How Kenyan Lilian Katiso is Minting Money From Business Started Accidentally in Uganda

Lilian Katiso, an accountant and Kenyan entrepreneur, operates a trio of flower and plant stores in Uganda. 

Her enterprise has earned her recognition from various Ugandan magazines. Lilian was even feted as one of the 40 influential women under 40 in Uganda. She arrived in Uganda from Nanyuki with a firepower of accountancy knowledge as demonstrated by her Accounting degree from Daystar University in Athi River, Kenya. In Kenya, Lilian held accountant roles for more than a decade.

She recounted the life-changing events nine years prior when she was rendered jobless when the Non-Governmental Organisation that she was working for lost its funding. She had initially acquired accounting jobs through referrals and social media.

“I saw an article about someone growing herbs and I thought it was very interesting and unique so I wrote to the editor to ask for the contact of the person. In the same email, someone else was asking for strawberries and I happened to have been growing some so I offered to give them away. When the writer came to my place, she was impressed with my plants and wrote a story about my small garden,” she narrated.

After reading the article in the newspaper, individuals who thought she was selling plants reached out to her and as the phone calls kept coming, she ultimately decided to begin a business selling plants.

Katiso has opened three stores boasting over 5,000 varieties of plants. She has partnered with Garden City in Uganda to create employment for Ugandan workers.  As her customer base expanded, her business flourished and she began selling to cooperate institutions who sought to enhance their workplace ambience through decorations. To meet the demand for exotic plants, she imports flowers from countries like the Netherlands and Thailand.