Making wine from Fruits – A one-stop shop for Refreshments in Gulu
Gulu, which recently gained city status, has become a lucrative business center with enormous potential for those who dare to exploit it. Juliet Ochama, a TAGDev scholar, is one of those who has taken up the mantle to capitalize on this market potential through her business “Nectar Point.”
Ochama is a former TAGDev scholar who says the program helped her get her Masters’ degree at Gulu University while also supporting her with tuition and research. She acknowledges that the program helped shape her into the businesswoman she is today. “I was taught to be a job creator, not a job seeker,” she adds. As her colleagues discussed joining institutions such as the United Nations, she says her mind was set on starting a business.
Nectar Point serves ice cream, coffee, juices, wine, and cocktails, as well as fast food for those on the go. This place, located along Gulu’s bus park street, just adjacent to the Kakanyero hotel, is a haven for those looking to hydrate from the intense heat, catch a breath after a long day’s work, or simply quench their thirst.
Ochama says her juice usually goes bad at the end of a business day, so she tried heating it up and adding yeast one day, but it didn’t work out. She then began reading about winemaking and is now able to produce commercial wine from organic fruits.
She attributes her current business success to the skills she learned as a TAGDev scholar, which include business financing and bookkeeping. She reveals that as part of the Agripreneurship alliance, they were taught the business model canvas, which she now incorporates into her business transactions and has seen success.
Ochama also wants to expand, possibly to the neighboring district of Adjumani, which she claims is only a two-hour drive away. She notes that what distinguishes Nectar Point from other competitors is that they invest plenty of time in their products, hence a high-quality output, and the customer care offered to their clientele.
She notes that what distinguishes Nectar Point from other competitors is that they invest a significant amount of time in their products, resulting in high-quality output, as well as the customer service provided to their clients.
Ochama believes Nectar Point Wine is a small but growing business and emphasizes the need to expand production and storage in order to obtain expansion certification. Due to regulatory requirements, she requires at least three rooms in the manufacturing process.
As a result, her solution is to look for space and rent in the suburbs, which comes with additional overhead costs. Another challenge she is currently facing is competition from imported products that customers are accustomed to.
On the bright side, Ochama has had an impact on the lives of the eight women she employs. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, these single mothers were disillusioned. These individuals are now able to support themselves and their children by working at Nector Point.
She advises young people to be consistent in everything they do and to prioritize networking because all businesses nowadays thrive on social capital.
These Stories are a result of the documentation from the RUFORUM and Mastercard Partnership under the TAGDEV Project, Gulu University: https://ruforum.wordpress.com/category/tagdev-project/.
