ON
the breezy shores of Coco Beach you will find several booths selling sugarcane
juice to thirsty beach goers. There on the sandy, eastern coastline of Oysterbay,
Pili Maguzo started her business selling sugarcane juice in January 2014.
The Oysterbay Farmers Market is a monthly market held
the last Saturday of every month at the Oysterbay Shopping Centre. The Market
specialises in fresh, local and organic produce and products. It is managed by
the Italian NGO CEFA and sponsored by United Nations World Food Programme.
“The Farmers Market also helped me get more sales and
– more importantly – to find new outlets to set up shop,” said Pili, owner and
manager of Pili’s Sugarcane Juice.
“Customers started trying my juice and asking me if I
was available for parties and other events.” After only two Farmers Markets,
Pili had made enough money to buy another juice machine and double the number
of events at which she could work.
Pili had to hire more staff to keep up with the
increased event and party work. She now has six workers and a fruit juicing
machine so that, in addition to sugarcane juice, customers can have juice made
with carrot, pineapple, mango, passion fruit or whatever else is in season.
Pili’s Tips for Young Entrepreneurs:
1)
It is fine to start small.
2)
To grow your business balance your budget and reinvest profits in something
your business needs.
3)
It can be hard at the beginning, but that is OK. You can endure. Offer the best
quality in whatever you do and you will get regular customers.
4)
I want to wake up women to get out there and start their own businesses. Women
are just as capable as men of going into business. In the Dar es Salaam market,
good ideas are often imitated with new enterprisers often becoming your
next-door competition.
According to Pili, you need to be able to adapt and
change or else you risk growth stagnating or even regressing. To stay ahead,
Pili goes to Tandale Market two days before an event to get the details on the
incoming sugarcane and fruit shipments. “I want fresh and top quality
everything so I do my own research,” Pili said. One event organiser who works
with her appreciates these qualities in Pili.
“It’s important to be able to count on people,” said
Tim Johnston, the General Manager of Wonder Workshop. Pili is one of the few
regular food and beverage vendors invited to sell at Wonder shop’s handicraft
market. “When I book Pili for one of my events, I’m not just booking her to
give her space, she’s bringing something to the event that helps draw
customers,” Tim added.
Her strong business sense started in an unexpected
place. When she was 13 years old Pili became a member of the Lumumba Theatre
Group where she learned to dance various styles.
With the group, Pili was able to practice and learn.
After picking up the necessary skills, she began dancing solo. Being a dancer
has afforded Pili the opportunity to travel to Kenya, Mozambique, Poland, and
Denmark for contests and exhibitions. It was through dance that Pili began
learning how to network and to run a business.
“As a dancer you have to know how to promote yourself
to get asked to do events and to keep the audience happy,” said Pili. “It’s
similar to business in that you want people to be able to depend on you and to
want you to keep coming back.”
These days Pili is still busy with her dancing as well
as with her businesses. Seldom idle, she is only satisfied when she is out
there, working and growing.
In May of this year, with profits from Pili’s
Sugarcane Juice, she opened a new hair salon in Kinondoni named Pili’s Salon.
That’s not all. Pili’s aspiration is to keep reinvesting and growing her
businesses.
“Next I would
like to find a place where we could set up shop and sell juice every day. After
that I want to buy my own farm to plant sugarcane to cut down costs,” said
Pili.
