begun, Pure Roasted Coffee has already seen a 25% profit from their initial start-up cost of 306,400 Ugshs (Ugandan Shillings.) For now, the team plans to reinvest all profits back into the business in order to grow and expand the business since they are now in great demand. Guided by their business’ constitution, all members believe that their success was only achievable because of the collective participation and trust the students had amongst themselves. This is a testament to the knowledge and resources that were received through the Youth Livelihood Program as these students begin to see the fruits of their labor. 

Now, Pure Roasted Coffee has begun their transformation to reach new heights. The business now plans to sell multiple grades of coffee beans that can meet the community demands, essentially expanding their consumer base. The club hopes to take this business beyond the school and register their own independently operated business. In departing with the school, they also propose the adoption of digital marketing to expand their customers, not only in Uganda, but globally. 

When students are able to harness their entrepreneurship ability through creativity and innovation-and see results from their hard-work, they only begin to want to expand on it. As Pure Roasted Coffee begins to develop their own business, they serve as a great example of how innovative solutions to local problems can span way beyond one’s own community.