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Patience Kajoina is a retired secondary school teacher by profession. Prior to her retirement, she trained as a tailor, enabling her venture into textile and garments industry to earn some extra income during holiday and evenings.
“I had to source an additional income to supplement my husband’s farming income and also educate our children in some of the country’s best schools,” she said.
Upon retirement in 2006, Kajoina took up a full term tailoring as a small scale business, making uniforms and sweaters. This was in addition to making clergy robs and functional attire especially for women.
She says it was hard at the onset of the business especially during transition to tailoring as a result of low production amidst low demand.
However, Kajoina has since expanded the business to include embroidery and a tailoring training school targeting young girls who drop out of school.
Success tips; make use of exhibitions
Three years into the business, Kajoina only made returns to keep in business the moment she started exhibiting her designs in trade and fashion shows.
“The trade show brought me more clients through networking and since then I have never looked back,” she says.
She also attended skills upgrading trainings in textiles and garments which helped her improve on quality of her products and thus widening her markets.
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editor@independent.co.ug
