Business to start with 2M in Uganda: six ideas, real numbers

The short answer

With UGX 2,000,000 in Uganda the strongest business on prices checked in September 2026 is a women's hair salon: UGX 1,795,500 to open, about UGX 765,600 profit a month at four clients a day, and the money back in about 2.3 months, if you do the hair yourself. Next come a mobile money agent point (about UGX 441,500 a month, and UGX 1,300,000 of the budget is float that stays yours) and a printing and photocopy bureau (about UGX 419,250 a month). Plastic chair hire, a grocery duka and fattening four pigs also fit the budget but earn less, UGX 113,000 to 278,000 a month in the same models.

The honest range: across the six models, monthly profit runs from about UGX 113,000 to UGX 766,000, and real results for the top three run from about UGX 150,000 to UGX 1,200,000 a month, depending on location and how many customers come. That profit is your own pay for working the business, not money on top of a salary. Every figure here is an estimate from prices checked in September 2026, not financial advice.

Business ideas with 2,000,000 in Uganda at a glance

All six ideas start for UGX 1.8 million to 2 million and are listed in the order of our research sheet. Net margin is net profit as a share of monthly sales. Monthly profit is what is left after stock, rent, power, data and the licence spread over 12 months, before presumptive tax. It is your wage for running the business yourself.

Two figures need care. The mobile money start-up includes UGX 1,300,000 of float and cash: that money is not spent, it is working capital you get back if you close, and only the commission is income. The piggery profit is an average: the four pigs sell together at about month six, so the cash arrives as one lump of sales worth about UGX 2,520,000 per cycle.

How much of the 2 million could you get back?

Start-up cost is not the same as money lost if the idea fails. Split each list into three and the risk looks very different. Float, stock and pigs are close to cash. Equipment resells second-hand, usually at a loss. Rent, deposits, licences, signboards and transport do not come back at all.

The mobile money point looks expensive and is not: UGX 1,300,000 of it is float you still own, so you are really risking about UGX 680,000. The salon and the print bureau are the opposite, with more than half the budget in equipment and unrecoverable rent, deposits and licences before a single customer arrives. The pigs sit in their own category: cheap to leave, until African swine fever takes the lot.

Working with less? See the businesses to start with 1M. Have a little more? The 3M ideas add bigger stock and equipment. Every budget band is on our business ideas in Uganda page.

Ideas 1 to 3: mobile money, a duka and pig fattening

1. Mobile money agent

Most Ugandans send, receive and withdraw cash on mobile money, so a well-placed agent in a market or trading centre handles dozens of transactions a day and is paid commission by MTN or Airtel.

Start-up: UGX 1,980,000

• Float and cash on hand for an MTN line: UGX 1,300,000
• Veranda space, first month plus one month deposit: UGX 200,000
• URSB business name registration: UGX 50,000
• KCCA trading licence (mobile money row): UGX 40,000
• Smartphone for the agent line: UGX 250,000
• Table, chair, umbrella and record books: UGX 80,000
• Lockable cash box: UGX 60,000

One sale: one cash-in or cash-out transaction. We estimate an average commission of UGX 800. From 1 July 2026, 10% of agent commission is withheld as a final tax, so UGX 80 goes to URA and you keep UGX 720: a 90% gross margin.

A month: 30 transactions a day for 28 days is 840 transactions and UGX 672,000 in commission. Take off UGX 67,200 of withheld tax, then UGX 163,300 of running costs (space rent 100,000, transport to rebalance float 40,000, airtime and data 20,000, licence spread over 12 months 3,300). Net profit: UGX 441,500 a month, a 65.7% net margin, paid back in about 4.5 months. Realistic range: UGX 200,000 to 800,000 a month.

Good to know: commission rises with the amount moved, so your average depends on your customers; the UGX 800 is our estimate and needs checking against the current MTN and Airtel tables. The UGX 1,300,000 float is not spent, so the money you actually spend (UGX 680,000) comes back in about a month and a half. MTN's own page asks for at least UGX 200,000 of float, agent guides say UGX 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 is a realistic working budget, and MTN Xtra Float lends agents up to UGX 1,000,000 for a UGX 500 fee on a busy day. The UGX 50,000 for URSB was an estimate: URSB's published fees are UGX 35,000 to reserve a name plus UGX 55,000 to register it, so keep another UGX 40,000 aside.

Licences: MTN asks for a valid ID, an original trading licence and a certificate of incorporation or business registration. Agent guides add that the business should be at least a month old and have permanent or semi-permanent premises. Get a TIN too.

Risks: fraud and fake-reversal scams, robbery of cash on hand, running out of float or cash so customers walk away, and too many agents on the same street.

Where it works: markets, taxi stages, trading centres, busy estates and rural trading centres. Urban spots earn more.

2. Grocery kiosk (duka) in a residential area

Most households buy sugar, soap, rice, oil, airtime and bread in small amounts every day from the nearest kiosk, so a well-stocked duka in an estate without a supermarket gets steady traffic.

Start-up: UGX 1,941,500

• Opening stock (sugar, rice, soap, oil, salt, bread, soda, airtime) from Kikuubo or a local wholesaler: UGX 1,300,000
• Shelves and counter: UGX 250,000
• Kiosk or small room, first month plus one month deposit: UGX 300,000
• KCCA trading licence (retailer, lowest grade): UGX 31,500
• Weighing scale: UGX 60,000

One sale: we count sales in units of UGX 10,000 of groceries, which cost you about UGX 8,700 at wholesale. That is a 13% gross margin, our estimate of typical markups on staples.

A month: UGX 120,000 of sales a day for 30 days is UGX 3,600,000. Stock costs UGX 3,132,000, leaving UGX 468,000. Running costs are UGX 232,600 (rent 150,000, electricity 30,000, spoilage and breakage 30,000, phone data 20,000, licence spread 2,600). Net profit: UGX 235,400 a month, a 6.5% net margin, paid back in about 8.2 months. Realistic range: UGX 100,000 to 600,000.

Good to know: with margins this thin, a duka lives on volume and long opening hours. One missing UGX 10,000 note wipes out the margin on about UGX 77,000 of sales.

Licences: a KCCA trading licence, a TIN, and presumptive tax, because yearly sales of about UGX 43.2 million pass the UGX 10 million line. The budget uses KCCA's retailer row; KCCA also has a grocery row at UGX 123,000 to 525,000 a year, so ask the revenue officer which one applies to you.

Risks: very thin margins, credit to neighbours, theft by helpers when there are no stock records, and a supermarket opening nearby.

Where it works: estates without a supermarket within walking distance, such as Kyaliwajala, Kira, Najjera, Nansana, Kasangati and Seeta, and the suburbs of upcountry towns.

3. Piggery: fattening 4 weaners

Pork joints are everywhere in Kampala and the towns, pork prices rise sharply in shortages, and pigs can be fed partly on market and restaurant leftovers (swill).

Start-up: UGX 1,960,000

• 4 weaner piglets at UGX 135,000: UGX 540,000
• Pen for 4 pigs (timber, iron sheets, cement floor): UGX 450,000
• Feeders and water troughs: UGX 50,000
• Deworming, spraying and first drugs: UGX 40,000
• Feed reserve (maize bran and concentrate): UGX 850,000
• Transport of weaners: UGX 30,000

One sale: one finished pig of about 90 kg live weight at UGX 7,000 a kg, so UGX 630,000. Each pig costs about UGX 400,000 (weaner 135,000, feed 250,000 with swill, vet 15,000): a 36.5% gross margin.

A month: four pigs sell at the end of a six-month cycle for about UGX 2,520,000, which averages UGX 420,000 a month. The pigs' cost averages UGX 266,667 a month and running costs UGX 40,000 (swill transport 30,000, water 10,000). Net profit: about UGX 113,333 a month, or UGX 680,000 a cycle, a 27% net margin. Realistic range: UGX 50,000 to 250,000 a month.

Good to know: the formula payback of 17.3 months counts the feed reserve twice; in cash terms the first sale at about month six returns roughly what you put in, if no pig dies. The whole margin depends on cheap swill: on commercial feed at UGX 2,500 to 3,000 a kg, fattening stops paying. UGX 7,000 a kg live is our estimate; an online price aggregator showed roughly UGX 4,800 to 9,600 a kg in 2026, converted from US dollars. This idea has the lowest confidence of the six.

Licences: farmers selling their own produce are exempt from the trading licence. Keep pigs outside Kampala city limits unless KCCA's urban farming rules allow them, and confirm the animal movement permit with your district veterinary office before you transport pigs. Agreeing with neighbours early helps avoid nuisance complaints.

Risks: African swine fever can wipe out the whole herd; feed costs; pig prices that swing between shortage and glut; smell and neighbour complaints.

Where it works: peri-urban Wakiso (Nansana, Kakiri, Matugga), Mukono, Luweero, Masaka and Mbarara, close to pork joints and a source of swill.

Ideas 4 to 6: a salon, chair hire and a print bureau

4. Women's hair salon

Ugandan women spend on hair regularly (braids, relaxers, weaves, treatments), and a neighbourhood salon with fair prices builds a loyal weekly clientele.

Start-up: UGX 1,795,500, which leaves UGX 204,500 of your 2M as a cushion

• Standing hood dryer: UGX 338,000
• Two salon chairs at UGX 110,000: UGX 220,000
• Hand blow dryer: UGX 45,000
• Mirrors: UGX 80,000
• Hair-washing basin and water drum setup: UGX 100,000
• Opening stock of hair products: UGX 300,000
• Combs, brushes, flat iron, towels and capes: UGX 120,000
• Small room, first month plus one month deposit: UGX 400,000
• KCCA trading licence (boutique beauty salon, lowest grade): UGX 52,500
• Wiring, sockets and lights: UGX 60,000
• Signboard: UGX 30,000
• Two plastic chairs for waiting clients: UGX 50,000

One sale: one average service (wash and set, relaxer, plaiting or treatment) at UGX 15,000, our estimate inside a suburban range of UGX 10,000 to 30,000. Products cost about UGX 4,000 and dryer power UGX 1,000, so UGX 5,000 a client: a 66.7% gross margin.

A month: 4 clients a day for 26 days is 104 clients and UGX 1,560,000 in sales. Net profit: UGX 765,600 a month (49.1%), paid back in about 2.3 months. Realistic range: UGX 300,000 to 1,200,000. The full month is worked out in the next section.

Licences: a KCCA trading licence (salon row: UGX 52,500 to 210,000 a year by grade), a power connection, a TIN, and presumptive tax, because yearly sales of about UGX 18.7 million pass UGX 10 million.

Risks: power cuts stop the dryers, staff leave and take clients with them, complaints over relaxer burns, and stock that clients do not want.

Where it works: residential suburbs and hostel areas such as Kireka, Kyaliwajala, Nansana, Kawempe, Kansanga, Najjera and Mukono, and upcountry town centres.

5. Plastic chair hire for events

Introductions, weddings, burials, graduations and church events all need seating, and chairs can be hired out almost every weekend in peri-urban areas.

Start-up: UGX 1,940,000

• 70 plastic chairs at UGX 25,000: UGX 1,750,000
• Transport from the shop: UGX 50,000
• Paint marking and branding on the chairs: UGX 30,000
• Tarpaulin cover for storage: UGX 60,000
• Posters and WhatsApp or Facebook promotion: UGX 50,000

One sale: one chair hired for one event at UGX 1,000. Cleaning (UGX 50) and a breakage and replacement reserve (UGX 250) cost UGX 300 a hire: a 70% gross margin.

A month: 8 events averaging 55 chairs is 440 hires and UGX 440,000, with customers paying transport. The hires cost UGX 132,000 and phone data and adverts UGX 30,000. Net profit: UGX 278,000 a month (63.2%), paid back in about 7 months. Realistic range: UGX 100,000 to 450,000.

Good to know: the UGX 1,000 hire rate is our estimate, so ask what hirers charge in your area before you buy chairs. Adding tables and tents later raises income, but that was not modelled here.

Licences: usually none for a home-based hire business, and a local trading licence if you open a yard. Get a TIN. Yearly sales of about UGX 5.3 million stay under the presumptive tax line.

Risks: broken or missing chairs after events (the UGX 300 reserve covers this), weekend-only demand and quiet months, competition from tent-and-chair packages, and storage space at home.

Where it works: peri-urban Wakiso, Mukono and Mpigi, and upcountry towns where functions are frequent and halls are few.

6. Printing and photocopy bureau

Students, job seekers, churches and small businesses near schools, courts and government offices need copies, prints, typing and lamination every day.

Start-up: UGX 1,955,000

• Used Canon photocopier: UGX 650,000
• Used laptop: UGX 500,000
• Laminating machine: UGX 120,000
• Paper, 6 reams at about UGX 25,000: UGX 150,000
• Spare toner: UGX 80,000
• Small room, first month plus one month deposit: UGX 300,000
• KCCA trading licence (printing row, lowest grade): UGX 105,000
• Stationery for resale (pens, envelopes, files): UGX 50,000

One sale: one A4 page, a blend of copies at about UGX 100 and prints at about UGX 300, averaging UGX 150. Paper (50), toner (20) and power (10) cost UGX 80 a page: a 46.7% gross margin.

A month: 400 pages a day for 26 days is 10,400 pages and UGX 1,560,000. The pages cost UGX 832,000, and running costs are UGX 308,750 (rent 150,000, electricity 80,000, internet and phone 40,000, machine maintenance 30,000, licence spread 8,750). Net profit: UGX 419,250 a month (26.9%), paid back in about 4.7 months. Realistic range: UGX 150,000 to 700,000.

Good to know: page prices were not confirmed in our research, so walk the street and note what neighbours charge before you set yours. Every UGX 10 a page matters: at 10,400 pages it is UGX 104,000 a month.

Licences: a KCCA trading licence (the budget uses the printing and publishing row, UGX 105,000 to 412,500 a year; a small bureau may fall in a cheaper row, so confirm), a power connection, a TIN, and presumptive tax, because yearly sales of about UGX 18.7 million pass UGX 10 million.

Risks: breakdowns of old photocopiers, power cuts, quiet school holidays and price wars with neighbouring bureaus.

Where it works: near schools, universities, district offices, courts and hospitals: Wandegeya, Kikoni, Kyambogo, Nakawa, Mengo and district headquarters towns.

How much profit can I make? A worked month for the salon

On our numbers the salon is the strongest idea for this budget: the highest modelled profit, the fastest payback and the smallest start-up, which leaves a cushion. It assumes you do the hair yourself. Here is its month in full.

• Sales: 104 clients (4 a day for 26 days) at UGX 15,000 = UGX 1,560,000
• Products and dryer power: 104 at UGX 5,000 = UGX 520,000
• Gross profit: UGX 1,040,000 (66.7% of sales)
• Rent: UGX 200,000
• Water: UGX 30,000
• Electricity for lights and sockets: UGX 20,000
• Phone data: UGX 20,000
• Licence (UGX 52,500 spread over 12 months): UGX 4,400
• Net profit: UGX 1,040,000 minus UGX 274,400 of running costs = UGX 765,600 (49.1% of sales)

If the first month is slow. New salons rarely start full. At 2 clients a day (52 a month), sales are UGX 780,000, products UGX 260,000 and running costs the same UGX 274,400, so net profit is UGX 245,600. Break-even is 28 clients a month, just over one a day, because each client leaves UGX 10,000 towards the UGX 274,400 of running costs.

Cash check. Month one's rent is already inside the start-up budget (first month plus deposit), and the UGX 300,000 of opening stock covers the products for about 75 clients, so even a slow first month should leave cash in hand. Keep the UGX 204,500 cushion for restocking and repairs.

Tax and your wage. At UGX 18.72 million of sales a year, URA's presumptive table gives UGX 34,880 a year if you keep records (0.4% of the UGX 8.72 million above UGX 10 million), under UGX 3,000 a month, or a flat UGX 80,000 without records. Kampala's local service tax for UGX 1 to 2 million of monthly turnover is UGX 10,000 a year. The UGX 765,600 is your pay for a six-day week; if you hire a stylist, her pay and the employer's 10% NSSF contribution come out of it.

Put your own rent, prices and client numbers into the business profit calculator to test any of the six ideas before you spend.

Which idea suits you: ladies, students, employees and farmers

Business in Uganda for ladies

All six work for a woman owner. If you already do hair, the salon has the best numbers here. If you want to stay close to home, a mobile money point or a duka in your own estate fits the budget, but both need someone at the counter all day, and the duka earns much less (UGX 235,400 a month against UGX 441,500 for mobile money in our models).

Business in Uganda for students

Lectures and a counter business do not mix. Chair hire fits best: the work is at weekends, there are no premises to staff, and the model clears UGX 278,000 a month. A print bureau near campus (Wandegeya, Kikoni, Kyambogo) earns more but needs full-day opening and goes quiet in school holidays.

Employees and diaspora investors

Chair hire and pig fattening can run around a job, as long as someone feeds the pigs every day. A salon, duka, mobile money point or print bureau needs a trusted person at the counter, and without daily records you cannot tell their takings from your profit. Diaspora investors face the same problem from further away: start with the idea that is simplest to check, and ask for the day's sales and cash every evening.

Farmers and rural towns

Pig fattening suits a farmer with space and a steady source of swill. A mobile money point in a rural trading centre also fits, with lower volumes: agent guides put rural agents at UGX 200,000 to 500,000 a month gross, against UGX 500,000 to 1,000,000 in town.

Licences, tax and paperwork for a 2M business

These are the rules as published in September 2026. For a ruling on your own case, ask URSB, URA, or KCCA and your local council.

1. Register the business name with URSB. Reserving a name costs UGX 35,000 and registering it UGX 55,000, about UGX 90,000 in total, paid through the URSB e-registry by mobile money, Visa card or bank. URSB's service standard is to issue the certificate within 6 working hours of a complete application. Only the mobile money budget above includes this. KCCA asks for it with a new licence application, so add about UGX 90,000 to the duka, salon and print bureau budgets; that takes the duka and the bureau just over UGX 2,000,000, so trim opening stock or paper a little.
2. Get a TIN. URA issues the 10-digit TIN free. With a National ID number you can get one online in about five minutes.
3. Get a trading licence. Anyone selling goods or services in Kampala needs a KCCA trading licence; outside Kampala the city, municipal or town council or the district issues it. You bring your ID, business name registration and rent agreement, a revenue officer assesses the fee, and you pay it. The KCCA licence runs for the calendar year: it is due before you start and by 1 January, and it expires on 31 December. KCCA's page mentions no discount for starting late in the year, so ask before you pay in September. Farmers selling their own produce, market traders who pay market dues and rent, and people making handicrafts at home are exempt. Trading without a licence can bring a fine or up to six months in prison.
4. Know when presumptive tax starts. URA charges nothing on yearly sales up to UGX 10 million. Above UGX 10 million and up to 30 million it is 0.4% of sales above UGX 10 million if you keep records, or a flat UGX 80,000 without. Above UGX 30 million and up to 50 million it is UGX 80,000 plus 0.5% of sales above UGX 30 million, or a flat UGX 200,000 without records. It is a final tax, with no deductions for expenses.
5. Budget for local service tax. In Kampala, business owners pay it once a year with the trading licence, by monthly turnover: UGX 5,000 for UGX 500,000 to 1 million, UGX 10,000 for 1 to 2 million, UGX 20,000 for 2 to 3 million and UGX 30,000 for 3 to 4 million. Outside Kampala, check with the council.

What that means for each idea. Chair hire (about UGX 5.3 million of sales a year) and pig fattening (about UGX 5 million) stay under UGX 10 million. The mobile money agent's commission (about UGX 8.1 million a year) is taxed at source: the 10% withheld is the final income tax on that commission. The salon and the print bureau (about UGX 18.7 million each) owe UGX 34,880 a year with records or UGX 80,000 without. The duka (about UGX 43.2 million) owes UGX 146,000 with records or UGX 200,000 without, plus UGX 30,000 of local service tax in Kampala. Keeping records is cheaper.

VAT and EFRIS. None of the six comes near the VAT registration threshold, which rose from UGX 150 million to UGX 300 million of yearly taxable sales on 1 July 2026. EFRIS e-receipts apply to VAT-registered businesses and, since 1 July 2025, to businesses in 12 sectors URA lists, such as manufacturing, construction, and accommodation and food service, once yearly sales reach UGX 10 million. None of these six is an obvious fit for that list, but if you later open, say, a food business above that level, it applies. See do I need EFRIS? and ask URA if you are unsure which sector you are in.

If you hire help. Every employer must register with NSSF, whatever the number of workers, and pay 15% of gross pay: 10% from the employer and 5% deducted from the worker. Uganda has no working minimum wage, so pay is set by the market.

Set this up first

Whichever of the six you pick, set up in this order. The first two steps apply to all of them. UGX 2,000,000 is the first band where someone else may be touching your cash or your stock, so it is also the first band where a till system earns its keep.

1. The basics, at their real cost. A URSB business name is about UGX 90,000 in official fees (UGX 35,000 to reserve, UGX 55,000 to register) on the URSB e-registry, not the UGX 50,000 the mobile money budget above assumed, and not the UGX 600,000 and upwards that owners commonly report paying agents for the same filing. A TIN from URA is free: about five minutes online with a National ID number. Then the trading licence for your trade and area grade, paid before you open and renewed by 1 January: mobile money UGX 20,000 to 100,000 a year, retailer 31,500 to 210,000, salon row 52,500 to 210,000, printing and publishing 105,000 to 412,500.
2. Then the habits, which cost nothing. A separate mobile money line or cash box, and a fixed amount you pay yourself. A daily record of stock in, sales and expenses: on the duka's turnover that record is worth about UGX 54,000 a year in presumptive tax alone (UGX 146,000 with records against a flat 200,000 without), before it catches anything a helper takes. WhatsApp Business for prices, bookings and chair hire enquiries. A free Google Business Profile, which pays most for the salon, the bureau and the chair hire, because those are searched for by area rather than walked past.
3. Once a helper is at the till or the stock outgrows a notebook. A duka carrying UGX 1,300,000 of stock across a few hundred lines, a salon with a hired stylist, or a bureau selling 10,400 pages a month cannot be counted by hand at closing time. Growth Informer Business records sales, stock and the daily cash-up on a phone, with URA EFRIS e-receipts as a setting you switch on when URA requires it. None of these six is an obvious fit for URA's 12 listed EFRIS sectors at present, so leave that setting off until URA or your own sector check says otherwise.
4. Later, in this order. A website once customers look you up before they come, which for this budget means the chair hire business first, since people search for hire firms and do not walk past them; a monthly care plan is if you want it maintained for you. A custom build only when no ready-made tool fits the way you work. Then the URA-registered tax agent service when a penalty, assessment, audit letter or deadline is already live: we set the systems up, file, object and represent you, and quote after seeing the notice.

The chair hire business at UGX 278,000 a month should not be paying a monthly care plan in year one. Match the step to the takings, and test yours in the business profit calculator first.

How to protect the profit

The numbers above only hold if the money stays in the business. These habits protect it from day one.

• Separate business money. Keep a separate mobile money line or cash box for the business and pay yourself a fixed amount. Household spending from the till or the float is the quickest way to lose your capital.
• No credit to friends. Cash or mobile money only for the first year, or a written credit limit. In a duka at a 13% margin, one unpaid UGX 50,000 debt cancels the margin on about UGX 385,000 of sales.
• Daily records. Write down stock in, sales and expenses every day, in a book or a phone app. It is the only way to tell profit from capital, spot theft by a helper, and use URA's lower with-records presumptive rate.
• Do not count capital as profit. Float, stock, pigs and chairs are capital. Only the commission or margin is income, and the net profit in each model is your wage.
• Check prices every month. Stock, feed and transport costs move in Uganda. Check wholesale prices before you restock and adjust your own prices before the margin disappears.

Count the float and the stock on the same day every week. Four of these six hold most of your money as float, stock or pigs rather than as equipment, and that is the part that leaks quietly. Count the agent float and the till cash together at the same hour each week, count the duka shelves monthly against what you bought, and weigh the pigs. A shortfall you find in a week is a conversation; a shortfall you find in six months is your capital.

All figures on this page are estimates built from prices checked in September 2026 and our own assumptions about sales volumes. Several inputs, including rents, the chair hire rate, page prices, mobile money commission and pig prices, need checking where you plan to trade. This is not financial, tax or legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

What is the most profitable business to start with 2M in Uganda?

On prices checked in September 2026, a women's hair salon models best: start-up UGX 1,795,500, about UGX 765,600 a month in net profit at 4 clients a day, and payback in about 2.3 months. It assumes you do the hair yourself. A mobile money agent (about UGX 441,500 a month) and a printing and photocopy bureau (about UGX 419,250) come next. These are estimates, not guarantees.

What business can I start with 2,000,000 shillings in Uganda?

Six ideas fit the budget: a mobile money agent (UGX 1,980,000 to start), a grocery duka (UGX 1,941,500), fattening 4 pigs (UGX 1,960,000), a women's hair salon (UGX 1,795,500), plastic chair hire (UGX 1,940,000) and a printing and photocopy bureau (UGX 1,955,000). Modelled monthly profit runs from about UGX 113,000 for the pigs to UGX 765,600 for the salon.

How much profit can I make from a 2M business in Uganda?

In our models, about UGX 113,000 to UGX 766,000 a month, with realistic ranges from UGX 50,000 to UGX 1,200,000 depending on the idea, the location and customer numbers. That profit is your own wage for running the business. Payback runs from about 2.3 months for a salon to about 8 months for a duka, while pigs pay back at the first sale around month six if none die.

What is a good business in Uganda for ladies with 2M?

If you do hair, a women's hair salon models best at about UGX 765,600 a month on a UGX 1,795,500 start-up. If you want to stay close to home, a mobile money point (about UGX 441,500 a month) or a grocery duka (about UGX 235,400) in your own estate also fit the budget, but both need someone at the counter all day.

What business can a student start in Uganda?

With UGX 2,000,000, plastic chair hire fits a student best: 70 chairs cost about UGX 1,750,000, the work is at weekends, there are no premises to staff, and the model clears about UGX 278,000 a month at 8 events. A print bureau near campus earns more (about UGX 419,250 a month) but needs full-day opening.

Do I pay tax on a small business in Uganda?

Get a free TIN from URA. Presumptive tax is nil on yearly sales up to UGX 10 million. Above 10 and up to 30 million it is 0.4% of sales above 10 million with records or a flat UGX 80,000 without, and above 30 and up to 50 million it is UGX 80,000 plus 0.5% of sales above 30 million, or a flat UGX 200,000. In Kampala you also need a KCCA trading licence. Ask URA or KCCA for a ruling on your own case.