Business to start with 500k in Uganda: six ideas, fully costed

The short answer

With UGX 500,000 in Uganda the best-paying business on our costed figures is a hand car wash at an estate or trading centre: UGX 484,000 to set up, about UGX 658,000 profit a month at six cars a day, and the set-up money back in about three weeks. Next come a rolex and chapati stand (UGX 464,500 to set up, about UGX 640,500 a month) and fresh passion fruit juice (UGX 470,000 to set up, about UGX 412,000 a month).

The honest range across all six ideas we costed is UGX 80,000 to 1,200,000 a month, and the middle cases run from UGX 147,000 to 658,000. That profit is your pay for working about 26 days a month, not money on top of a salary. Prices were checked in September 2026, and every figure is an estimate for planning, not financial advice. For other budgets, start at our business ideas in Uganda hub.

Business ideas with 500,000 in Uganda at a glance

All six ideas fit inside UGX 500,000 and leave UGX 15,000 to 60,000 unspent. Three of them (the rolex stand, the car wash and mivumba) already include UGX 50,000 of working cash in the start-up. They are listed in the order we costed them, not by rank.

How to read these numbers

• Net profit is your pay. It is what is left after stock, helpers' commission, pitch fees, transport and phone data. There is no salary for you inside the costs.
• The sales pace is an assumption. Most ideas assume 26 selling days a month. The car wash example further down shows what a slower month does.
• Prices are dated. Start-up items and unit costs come from Kampala marketplace listings, KCCA's trading licence table and published articles checked in September 2026. Where no price was published, the figure is our estimate.
• Not included: URSB business name registration (about UGX 90,000) and rent for a full shop, which starts at about UGX 250,000 a month in the Kampala suburbs. These ideas run from a pitch, stall, compound or spare room instead.

The most profitable business with 500k depends on what you measure

Highest monthly profit: the car wash (658,000), then the rolex stand (640,500). Highest net margin: mushrooms (45.9%), then the car wash (42.2%). Fastest payback: the car wash and the rolex stand, both about 0.7 months. Lowest start-up: mivumba at 440,000. The car wash is the only idea near the top of all three money measures, which is why we use it for the worked example below.

Business to start with 500,000 shillings in Uganda: ideas 1 to 3

1. Rolex and chapati stand: about UGX 640,500 a month

The rolex, an egg omelette rolled in a chapati, is Uganda's best-known street food. It sells near boda stages, campuses and estates from early morning to late night, the equipment is cheap and customers buy every day.

Start-up, UGX 464,500: flat frying pan 60,000; large charcoal stove 35,000; rolling board, rolling pin, knives, basins and spoons 40,000; wooden stand with umbrella or canvas shade 120,000; 12 kg of wheat flour 48,000; 3 litres of cooking oil 22,500; 2 trays of eggs 24,000; tomatoes, onions and cabbage 15,000; a quarter sack of charcoal 20,000; KCCA kiosk trading licence 30,000; working cash 50,000.

One sale: a 2-egg rolex at UGX 2,500. It costs UGX 1,700 to make (eggs 800, flour 400, oil 225, vegetables 150, charcoal 100, salt and waste 25), a 32% gross margin.

A month: 35 rolexes a day for 26 days is 910 rolexes and UGX 2,275,000 in sales. Ingredients cost 1,547,000. The pitch or veranda fee (50,000), phone data for WhatsApp orders (20,000), water and soap (15,000) and the licence spread over 12 months (2,500) add 87,500. Net profit: UGX 640,500, a 28.2% net margin. Payback: about 0.7 months. Realistic range: 400,000 to 1,200,000. Plain chapatis and tea are extra upside, not counted.

Watch the margin: at 910 rolexes a month, every UGX 100 added to the cost of a rolex through dearer eggs or oil takes UGX 91,000 off your profit.

• Licences: KCCA trading licence (kiosk or eating house row), plus a food handler medical certificate and health inspection (fee needs confirming).
• Risks: KCCA enforcement against roadside vending, egg and oil price rises, rain days and hygiene complaints if water and handwashing are poor.
• Where it works: boda stages, taxi stages and campus gates, such as Wandegeya and Kikoni near Makerere, Kyambogo, Kireka, Kyaliwajala, Kansanga, Ntinda, Mukono, Entebbe, Jinja, Mbarara and Gulu.

2. Liquid soap making and refills: about UGX 290,000 a month

Hostels, schools, washing bays, salons and households buy liquid soap every week, and the raw materials are sold in Kampala chemical shops. A one-day course is enough to learn a basic recipe.

Start-up, UGX 471,000: one-day soap making training 50,000; two mixing buckets or drums 40,000; stirring sticks, gloves, goggles and apron 40,000; measuring jugs and a small scale 15,000; ten empty 20-litre jerrycans 80,000 (8,000 each); 100 one-litre bottles with labels 50,000; chemicals for four 40-litre batches 196,000 (49,000 a batch, with sulphonic acid at 11,000 a kg).

One sale: a litre of liquid soap at UGX 2,500. It costs UGX 1,525, a 39% gross margin.

A month: 400 litres (about 15 a day) to hostels, shops, salons and households brings UGX 1,000,000. Chemicals and bottles cost 610,000, boda deliveries 80,000 and phone data 20,000. Net profit: UGX 290,000, a 29% net margin. Payback: about 1.6 months. Realistic range: 150,000 to 600,000.

The opening chemicals make 160 litres, so 400 litres a month means ten batches, two to three a week. New Vision reported a soap maker making about 200,000 from 500,000 invested, close to these figures.

• Licences: a local trading licence (KCCA kiosk or retailer row). UNBS product certification may be needed before supermarkets or institutions will stock you; whether it is compulsory for small producers, and what it costs, needs confirming with UNBS.
• Risks: burns and eye injuries from sulphonic acid and caustic chemicals, batches that separate or do not foam, cheap branded soaps that cap your price, and seizure of unlabelled or uncertified soap in UNBS operations.
• Where it works: hostels around Makerere, Kyambogo and Nkumba; schools, salons and washing bays in Kawempe, Nansana, Mukono and Wakiso; any upcountry town.

3. Oyster mushroom growing: about UGX 147,000 a month

Oyster mushrooms grow in a spare room or a grass-thatched shed on cotton husks, need no land, and sell to Kampala markets, hotels and supermarkets. The first harvest comes about a month after planting.

Start-up, UGX 485,000: 40 packets of spawn for about 80 bags 200,000; two 50 kg sacks of cotton husks 120,000; a used drum for pasteurising plus polythene bags, lime and firewood 60,000; grow room fit-out (poles, polythene, shelving, dark cloth) 80,000; hand sprayer for humidity 25,000.

One sale: a kg of fresh oyster mushrooms at UGX 10,000. It costs about UGX 4,000 (spawn 2,500, husks 1,500 and consumables 750 per bag, spread over 1.2 kg), a 60% gross margin.

A month: 80 bags yielding 1.2 kg each over a 3-month cropping cycle give 96 kg, about 32 kg a month and UGX 320,000 in sales. Growing costs are 128,000, transport to market 30,000 and phone data 15,000. Net profit: UGX 147,000, a 45.9% net margin. Payback: about 3.3 months, and there is no income in the first month. Realistic range: 80,000 to 400,000.

Check the price first: sources disagree. The Daily Monitor used a minimum of 5,000 a kg in 2022, while a 2026 blog quotes 15,000 to 25,000 in Kampala that we could not check against a market. We use 10,000 to stay conservative, so ask your buyers before you plant.

Scale is what lifts profit: in 2022 the Monitor reported about 850,000 a month in profit from a 500-spawn grow house.

• Licences: usually none for home growing, because farmers selling their own produce are exempt from the trading licence; you need a local trading licence if you open a selling point.
• Risks: poor quality spawn (the top problem growers report), mould when pasteurising is poor, mushrooms spoiling within 2 to 3 days without a buyer, and low prices per kg in some markets.
• Where it works: Wakiso, Mukono and Mpigi, selling to Nakasero and Kalerwe markets, hotels, restaurants and supermarkets; also Mbarara, Masaka and Jinja.

More business ideas in Uganda with small capital: ideas 4 to 6

4. Hand car wash at an estate or trading centre: about UGX 658,000 a month

Car numbers in Kampala suburbs keep growing, and many owners pay for a wash near home or work rather than drive to a big bay. A hand wash needs only water, buckets and detergent.

Start-up, UGX 484,000: buckets and basins 50,000; 30 m hose pipe 60,000; towels, sponges and brushes 60,000; opening detergents, tyre polish and wax 80,000; two used 200-litre water drums 80,000; shade and two plastic chairs for customers 50,000; KCCA car washing bay licence at the lowest grade 24,000; signboard 30,000; working cash 50,000.

One sale: an exterior and interior hand wash of a saloon car at UGX 10,000. It costs UGX 5,000 (a helper's commission of 3,000, water 1,000, detergent 800, towel wear 200), a 50% gross margin.

The Daily Monitor reports Ugandan car washes charge 15,000 to 50,000 for smaller cars; we use 10,000 because an estate hand wash usually charges less, and the 3,000 commission is a common arrangement we assume rather than a verified rate.

A month: 6 cars a day for 26 days is 156 washes and UGX 1,560,000. Direct costs are 780,000, the site fee to the landowner 100,000, phone data 20,000 and the licence spread over 12 months 2,000. Net profit: UGX 658,000, a 42.2% net margin. Payback: about 0.7 months. Realistic range: 300,000 to 1,200,000.

• Licences: a KCCA car washing bay licence (UGX 24,000 to 165,000 a year by grade) and a water source (an NWSC connection or bought water). Keep wastewater out of drains and wetlands: KCCA and NEMA close polluting car washes, and the detailed rules need confirming with them.
• Risks: no reliable water means no business, eviction from road reserves, rainy seasons cutting demand, and scratching a customer's car.
• Where it works: residential estates and trading centres with parking, such as Kira, Najjera, Kyanja, Bweyogerere, Kansanga and Entebbe Road stages, and upcountry towns such as Mbarara and Jinja.

5. Second-hand clothes (mivumba) by the piece: about UGX 231,000 a month

Almost every Ugandan buys mivumba, and Owino (St Balikuddembe) is the hub where bale openers sell sorted first-grade pieces. With 500k you cannot buy a full bale, but you can buy good pieces and resell them in a suburb or on WhatsApp and TikTok.

Start-up, UGX 440,000: 100 first-grade pieces from Owino bale openers at about 3,000 each, 300,000; display rack, hangers and tarpaulin 60,000; transport from Owino 20,000; carrier bags 10,000; working cash 50,000.

One sale: a garment at UGX 6,000. It costs UGX 3,300 (about 3,000 to buy, plus a 10% allowance for stained or torn pieces you cannot sell), a 45% gross margin.

A month: 5 pieces a day for 26 days is 130 pieces and UGX 780,000. Stock costs 429,000, the market pitch or stall fee 60,000, restocking transport 40,000 and phone data for WhatsApp and TikTok posts 20,000. Net profit: UGX 231,000, a 29.6% net margin. Payback: about 1.9 months. Realistic range: 150,000 to 500,000.

At 5 a day, 100 pieces last about 20 selling days, so plan your next Owino trip early. No published margin was found for this idea, so treat the prices as estimates.

• Licences: KCCA market rent if you sell from a market stall (the amount is not published, so ask the market office); market traders who pay dues and rent are exempt from the trading licence. You need a local trading licence if you sell from a fixed kiosk.
• Risks: unsellable pieces, reports of a new tax on imported used clothes that pushes up the prices you pay (the rate is not confirmed), and tight competition in big markets.
• Where it works: weekend and evening markets in the suburbs, campus areas such as Kikoni and Kyambogo, estates in Kira and Nansana, and WhatsApp status, TikTok and Facebook.

6. Fresh passion fruit juice: about UGX 412,000 a month

Uganda grows passion fruit all year and it is cheap in bulk, while offices, schools, building sites and boda stages buy cold juice daily, especially in hot towns.

Start-up, UGX 470,000: heavy-duty blender 150,000; cooler box for ice 80,000; sieves, jugs, basins and knives 40,000; 200 reusable 500 ml bottles with labels 60,000; 20 kg of passion fruit 90,000 (4,500 a kg); 5 kg of sugar 20,000; local trading licence 30,000.

One sale: a 500 ml bottle at UGX 1,500. It costs UGX 950 (fruit 560, since 1 kg makes about 8 bottles, sugar 240, ice and water 80, bottle wear 70), a 36.7% gross margin.

A month: 40 bottles a day for 26 days is 1,040 bottles and UGX 1,560,000. Ingredients cost 988,000, boda or bicycle deliveries 100,000, fuel to boil water 40,000 and phone data 20,000. Net profit: UGX 412,000, a 26.4% net margin. Payback: about 1.1 months. Realistic range: 200,000 to 800,000.

No published juice margin was found, so treat the figures as estimates.

• Licences: a local trading licence and a food handler medical certificate (fee needs confirming); UNBS certification may be needed before supermarkets will stock you (requirement and cost need confirming).
• Risks: juice spoils within a day without a fridge, illness and complaints from unboiled water, fruit prices rise off-season, and cheap factory drinks compete.
• Where it works: offices in Nakawa and Industrial Area, schools, building sites, taxi parks, and hot northern towns such as Gulu, Lira and Arua.

How much profit can I make? A first-month car wash profit and loss

The hand car wash has the strongest numbers of the six: the highest monthly profit, a 42.2% net margin and payback inside a month. Here is its first month at 6 cars a day, line by line.

1. Set-up, paid once: UGX 484,000, leaving UGX 16,000 of your 500,000 unspent. The 50,000 working cash in that list stays in the business as float.
2. Sales: 156 washes at UGX 10,000 = UGX 1,560,000.
3. Direct costs: helper's commission 468,000 (3,000 a car), water 156,000, detergent 124,800 and towel wear 31,200 = UGX 780,000.
4. Gross profit: UGX 780,000, a 50% gross margin.
5. Fixed costs: site fee to the landowner 100,000, phone data 20,000 and the licence spread over 12 months 2,000 = UGX 122,000.
6. Net profit: UGX 658,000, a 42.2% net margin. This is your pay.
7. Payback: 484,000 divided by 658,000 is about 0.7 months, so the set-up is covered in roughly three weeks.

What if it is slower?

Every wash leaves UGX 5,000 after direct costs, and fixed costs are UGX 122,000 a month, so the car wash covers its fixed costs at 25 washes a month, about one a day. Same unit numbers, different pace:

• 2 cars a day (52 washes): sales 520,000, net profit about UGX 138,000, payback about 3.5 months.
• 4 cars a day (104 washes): sales 1,040,000, net profit about UGX 398,000, payback about 1.2 months.
• 6 cars a day (156 washes): sales 1,560,000, net profit UGX 658,000, the base case.
• 8 cars a day (208 washes): sales 2,080,000, net profit about UGX 918,000.

Plan on the slower lines for rainy seasons. The rolex stand is a close second at UGX 640,500, and it covers its fixed costs at about 110 rolexes a month, but its thinner 32% gross margin absorbs price rises less well than the car wash's 50%. Put your own pace and prices into the business profit calculator before you pay a landowner or buy stock.

Which 500k business fits you: students, ladies, employees and farmers

The best idea is the one that fits your hours, your location and the people you can sell to. Every idea here works for women and men alike; what differs is time and place.

Business in Uganda for students

Choose ideas that sell to people around you and fit around lectures. Mivumba by the piece sells in campus areas such as Kikoni and Kyambogo and on WhatsApp status and TikTok, and has the lowest start-up at UGX 440,000. Liquid soap refills sell to hostels around Makerere, Kyambogo and Nkumba. A rolex stand at a campus gate in Wandegeya or Kikoni earns more, but it is a full day's work six days a week.

KCCA only issues a trading licence to applicants aged 18 or older.

Business in Uganda for ladies

If you want work you can run around home and children, three ideas start from home: oyster mushrooms in a spare room or backyard shed, liquid soap made in batches (store the sulphonic acid well away from children, because it is corrosive), and mivumba sold through WhatsApp and TikTok. If you can be out every day, the rolex stand and the juice round earn more.

A side business if you are employed

The car wash is the one idea built around a helper: the unit cost already pays a helper UGX 3,000 a car, so you can keep your job and check the book each evening. That only works with someone you trust and a daily record of cars washed. Mushrooms also suit evenings and weekends, but expect no income in the first month.

Farmers

Mushrooms fit farm routines and farm buildings, and farmers selling their own produce are exempt from the trading licence. Juice adds value to passion fruit, which Uganda grows all year.

If you can raise UGX 1,000,000, the next band has more room for equipment and stock: see business to start with 1M in Uganda. Every other budget is on the business ideas hub.

Licences, tax and paperwork for a small business in Uganda

This is how the rules read in September 2026, in the order you will meet them. It explains the rules; for a ruling on your own case, ask KCCA (or your local council), URSB or URA.

1. Trading licence

Anyone selling goods or services in Kampala needs a KCCA trading licence, paid before you start and by 1 January each year; it expires on 31 December. Outside Kampala, the city, municipal or town council or the district issues it.

The fee depends on the type of business and the grade of the area: a kiosk pays UGX 6,000 to 75,000 a year, an eating house 24,000 to 172,500 and a car washing bay 24,000 to 165,000. You bring an ID, your business name registration and your rent agreement, a revenue officer assesses the fee, and you pay at the bank.

The timing trap. The licence is for the calendar year and KCCA's page states no pro rata rule. A car wash licensed in October therefore pays a full year's fee for a licence that dies on 31 December, then pays again by 1 January: two full fees in about ten weeks. If you are opening in the last quarter, ask your division office whether it will date the licence from January before you pay anything. Read the full rules on our trading licence in Uganda page.

Exempt: market traders who already pay market dues and rent, farmers selling their own produce, and people making handicrafts at home. Trading without a licence can bring a fine or up to six months in prison.

2. Business name registration (URSB)

Reserving (UGX 35,000) and registering (UGX 55,000) a business name costs about UGX 90,000 in URSB fees, paid on the URSB e-registry by mobile money, Visa card or at a bank. URSB's service standard is to issue the certificate within 6 working hours of a complete application. This fee is not in the start-up lists above, and KCCA asks new businesses for the registration, so budget for it. Owners commonly report paying agents and registration services anywhere from UGX 600,000 to several million shillings for the same filing. On a UGX 500,000 budget that is the whole business, so do it yourself on the e-registry.

3. TIN and presumptive tax (URA)

A TIN is free, and with a National ID number you can get one instantly online in about five minutes. Presumptive tax is nil while yearly sales stay at or below UGX 10 million. From 10 to 30 million it is 0.4% of sales above 10 million if you keep records, or a flat UGX 80,000 if you do not. It is the final tax on the business income, with no deductions for expenses. At the sales pace used above:

• Rolex stand: about UGX 27.3 million a year, so UGX 69,200 with records or 80,000 without.
• Car wash and passion juice: about UGX 18.7 million each, so about UGX 34,900 with records or 80,000 without.
• Liquid soap: UGX 12 million, so UGX 8,000 with records or 80,000 without.
• Mivumba (about 9.4 million) and mushrooms (about 3.8 million): nil.

4. Local service tax

In Kampala, business owners pay local service tax on monthly turnover, assessed with the trading licence: UGX 5,000 a year at 500,000 to 1 million a month, 10,000 at 1 to 2 million and 20,000 at 2 to 3 million. Petty food vendors are listed as exempt.

5. EFRIS e-receipts

Since 1 July 2025, businesses in 12 URA-listed sectors, including manufacturing and accommodation and food service, must issue e-receipts through EFRIS unless their yearly sales are below UGX 10 million.

At the pace used above, three ideas pass UGX 10 million a year and look likely to sit in a listed sector: the rolex stand (food), the juice business (drinks) and soap making (manufacturing). Check your own case with our EFRIS checker and confirm with URA. Mivumba and mushrooms stay below the threshold at these sales levels, and VAT registration is far above anything on this page.

6. Sector permits and helpers

• Food and juice: KCCA expects food handlers to be medically examined and premises inspected; the certificate fee and issuing office need confirming with KCCA's health department.
• Soap and juice in shops: check with UNBS before supplying supermarkets or institutions.
• Car wash: a reliable water source, and wastewater kept out of drains and wetlands.
• Helpers: since the 2022 amendment every employer must register with NSSF and pay 15% of gross pay (10% from the employer, 5% from the worker); ask NSSF how this applies to a helper paid by commission.

Set this up first

Whichever of the six you pick, do it in this order. At this budget nearly everything on the list is free or costs a few tens of thousands, and the paid tools further down do not pay for themselves yet.

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, against the UGX 600,000 and up that owners report paying agents for the same filing. A TIN from URA is free and takes about five minutes online with a National ID number. Then the trading licence for your trade and area grade: kiosk UGX 6,000 to 75,000 a year, eating house 24,000 to 172,500, car washing bay 24,000 to 165,000.
2. Then the habits, which cost nothing. Keep the business money on its own mobile money line or in its own cash box. Write down stock in, sales and expenses every day; with records the soap business pays UGX 8,000 of presumptive tax a year instead of the flat 80,000. Put your prices and your number on WhatsApp Business. Claim a free Google Business Profile so the car wash shows up when a driver nearby searches for one on their phone.
3. Not yet, at UGX 500,000. A one-person stall, pitch or grow room does not need a website, a till system or a tax agent, and we will not sell you one at this stage. The order they become worth paying for is: Growth Informer Business for sales, stock and the daily cash-up once there is stock worth counting or a helper at the till, with URA EFRIS e-receipts as a setting you switch on when URA requires it; then a website once customers look the business up before they come, with a monthly care plan if you want it off your hands; then a custom build only when no ready-made tool fits the way you work; and the URA-registered tax agent service when a penalty, assessment or deadline is already live.

Before you pay a landowner or buy stock, put your own prices and your own daily sales into the business profit calculator and see whether the pace this page assumes is one you can actually hit.

How to protect the profit from day one

• Keep business money separate. Use a separate mobile money line or cash box and pay yourself a fixed amount. When household spending comes out of the till, the restock money disappears.
• No credit to friends and family. Sell for cash or mobile money for the first year, or set a written credit limit. Credit that is never repaid eats the stock money of kiosks, food stands and salons.
• Write it down every day. Record stock in, sales and expenses in a book or a phone app. It separates profit from capital, shows theft by a helper, gives a lender your turnover and cuts presumptive tax: with records, the soap business pays UGX 8,000 a year instead of 80,000.
• Stock and float are not profit. Only the margin is income. The 50,000 working cash and the unsold mivumba pieces must stay in the business.
• Build in a price buffer. Charcoal, egg, oil and fruit prices swing, so check your unit cost every month and adjust your price before the margin disappears.
• Secure a legal pitch. KCCA's February 2026 crackdown pushed roadside vendors into markets, so put a rolex stand, juice point or car wash on a private compound or an approved pitch.

The one number to watch every month is your unit cost. At 910 rolexes a month, UGX 100 more on the cost of a rolex is UGX 91,000 off your pay; at 156 washes, UGX 500 more on water and detergent is UGX 78,000. Recheck the cost of one sale on the first of every month and move your price before the margin goes.

All figures on this page are estimates built from prices checked in September 2026 and the sales assumptions stated for each idea. They are for planning, not financial, tax or legal advice. Check prices in your own market before you spend.

Frequently asked questions

What is the most profitable business to start with 500k in Uganda?

On our September 2026 figures, a hand car wash at an estate or trading centre makes about UGX 658,000 a month at 6 cars a day (a 42.2% net margin), and a rolex and chapati stand makes about UGX 640,500 at 35 rolexes a day. Both pay back their start-up in about three weeks. Location decides the real answer: a car wash without reliable water, or a rolex stand cleared off a road reserve by KCCA, earns nothing.

How much profit can I make from a business with UGX 500,000?

Across six costed ideas, the middle cases run from about UGX 147,000 a month (oyster mushrooms) to 658,000 (a hand car wash), and the realistic range is UGX 80,000 to 1,200,000. That profit is your pay for working about 26 days a month, not money on top of a salary.

Is UGX 500,000 enough to start a business in Uganda?

Yes for the six ideas on this page, which cost UGX 440,000 to 485,000 including opening stock. It is not enough to rent a full shop (from about UGX 250,000 a month in the Kampala suburbs) and stock it, and URSB business name registration (about UGX 90,000) is extra. Start from a pitch, stall, compound or spare room.

What business can a student start with 500,000 shillings in Uganda?

Mivumba resold by the piece on WhatsApp, TikTok and in campus areas (UGX 440,000 to start, about 231,000 a month), liquid soap sold to hostels (471,000 to start, about 290,000 a month), or a rolex stand at a campus gate if you can work full days (about 640,500 a month).

What business can a lady start at home with 500k in Uganda?

Oyster mushrooms in a spare room (about UGX 147,000 a month, first harvest after about a month), liquid soap made in batches (about 290,000 a month; store the acid away from children) and mivumba sold on WhatsApp (about 231,000 a month) can all start from home. Every idea on this page works for women and men alike.

Do I need a trading licence and pay tax on a small business in Uganda?

In Kampala, yes: a KCCA trading licence for a kiosk costs UGX 6,000 to 75,000 a year depending on the area grade, while market traders paying market rent and farmers selling their own produce are exempt. A TIN is free. Presumptive tax is nil up to UGX 10 million a year in sales; from 10 to 30 million it is 0.4% of sales above 10 million with records, or UGX 80,000 without. Confirm your own case with KCCA and URA.