Turyamuhawe picks money out of cleaning people’s houses

While in her vacation, Joy Turaymuhawe joined Uganda Music Academy as a receptionist to get some money.

She enjoyed the place so much that she never left until four years later.

Turyamuhawe says while at the music school located in Ntinda, a leafy Kampala suburb, she learnt a lot, including how to clean other people’s homes and clothes.

Some years later in 2019, she started CJ Home Solutions, a company that offers management and cleaning of both residential and commercial buildings.

The company also does cleaning services for carpets, mattresses, sofa sets, roof tiles, compounds as well as disinfection, fumigation and pest control.

Turyamuhawe says it had never crossed her mind that someone could do cleaning of other people’s homes and property as a job or business but the time she spent at the music school changed everything for her.

“I used to think cleaning is something of low-class people but at the academy (Kampala Music Academy) the person cleaning for us was educated. She had to do that to fend her family, educate her children, pay rent and look after them,” she says.

“I used to help her out sometimes and realized it was something I could do and there was no shame in it.”

Turyamuhawe says this experience changed her mind for the better as she realized starting a cleaning and fumigation company would help her earn money, away from working in offices.

She narrates that the beginning was not easy as she felt embarrassed for doing such kind of work but says with time, she realized it was not as embarrassing as it seemed.

As they say, the rest is history.

The business went on well as she got a number of customers who wanted her cleaning services.

“I rode on my social media accounts where I have more than 36,000 followers on Twitter. Here I would advertise my business and in return, they would inbox me. Others came through referrals,” she says.

Turyamuhawe says before she knew it, the business had grown and needed more people to work with to help her out.

“I realized I would help other campus students earn. Many of them are struggling with money. So, I decided I could help fellow students. I asked those who could work with me to come and join,” says the graduate of International Business from MUBS.

She says that since 2019 when she started the business, it has grown by leaps and bounds.

Advice

Turyamuhawe tells young people that it is okay to want to have a white-collar job but advises that when things are not working out “for you in the formal industry, try out other sources of income and entrepreneurship instead of being at home doing nothing.”

On keeping her business running for three years now in a country where many businesses do not live to see their first birthday, Turyamuhawe says “you have to be very consistent.” 

“You have to be consistent even when times get hard. Every business has its ups and downs,” she says.

According to Turyamuhawe, startups never seem to have enough qualifications, paperwork, a good bank statement or years of experience to get well paying contracts which she says is a challenge.

“This really makes breaking even or growing hard,” Turyamuhawe notes.

The other major challenge is non-paying customers who she says are also a serious issue.

Turyamuhawe says she looks beyond the challenges just to keep her dream alive.

With a vision to see her businesses expand to every major district in Uganda, Turyamuhawe says she wants to dominate the cleaning and fumigation business in the country. “The sky i