Lusembo turns eyelashes into gold

Meg Lusembo is living her dream in fashion business. PHOTO BY GABRIEL BUULE 

By Gabriel Buule

Ms Meg Lusembo is on the path of joining the club of Ugandan female self-made millionaires with
her beauty company – Smukke Lashes.
Apparently the former model, who started her brand only two years ago, had previously never planned to become a businesswoman.

Before 2018, this beauty influencer was like a lot of recent graduates, working hard at jobs that didn’t always reflect her true passion.
As she made her way, she would make an important realisation: Success wasn’t just about working hard, which she had always done. Success was about finding fulfillment.
The idea of starting her own fashion business came from a wedding she attended in early 2018.

Turning point
It was on the day when she went to attend a friend’s wedding ceremony in 2018 that she was asked to help prepare the bride.
All what made her happy was the look of the bride whose appearance was amazing after she chose to put eyelashes on her eyes.

Before this wedding, Lusembo says she had the eyelash business in mind, which she had birthed in 2017 but she had waited to find the right time and also sample out her potential on the right person until when an opportunity arrived. After the wedding, she saw an opportunity to start her own business.

“After attending my friend’s wedding and further realised that she had trouble in getting the perfect lashes, I realised that it was an opportunity to venture in to the business and I created my own line of eye lashes made in Denmark and sold here in Kampala,” she adds.
“The minute you decide to do what you love to do, you have made a life plan for yourself and a career choice,” says Lusembo.

Pushed by hubby
Still, she didn’t see herself selling products. When her husband suggested that she start her own beauty company, Lusembo snubbed the idea saying she lacked capital.

“I was definitely struggling financially, but I just did not want to start a beauty brand. I thought I wasn’t the person to have a business.”

With an extra nudge and a small loan from her husband, Lusembo began selling eyelashes in 2018 under her Smukke Lashes brand. She started off with a stock worth Shs800,000, raised partly from her savings.

“My husband was good to me. He wanted to support my business. As encouragement, he gave me $7,000 (about Shs26m) to start. I complimented the loan from my husband with Shs800,000 which I had saved from my pocket money. This capital was now enough to start a business. In fact I have never looked back since that day,” she says.

Laden with capital, Lusembo now pushed the brand forward. With her husband, she hired lawyers and had her company registered under Smukke Lashes.
“I coined the name from Smukke a Danish word meaning beauty. The brand has blossomed and appeals to everyone who wants to look great and beautiful,” she said.

Success
Apparently, her company Smukke Lashes is presumably the biggest original 3D full dimension faux eyelash extension brand in Ugandan supplying a couple of fashionistas, individuals and beauticians. “Sometimes you don’t know what you are capable of until you try it,” she says.
She says that her products, which are manufactured in Denmark, are made from natural hairs from Siberian mink, which is an animal.
“It is natural animal hair, almost like real human hair. The difference between mink and faux mink is that faux mink imitates real mink,” Lusembo explains.

Digital
Lusembo is no stranger to the trend that business is tapping into the online boom to make more profits. She says she has a couple of online business platforms where she transacts business.

“I have a couple of accounts on online platforms that include Ugify,” says Lusembo.
In addition to online shopping points, she has moved to tap into her anonymous clientele on social media. She says that Instagram, Twitter and Facebook have been part of her source of clientele.

Marketing
She majorly markets her products through social media platforms such as WhatsApp, her Facebook page and Instagram. Lusembo also gets clients through referrals.

Future prospects
Lusembo has said that she would like to build Smukke Lashes into a business that can compete with top beauty names. She is currently working on expanding the business.
She plans to venture into hair and other cosmetics such as perfumes and soap. “So far we have added contact lenses on the list of our products,” she said.

How did she do it?
Good customer service, she says, has seen her scale the heights in the entrepreneurship world. Equally, she is proud of the trust she has built in her customers. “To succeed as a businessperson, your customers need to trust you fully. I’m glad it has reached a level where a customer doesn’t have qualms leaving me with their money to be collected later,” she explains. The former model has also attributed her success to perseverance.
Advice
She tells the unemployed youth: Roll up the sleeves and work instead of continuously asking the government to intervene.
“Stop lamenting that there are no jobs. Avoid the perception that you need lots of money to start. Start small and the results will surprise you,” she says.

“Successful people keep moving. To achieve success, it does not matter if you make mistakes or not, what matters is that you need to keep moving without quitting. You will win when you keep moving. If you ever feel like quitting, think about what made you start,” Lusembo advises.

Making money
Apparently, her business boosts of 16 different lash styles in stock and production with a focus to create a wide range of options for women to choose from.
Lusembo has more than 15 stockists in and around Kampala who sale her products. She also reveals that she is focused on engaging the consumers and she has at least 15 make-up artistes who sale her products at commission arrangement. She says that her lashes are sold between Shs18,000 and Shs30,000.

Challenges
Like other businesses, Lusembo has her share of challenges such as high taxes and theft. “The taxes are so high,” says Lusembo.