WHO IS JULIAN ADYERI?

BIOGRAPHY AND LIFE STORY OF JULIAN ADYERRI OMALLA

Julian Omalla Adyeri is the founder and managing director of one of the top juice processing plants and companies in Uganda called Delight Uganda Limited.  

This company produces the most popular fruit juice drink in Uganda that is being sold by the brand name called “Cheers”. 

The company has now diversified into other sectors of agriculture such as poultry farming where they deal in eggs and maize feed production, a flour mill and a student hostel that houses around 300 students. Julian also coordinates the women farmer cooperatives in Uganda. 

In 2008 Julian was honoured by the World Bank for her entrepreneurship skills and today she is one of the most decorated women entrepreneurs in Uganda and has received honours and awards including the common wealth entrepreneur of the year 2014.

 Julian has a strong voice that helps talk about women’s access to economic opportunities in Uganda. 

Julian Adyerri started her entrepreneurship journey as an employee working for her brothers, while at the same time saving her own money in order to begin her entrepreneurship journey. She later started a small business as a trader.  

Since she was a woman, she wanted to prove to others that she could also start up her own business. She was doing well until she became too trusting. 

She transferred all her business funds to her new business partner to buy new stock for the business and he disappeared from his place of business.

 As a result of this setback, she was back to where she started and had to begin all over again if she was willing to succeed.

 This has a great lesson for her that you should not put all your eggs in one basket or else they will all break. She decided that she will diversify her businesses in future as a philosophy for her business expansion.  

At this point the only thing that was left with her was a wheelbarrow to take the fruits to sell at the market and her red dress that she would wash every night. At this time determined to succeed in life she decided to start again. 

As sole trader she began by wheeling fruits to the market and saving the proceeds of her sales each day. 

With her red dress, wheel barrow, the determination to succeed and grit she kept on moving forward.

 Being a savvy entrepreneur, she realised that if she boarded the bus to Kenya and stood in the bus during the night she would be able to buy goods in Kenya cheaply and bring it back to Uganda and sell at maximum profit since the bus fare was halfed. She did that. 

She later enrolled for a fruit processing certificate after realising that there was a gap in the fruit processing business in Uganda.

 Her main aim was to start a fruit processing business but not just like the small fruit traders in the market but a real factory. She was inspired by her mother who taught her how to prepare fruit juice. 

With her technical skills that she acquired from the fruit processing certificate course and her entrepreneurial skills she believed she was ready to start off the business. Today, the company has an annual turnover that exceeds $4million dollars. 

Once again she had to take her new fruit juice to the government chemist for testing and since she did not have transport, she did that on foot and had to wheel her goods on her wheel barrow.  

Despite all these challenges that she faced initially, the market responded positively to her products and she could see her dream being realised. 

By now she had learnt her lessons of the past and decided to control her business fully and that it was formally registered and licensed. 

She can still remember how cumbersome this process was with the numerous offices to visit and the delays in the process. Julian Adyeri has succeeded as a result of her grit, determination and patience. 

Her nine year journey out of poverty has not been an easy one and she ironically has one advice to all women out there who would love to become successful in the world of business, do not put all your eggs in one basket. 

She is a great inspiration to Ugandan women and youths out there who plan to venture into the world of business.