Entrepreneurship Coursework

David Kawaida | Student No: 2100720445

Idea Name Hire Purchase Sale & Distribution of New, Refurbished and Used Laptops to
Schools, Students, and Teachers
District Rubirizi
Question (Which Question
question are you The Ugandan government, through the national digital transformation
solving, and why is program (DTP), which links to the national development plan (NDP III) is
it urgent) promoting the use of ICT countywide.
Through the program, the government hopes to achieve increased ICT
uptake, ICT equipment and service cost reduction, among other program
outcomes.

One of the measures for the success of this program is the realization of
equitable and inclusive access to ICT services to all citizens. Notably, a key
ingredient for the achievement of this goal is access to affordable
computers, especially among the poor and rural communities.
To solve this problem, the DTP program hopes to lower the price of
computers to UGX 800,000 by 2025.
While this seems like a reasonable figure, for a country with GDP of just
USD 2,260, many underprivileged Ugandans cannot afford to spend that
much on a computer.

Urgency

The DTP program is currently in its second year, and while some progress
has been made, the problem of inadequate access to computing devices will
significantly slow down its implementation. There is a high demand for
affordable laptops by students, schools and teachers in poor and rural areas
right now to participate in the benefits this program brings with it.

Also, in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic, only digitally-capable schools

(mostly located in the urban areas) adapted e-learning. The majority of
schools had to rely on government-supplied textbooks and radios to
facilitate continued learning from home – a measure that was too costly.
Equipping schools, teachers and students with affordable laptops would
therefore be a highly welcome intervention as it would allow them to learn
from anywhere in the event that another lockdown is declared.

Viability (Why will At present, there are little to no statistics for the number of laptop users in
it work?) Uganda – this is perhaps due to the difficulty in detecting connected laptops
on the internet on a large scale, or that adequate attention has not been
accorded this area. Some sources, however, put the number of computer
users at just over 1 million as of January 2021.

Other relevant statistics include 12 million internet users (growing at 14%

per annum) and 8 million smartphone users in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
Also, out of the 45 million Ugandans, 42% are aged between 0-14 years and
52% between 15-64 years (World Bank, 2022).
 This data shows that there is a wide gap between the number of computer
owners in Uganda and the population that uses them. These devices are
also concentrated in urban areas and a few privileged and government-
supported schools in rural areas.

This solution will work because:

Market

1. There is an increasing population, especially among young people,

who do not have laptops for study and practice
2. The price of a laptop is very limiting at the moment, and the
governments’ plan of price reduction is long-term

Supply

3. Used and refurbished laptops are readily available from Dubai, UK,
and USA
4. Used and refurbished laptops can also be acquired for free (to be
donated to beneficiaries through this idea), or bought at the
residual price at their end of life period, and sold to the target
group on hire purchase

Financing

Sales

Business model

1. Partnership with schools, parents and teachers

2. Hire purchase agreements
3. Partnerships with corporates with CSR programs
4. Partnerships with government and development agencies in
education
5. Partnerships with major laptop manufacturing brands eg Lenovo,
Dell, HP, etc
Existing 1. Retail computer shops that sell brand new laptops– require full
alternatives payment
(Similar projects 2. Retail computer shop that sell and repair used and refurbished
and competitors) computers
3. Corporate laptop suppliers
4. Wholesale laptop sellers

Target group Teachers, students and schools in rural

(Describe your
audience)
Goals (What are Bridge the laptop among teachers, students, and schools in the rural
you aiming at) Rubirizi district

Discards (Which
solutions will users
leave behind for
yours)
Success factors
(Factors that help
you succeed)
MVP (What is the
simplest version of
your concept?)
User acquisition
(How will you hook
new users?)
Value (Value of
experience you
offer)
Vision (What would
you like to
accomplish within
a certain
timeframe)