How to start a hardware store in Uganda

How to start a hardware store in Uganda. Starting hardware in Uganda may seem daunting and hard but I want to make this guide as easy and understandable as possible.

If you have a passion for starting your own hardware store in Uganda, this guide is yours. Now let’s dive in right away.

A typical hardware store in Uganda is a brick and motor business where a salesperson directly sells hardware products to clients who need them.

Products sold in hardware stores include the following; Niles, Iron sheets, cement, paints and many more.

How to start a hardware store in Uganda

Starting a hardware business just like any other business follows steps and they are these steps that we are going to look at today.

1) Make a Business Plan

The first step how to start a hardware store in Uganda is making a business plan.

Your business plan should show details on how you will start and build a successful hardware store.

Important things to cover include:

• Knowing your customer: What does your typical customer look like? Are they DIY landlords and contractors, or homeowners doing pet projects? Depending on who you’ll be catering to, the way your store is designed and the weight of your stock will change.
• What your finances look like: How much do you need to start up? Once you do get going, what is your break-even point? What do you expect your cash flow to be like on a monthly basis?
• Location: This one is a no-brainer. You’ll want somewhere with a lot of foot traffic that doesn’t cannibalize the business of other stores — or put you in a position to be cannibalized in return.

For more on How To Write A Business Plan, See; How To Write a Perfect Business Plan

2) Raise capital

After coming up with a business plan, you need to raise capital to start your hardware store. The capital required to start hardware varies.

The capital required to start small hardware is 5 Million UGX to 50 Million UGX.

The capital required to start big hardware is 100 Million UGX to any other bigger amount.

There are many sources you can use to raise this capital;

• Savings
• Bank Loans
• Venture capitalists
• Investors

The most commonly used method in raising capital to start a hardware store in Uganda is using bank loans together with personal savings.

We have a whole article on How To Raise Capital. You can find it here.

3) Find a Suitable Location

Brick and motor businesses thrive most in busy places because there, they get a lot of exposure.

As you are starting your hardware store in Uganda, you need to keep an eye on the location of your hardware store.

Finding a busy location should be the ideal plan. You need to consider the following when choosing a place to place your hardware.

Safety: You need to get a secure place. You don’t want to add your money to your hardware store only for it to be broken into and all your money to be stolen.

Exposure: The more people see your hardware store, the more sales you are likely to make. You need to place your hardware store in a place where it will be effortlessly exposed.

Parking Space: With a hardware store, you are likely to have trucks loading and offloading stock. Your hardware location needs to have space for trucks to park and load or offload.

Accessibility: Your hardware store needs to be easily accessible if you are to make real sales. Don’t place your hardware store on top of a hill or in a valley for easy accessibility. Customers don’t want to face a hard time coming to your hardware store.

4) Register your hardware business and get the required licences and permits and insurance

In order to operate without any interference from the government, you need to get the licences and permits required to run a hardware store.

If you want to know more about the permits and licences required to start a hardware store, visit your town council or city council offices near you.

I also recommend you insure your hardware store. Hardware stores have lots of money in them. By insuring them you take away the risk of losing your money in case anything catastrophic happens to your business.

You can get a lawyer to help you register your business, and also find a suitable insurance company for your hardware.

For More Details on how you can register your business in Uganda see this article

5) Get suppliers

As a hardware store owner, you need suppliers who will provide you with stock to sell. You need to establish a good relationship between you and the suppliers.

With a good relationship between you and your suppliers, you can start getting stock at credit and pay later.

6) Hire workers

Most hardware stores require more than one worker. You will need to hire employees to help you run your hardware store business.

When hiring employees you need to consider the following;

• Their qualifications
• The need for employees available
• The size of your hardware store

As you are hiring employees, don’t hire based on your feelings, hire based on the need for employees available and the capability of the employees.

If possible hire a human resource manager and let him/her do the employee hiring activity for you.

We have a full guide on how to hire workers.

7) Start your hardware store

Last but not least is starting your hardware store.

After successfully completing all the fore mentioned steps, I can gladly say you are ready to open your hardware store to your customers.

But not to forget, you need to think about how to promote your new hardware to your customers.

You can use many ways to promote your hardware store.

For more info on how to promote your new hardware store, see this guide here.

Your Turn…

Here we come to the conclusion of how to start a hardware store in Uganda.

Hardware stores are some of the businesses that require large sums of money but once started, you are assured to reap back your money.

So if you have a dream of starting a hardware store in Uganda, that is what is required to start one. Do you have what it takes?

Share with us your thoughts in the comments section below.