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Lynette Akol is the proprietor of Krystal Ice Limited (KIL), a company that prides itself in producing a variety of ice products ranging from ice flakes, ice cubes, healthy and nutritious ice pops with a range of delicious flavors which include orange, watermelon, mango, pineapple, strawberry and mixed fruit among others.
The company has built a strong relationship with key stakeholders such as dfcu bank, and the Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI) who have been instrumental in provision of industrial research and product development.
Akol’s business is situated on the bustling Commercial Street in Luzira, where we met her for the interview.
She signed up for the inaugural dfcu Rising Woman competition in 2018, as a start up business owner; Akol may only have been eyeing the UGX 15 million winner’s prize, but she got a lot more than her bargain.
“There has been continued support through mentorship and community sponsored media engagements to grow our brand. My leadership and decision making has improved over the last six years,” said Akol, founder and CEO of the maker of frozen fruit snacks, Krystal Ice Ltd.
“Business is tough and the hand-holding I have received from dfcu since winning has been very important to our continued success,” she says.
The Rising Woman initiative is sponsored by dfcu Bank, Monitor Publications Limited other partners, to support women founded and controlled businesses grow through training, mentorship and greater access to the group’s financial products.
The top ten winners of the proposal writing and pitching competition, get an all-expense paid study trip to Nairobi, Kenya. The top three share sh30m between them.
Akol says since winning the award, they have employed more people on the technical team and received certification from UNBS.
“We’ve got our UNBS (Uganda National Bureau of Standards) certification, very important in the food business and dfcu has helped us obtain ISO certification;” she explained.
Her joining the dfcu Women in Business (WiB) Program at the bank has been a godsend in many ways making finance easier to access, exposure to new opportunities and learnings, attracting the right talent for her business and many other opportunities that come with being in a community of like minded people.
It goes without saying that her business has grown quantitatively as well.
“Since our employees have grown to 24 from three, we are now dealing with six farmer groups up from one, and our production has also increased,” Akol said.
These are significant strides for a business that was barely two years old when the inaugural Rising Woman was launched in 2018.
With the euphoria of her Rising Woman achievement still fresh in the air, the economy went into lock down because of the Covid pandemic and she had to find a new level of resilience.
“Our distribution channels were all shut down and our revenues collapsed greatly. So we invested a lot of the Rising Woman prize money in digital marketing, growing our presence on social media and making home deliveries,” she recalls.
At the time, Akol thought her business was going to end before it had the opportunity to take off.
“But I learnt that passion and vision breed resilience and we lived to see brighter days.”
One thing the Rising Women in initiative has given her is an opportunity to share her story as well as learn from people with similar experience.
“I encourage women to look out for opportunities and embrace the challenges that come with them. It can be tough but also very rewarding especially when you look back at what you have achieved,” she said.
For a business that started with a passion to build something of her own and a brainstorming of company names with her pre-adolescent daughters, her journey is far from over.
“I want Krystal Ice Ltd to grow beyond its current central Uganda footprint, to go national and then, go beyond Uganda. We want to launch new products and have a fully automated factory,” she says, when asked about her future prospects.
In celebrating its 60th year in existence, dfcu Bank stands firm on its commitment to empowering women entrepreneurs in pursuit of their business goals. From uniquely structured financial products, to hosting free to attend financial literacy sessions and being a part of partnerships such as the Rising Woman Initiative, the Bank is leading the way in the transformation of the lives and businesses of Ugandan women entrepreneurs.
About Rising Woman
The Rising Woman campaign which has been implemented since 2018 is a platform for Ugandan businesswomen, whose focus is to increase access to information, business training, coaching, market access and financing solutions, to help them launch and build sustainable enterprises.
Rising Woman, which is based on the submission and successful defense of business proposals, provides an avenue for growth of women-owned businesses at each stage.
About dfcu’s Women in Business Program
In 2007, dfcu Bank launched the dfcu Women in Business Program proposition to empower women-owned businesses. 5 years later, in 2012, dfcu established a Women Business Advisory Council and in 2015, set up a Women in Business Advisory Center located at the Bank’s headquarters in Nakasero. Here, the Bank exclusively serves female entrepreneurs.
Since its inception in 2007, approximately 85,000 women have signed onto the dfcu Women in Business program.