This archive report was first published on 23 July 2019.
With Africa's internet penetration currently around 36%, and approximately 40% (19,000,000 people) in Uganda, businesses are now more than ever tapping into the internet to reach more clients.
Ugandan internet solutions such as Wena hardware, an online store for hardware, Sparewo, an online store for spare parts, Bringofresh, an online grocery store, and Sowani, a restaurant discovery and table reservation platform, have emerged to meet this need.
However, restaurants and other hospitality businesses in Uganda face numerous challenges in utilizing this internet penetration opportunity, including high costs to develop a website, high costs to do SEO to drive traffic to their websites, and high costs to hire full-time online marketing people and know-how for online marketing.
Marketing is a necessity for any business to survive and grow, but the costs can be prohibitive. To make online marketing affordable for businesses in Uganda, we need to break down the costs and present a solution that will help.
Let's start by examining the costs associated with getting a strong online presence for a restaurant or bar in Uganda.
Developing a website in Uganda can range from UGX 400,000 to +UGX 2M, depending on the features required. However, if you don't do SEO for that website, it's the same as winking at a girl in the dark - your website won't be discovered online.
SEO is the reason certain websites appear first before others every time you search for anything on Google, it's not random selection. If you don't understand keywords and how to use them to affect better SEO performance, you need help.
Adding a table reservation feature to a website can also be costly, especially if you already have a website. However, this feature is essential for clients who need to make table reservations or RSVP to events.
Uganda has approximately 19M people on the internet, but just 2.8M are on Facebook. This means that for any business in Uganda to fully maximize the potential of the internet, they need a presence that goes beyond social media.
So, what's the alternative solution? Sowani, a winner from the MTN startup challenge 2019, has developed a restaurant discovery and table reservation platform for SME restaurant, bar, and hotel businesses in Uganda to solve these challenges.
With its platform, restaurants, bars, cafes, or hotels anywhere in Uganda can add their business and get listed online, upload menus, venue photos, and business information for UGX 25,000/month, get a table reservation system to manage bookings for UGX 50,000/month, and get a content creation team to blog, shoot video, take photos for UGX 200,000/month.
