WOMEN IN BUSINESS; Linnet Akol’s start-up journey with dfcu’s Rising Woman Initiative and growing Krystal Ice

When Lynette Akol signed up for the inaugural dfcu Rising Woman competition in 20178, as a start up business owner, she may only have been eyeing the sh15 million winner’s prize, but she got a lot more than she bargained for.

“There has been continued support through mentorship and community, sponsored media engagements to grow our brand, my leadership and decision making has improved over the last six years,” said Akol, founder and CEO of the maker of frozen fruit snacks, Krystal Ice ltd.

“Business is tough and the handholding I have received from dfcu since winning has been very important to our continued success.”

The Rising Woman initiative is sponsored by dfcu Bank, Monitor Publications Limited other partners, to support women founded and controlled businesses grow through training, mentorship and greater access to the group’s financial products.

The top ten winners of the proposal writing and pitching competition, get an all-expense paid study trip to Nairobi, Kenya. The top three share sh30m between them.

 

“Since winning the award we employed more people, got more of the technical team. We have got our UNBS (Uganda National Bureau of Standards) certification, very important in the food business and dfcu has helped us attain ISO certification;” she explained, speaking at her office situated on the bustling Commercial Street, Luzira, which on the day we were there, was market day with vendors lining the streets selling everything from second-hand shoes to banana juice.

Her joining the dfcu Women in Business (WiB) Program at the Bank has been a godsend in many ways making finance easier to access, exposure to new opportunities and learnings, attracting the right talent for her business and many other opportunities that come with being in a community of likeminded people.

It goes without saying that her business has grown quantitatively as well.

 “Since our employees have grown to 24 from three, we are now dealing with six farmer groups up from one and our production has also increased,” Akol said.

These are significant strides for a business that was barely two years old when the inaugural Rising Woman was launched in 2018.

With the euphoria of her Rising Woman achievement still fresh in the air, the economy went into lock down because of the Covid pandemic and she had to find a new level of resilience.

“Our distribution channels were all shut down and our revenues collapsed greatly. So we invested a lot of the Rising Woman prize money in digital marketing, growing our presence on social media and making home deliveries,” she recalls. At the time, Akol she thought her business was going to end before it had the opportunity to take off.

“But I learnt that passion and vision breed resilience,” and we lived to see brighter days.

One thing the Rising Women in initiative has given her is an opportunity to share her story as well as learn from people with similar experience.

“I encourage women to look out for opportunities and embrace the challenges that come with them. It can be tough but also very rewarding especially when you look back at what you have achieved,” she said.

For a business that started with a passion to build something of her own and a brainstorming of company names with her pre-adolescent daughters, her journey is far from over.

“I want Krystal Ice Ltd to grow beyond its current central Uganda footprint, to go national and then, go beyond Uganda. We want to launch new products and have a fully automated factory,” she says, when asked about the future.

In celebrating its 60^th year in existence, dfcu Bank stands firm on its commitment to empowering women entrepreneurs in pursuit of their business goals. From uniquely structured financial products, to hosting free to attend financial literacy sessions and being a part of partnerships such as the Rising Woman Initiative, the Bank is leading the way in the transformation of the lives and businesses of Ugandan women entrepreneurs.

About Rising Woman

The Rising Woman campaign which has been implemented since 2018 is a platform for Ugandan businesswomen, whose focus is to increase access to information, business training, coaching, market access and financing solutions, to help them launch and build sustainable enterprises.

Rising Woman which is based on the submission and successful defense of business proposals, provides an avenue for growth of women-owned businesses at each stage.

In 2007, dfcu Bank launched the dfcu Women in Business Program proposition to empower women-owned businesses. 5 years later, in 2012, dfcu established a Women Business Advisory Council and in 2015, set up a Women in Business Advisory Center located at the Bank’s headquarters in Nakasero. Here, the Bank exclusively serves female entrepreneurs.

Since its inception in 2007, approximately 85,000 women have signed onto the dfcu Women in Business program.