MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

CEDAT

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT FOR MECHANICAL ENGINEERS

MEC4101

ASSIGNMENT 2

GROUP 1

NAMES STUDENT NO. REGISTRATION NO.

OGWANG HALLAN 2100718963 21/U/18963
JOEL AYII PHILIP WUOR 2100720107 21/X/20107/PS
VUDRIKO SAVIOR 2100719961 21/U/19961/PS
OWORI ISAAC 2100704052 21/U/04052
LEMI DAVID 2000703217 21/U/03217/PS
OCHOLA JOSEPH PETER 2100700318 21/U/00318
OTADE JOSHUA 2100708958 21/U/08958/PS
ANYWAR INNOCENT 2100708040 21/U/08040/PS
1.1 SUCCESSFUL UGANDAN ENTREPRENEURS

Several Ugandan entrepreneurs have achieved notable success and made significant
contributions to the country's economy. Here are a few prominent examples:

a) Patrick Bitature: Founder and Chairman of the Simba Group, which has interests in
telecommunications, real estate, and hospitality. Bitature is also known for his role in the
development of the Ugandan mobile telecommunications industry. (Nsehe, 2016)
b) Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia: Founder of the Ruparelia Group, a conglomerate with interests in
real estate, finance, education, and hospitality. His investments have significantly
impacted Uganda’s real estate and financial sectors. (Daily monitor, 2020)
c) Violet Nantume: Founder of VNT Ventures, a company involved in the production and
distribution of eco-friendly products, including sustainable packaging solutions. (Kigozi,
2019)
d) Benard Wamalwa: Founder of Mobile Business Technologies (MBT), which provides
mobile and digital solutions. His work in advancing technology and digital infrastructure
has been influential. (Daily monitor, 2022)
e) Catherine Kiconco: Founder of Kiconco Holdings, a company involved in agriculture,
real estate, and trading. She has been recognized for her efforts in promoting sustainable
agricultural practices and business innovation. (The independent, 2019)

1.2 STEPS TAKEN IN ORDER TO START A SUSTAINABLE SMALL BUSINESS

Starting a sustainable small business involves several key steps:

a) Idea and Research: Identify a business idea based on your interests and market needs.
Conduct thorough market research to understand your target audience, competitors, and
industry trends.
b) Business Plan: Develop a detailed business plan outlining your business goals, strategies,
target market, financial projections, and operational plan. This will serve as a roadmap
for your business.
c) Legal Structure: Choose a legal structure for your business (e.g., sole proprietorship,
partnership, LLC). Register your business name and obtain any necessary licenses or
permits.
 d) Financing: Determine how you will fund your business. This could be through personal
savings, loans, or investors. Create a budget and financial plan to manage your expenses
and revenues.
e) Location and Setup: Decide on a location for your business if necessary, and set up your
workspace. This could be a physical storefront, office, or a home-based setup depending
on your business type.
f) Marketing and Branding: Develop a brand identity, including a logo and business
name. Create a marketing strategy to promote your business through various channels,
such as social media, websites, and local advertising.
g) Operation: Set up your day-to-day operations, including hiring staff if needed,
establishing supplier relationships, and creating operational processes.
h) Launch: Officially launch your business and start delivering your products or services to
customers. Monitor your performance and adjust your strategies as needed.
i) Review and Adapt: Regularly review your business performance, customer feedback,
and market trends. Be prepared to adapt and make changes to improve and grow your
business.

1.3 FACTORS AFFECTING PROPOSED BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

The term Business environment may be defined as a set of conditions, Social, Legal,
Economical, Political or Institutional that are uncontrollable in nature and affects the functioning
of organization. Business Environment has two components:

a. Internal Environment

b. External Environment

Internal Environment: This includes man, material, money, machinery and management,
usually within the control of business. Business can make changes in these factors according to
the change in the functioning of enterprise.

External Environment: Those factors which are beyond the control of business enterprise are
included in external environment. These factors are: Government and Legal factors, Geo-
Physical Factors, Political Factors, Socio-Cultural Factors, Demo-Graphical factors etc. It is of
two Types:
 a) Micro/Operating Environment
b) Macro/General Environment

Micro/Operating Environment: The environment which is close to business and affects its
capacity to work is known as Micro or Operating Environment. It consists of Suppliers,
Customers, Market Intermediaries, Competitors and Public.

i. Suppliers: These are the people who supply raw material and required components to the
company. They must be reliable and business must have multiple suppliers i.e. they
should not depend upon only one supplier.
ii. Customers: Customers are regarded as the king of the market. Success of every business
depends upon the level of their customer’s satisfaction. Types of Customers include:
Wholesalers, Retailers, Industries, Government and Other Institutions, Foreigners.
iii. Market Intermediaries: Marketing intermediaries refers to resellers, physical
distribution firms, marketing services agencies, and financial intermediaries. These are
the people that help the company promote, sell, and distribute its products to final buyers.
iv. Competitors: Every move of the competitors affects the business. Business has to adjust
itself according to the strategies of the Competitors.
v. Public: Any group who has actual interest in business enterprise is termed as public e.g.
media and local public. They may be the users or nonusers of the product. For example,
financial publics can hinder a company’s ability to obtain funds affecting the level of
credit a company has.

Macro/General Environment: – It includes factors that create opportunities and threats to

business units. Following are the elements of Macro Environment:

i. Economic Environment: This refers to the purchasing power of potential customers and
the ways in which people spend their money. For example, Infrastructural Facilities,
Banking, Insurance companies, money markets, capital markets etc.
ii. Non-Economic Environment: - Following are included in non-economic environment: -
 Political Environment: - The political environment includes all laws, government
agencies and groups that influence or limit other organizations and individuals within a
society.
 Socio-Cultural Environment: - Influence exercised by social and cultural factors, not
within the control of business, is known as Socio-Cultural Environment. These factors
include: attitude of people to work, family system, caste system, religion, education,
marriage etc.
 Technological Environment: - The technological environment is perhaps one of the
fastest changing factors in the macro-environment. This includes all developments from
antibiotics and surgery to nuclear missiles and chemical weapons to automobiles and
credit cards.
 Natural Environment: This includes the natural resources that a company uses as inputs
that affect their business activities. The concern in this area is the increased pollution,
shortages of raw materials and increased governmental intervention.
 Demographic Environment: - Demography refers to studying human populations in
terms of size, density, location, age, gender, race, and occupation. This is a very
important factor to study for marketers and helps to divide the population into market
segments and target markets. An example of demography is classifying groups of people
according to the year they were born.
 International Environment: - It is particularly important for industries directly
depending on import or exports. The factors that affect the business are: Globalization,
Liberalization, foreign business policies, cultural exchange.
 Cultural Environment: The final aspect of the macro-environment is the cultural
environment, which consists of institutions and basic values and beliefs of a group of
people. The values can also be further categorized into core beliefs, which passed on
from generation to generation and very difficult to change, and secondary beliefs, which
tend to be easier to influence. As a marketer, it is important to know the difference
between the two and to focus your marketing campaign to reflect the values of a target
audience