Empowering and Celebrating Young Artisans

Long before I had the idea of Big Box, I had a desire to create a platform or initiative that empowered the youth.

I have always had a keen interest in youth financial and skills empowerment and this interest popped out in subtle ways over the years. For the longest time, I was actively involved in my Church’s youth ministry, engaging youth at the community level.

The idea for a youth visibility and product marketing platform first crossed my mind shortly after I moved to Johannesburg for work. There were so many youth owned shops in the malls selling all types of products like clothes, sunglasses, bags, shoes, all South African made. Young South Africans shopped with pride, local brands from fellow youth artisans, even though in some cases the local products were more expensive. This always put a smile on my face.

Not to say that local brands in Uganda weren’t already celebrated but I wanted to contribute to it. I wanted every Ugandan to find pride and joy in wearing local brands because If we love local then even those who aren’t local will love local.

Although Uganda was coined the most entrepreneurial country in the world, 95% of the ventures do not live beyond their first birthday. A broken ecosystem attributed to poor implementation of policies, lack of skilled talent, limited access to capital and poor market linkages has stifled the growth of entrepreneurship and more so, its role in socio-economic transformation.

Big Box aims to contribute to the empowerment of Ugandan youth entrepreneurs and artisans by providing a platform to showcase their exceptional workmanship to a global audience. Together, we are all about spreading the love of Ugandan products onto the lovers of Ugandan and African culture through the discovery of all the diversity we offer.

Big Box is the first multi-vendor e-commerce site firmly dedicated to Ugandan-made products by youth-led entities.

GOAL FOR THE NEXT 6 MONTHS: To put 13 local youth entrepreneurs' products on the global scene in the next 6 months.

MY BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOAL; To put 200 local youth entrepreneurs' products on the global scene in the next 8 years impacting small scale youth entrepreneurs in Uganda making their own products. They desire to become full time and successful business owners, attain financial freedom and grow their businesses.