If you are from Tanzania, and into parties or gifting, you might have come across unique party essentials.
If you looked closely, you might have noticed the package is labeled made in Tanzania by Unique Flavor TZ – a thriving gift accessories manufacturing company in Tanzania.
If I were to tell you that this business idea was from a 19-year-old, Patricia Majule, who started just from wanting to be able to one day create a living, would you believe me?
Her story of creating a business got her to become one of the most influential businesswomen in Tanzania and Africa at large.
She even ended up on the list of young entrepreneurs in Africa. How did she make it to the top?
Growing up, our education system taught us to go to school, learn this and that, pursue further education, then one day you will be employed.
Most of us were not taught how to employ ourselves or even create employment.
With time, you are expected to climb the corporate ladder and eventually become a CEO or manager when you are almost retiring.
However, this was not the path that Patricia Majule, a Tanzanian entrepreneur, was willing to take.
Patricia Majule’s story begins back in 2013 after her high school education.
At only 19 years old, while waiting to join the university, she decided to make something for herself.
She had noticed that when she attended big parties like weddings and birthdays and even graduations, most of the packages were being wrapped in classy wraps but they were majorly imported.
She thought of starting a shop selling locally made gift wraps.
Her idea was to customize gift cards, calendars, cake toppings, and any gift packages necessary for these ceremonies.
She would then sell these packages by mostly posting them online.
She started her business initially called Unique Gifts, from her savings of around TShs.70, 000 ($28).
Initially, the gift wraps were made from environmentally friendly sand and eggshells.
As time went by, eggshells became the primary raw material for the gift wraps.
Yes, while we crack our eggs and throw away the shells, Patricia is looking toward turning them into lovely gift wraps.
Seeing as her business was slowly thriving and the profits maximizing, she decided to register her company as Unique Favors TZ.
Unique Favors TZ manufactures and supplies party items not only to Tanzania but even to East African countries like Kenya.
They expanded into making home decor seeing as clients kept inquiring about locally customized home decor.
Patricia wanted something that would bring out her creativity and passion.
Collecting eggshells from different small shops like bakeries or even confectionery stores was not an easy task.
Some people wondered how these were helpful but she knew they wouldn’t wonder for long.
After drying and crushing the shells, she eventually crafted and customized her gift wraps from them.
Of course, there were other materials added to these wraps depending on the customer’s request but she ensured the eggshells were the major material.
After making a few of the packages she started posting them on Facebook.
This was a time when most 19-year-olds posted photos of themselves and tagged many people including their neighbor’s dogs. Just for the likes.
Anyway, her work didn’t pick up at first and she almost thought that it wasn’t a great business idea.
However, the numbers started increasing and eventually, many people started ordering the packages and accessories.
When Patricia joined the University of Dar es Salaam to study for her Degree in Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting, she already knew how to run a small business.
Throughout the university, she expanded her business venture of customized accessories for students.
While most of her sales happened during graduation ceremonies, she would soon face high demands for personalized gifts nationally across Tanzania.
Patricia desired to make money for herself and create employment opportunities for the people around her.
She hoped to lift the economic status of her family while doing what she loved.
Unique Favors TZ today employs more than 20 people and is worth about TShs.60 million ($23,000) from a measly starting point of around $28.
Other than thriving and expanding the business, Patricia admits to having gone through so many challenges to grow her company and build her brand.
From inadequate capital and the low orders in the beginning, the cost of licensing documents and registration took some time and money but when did one ever gain without pain?
Founding a company for a small business owner was not that easy but you have to push through everything and believe in your business.
Unique Favors TZ would come to face a major setback in 2021.
Patricia had ordered machines for the company only to learn later that the ship had disappeared.
The lost manufacturing machines were so expensive and it required sacrifice and proper financial planning.
However, she knew she had to rise from this and strategize to get new machines.
Patricia’s drive and resilience in creating a manufacturing company in Tanzania have seen her get global recognition.
She was among the top influential young African entrepreneurs and even got her name on the Forbes list of Africa’s 30 most promising young entrepreneurs in 2018.
She admits that being on the Forbes list was good publicity for her company.
After being featured, she got to attract more customers from other African countries and is working hard to grow Unique Favors TZ to a premium gift and décor provider in Africa.
