With the youngest population in the world, Uganda is becoming an unbeatable force when it comes to the growth of tech start-ups. Uganda ranks highly on the global tech start-up eco-system because of the start-ups that spring up every day. SpareWo, an online automotive parts store founded in 2017 operates in the e-commerce industry where it sells automotive spare parts from partner merchants.
In an interview with How we made it in Africa, SpareWo co-founder, Edrine Ssempebwa explained that the company aims at solving automotive issues through prioritising convenience and quality.
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SpareWo aims at creating quality and convenience.
Several people struggle to find trusted and reliable car repair services when trying to maintain their vehicles. SpareWo is here to tackle such issues by connecting all those who access the platform to professional and quality services from trusted mechanics. The company also caters for a range of spare parts for motorcycles and bicycles.
The online platform enables people to make orders for spare parts and purchase them cashless. It also provides after-sales support and gives people tips on vehicle maintenance.
The online company has a goal of creating a world-class mobile application that will improve user experience and ease the process of placing orders said Edrine Ssempebwa, SpareWo CEO.
The business just like any other businesses faces potential risks one of them being the failure to meet orders because of the limited number of employees. It hopes to expand its human resources in the future to solve this issue.
The automotive industry is quite tricky since there are so many defective spare parts on the market making it easy for someone to buy them unintentionally. The company has had instances where defective parts have been purchased. It managed to solve the issue by making contracts with partner merchants to ably return those parts that were not working.
In 2019, the company won second place in the New Venture Competition at Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia.
Tech-start ups in Uganda are springing up almost every day. They could do well with support from the government to ease their business processes ensuring they don’t collapse. One of the biggest issues they face happens when mobilizing capital to continue operations seeing as most times they require a large capital base. Investment in these businesses especially in the beginning stages is essential to sustain them. With such support, they can grow and contribute significantly to the country’s GDP.
Source: How we made it in Africa.