John Baptist Kijje;

By the Indepenent Team

Cooking bags maker

John Baptist Kijje is the brain behind ‘Kookinbag,’ which he says can cook food and keep it fresh for ten hours thus saving about 80% of charcoal or gas.  Kijje grasped the idea after visiting British friends in 2010. “I was introduced to a couple of ideas but zeroed on cooking bags as I could manage to raise the initial investment from my farm returns,” explains Kijje. With initial capital investment of Shs 100, 000, Kijje started small but has seen his business grow to accumulate assets worth Shs 5 million.  The cooking bags cost between Shs 40, 000 to Shs 100,000 depending on the size and capacity.  The cooking bags are more less the same as any form of bag though they differ in their ability to maintain heat. They are made from materials such as sponge and the heat controls are made from used radio sets to maintain the food hot and fresh.

Success tips; Organization, record keeping

Kijje has a winning strategy; “You can never go wrong on the tasks and processes involved in production. It will help you ensure that you are not forgetting anything and you are completing all the tasks that are essential to the survival of your business,” he says. He adds that records help you to know where the business stands financially and what potential challenges you could be facing. This gives you time to draft ways of overcoming them and growing the business.