When people do life together & connect deeply, there comes a natural urge to want to save money together.

Someone says, “Why don’t we start a SACCO?” Another says, “If 30 of us save this much every month, just imagine where we could be in 5 years.” Numbers are thrown around, excitement rises, big ideas start filling the room, a leader is chosen & a WhatsApp group is born.

A constitution is quickly discussed, & boom, a savings group or investment club is born.

Then real life starts.

By month 3 or 4, the excitement begins to cool. People start delaying their savings & the group realizes they never actually agreed on where to invest. Some members want lending, others want land, forestry, treasury bills, bonds, etc., while others are scared, or dormant, and willing to go with anything that is agreed upon by the majority.

Meetings reduce & energy drops, the chat becomes quiet, and just like that, what began with so much promise slowly dies with silence.

I have seen this happen many times in almost every circle or group of people that I have been in; friends, family, OBs, OGs, workmates, etc.

And it is why I am writing my personal reflections from my 5-Year journey running an Investment Club, which has averaged an annual return of 25% over the years & the odds we have been able to beat.

Our story…

The year was 2020.

We were alumni of Harvest Institute, a leadership institute started under Worship Harvest by Apostle Moses Mukisa (Ap. Mo). As members, we had studied together as a class of over 100 people for an entire year, trained and equipped for servant leadership in the workplace & church.

Sometimes the fruit of leadership training shows up in places you may never even know ahead of time, and for us, one of those fruits became an investment club.

As our course wrapped up in late 2020, some of us felt we didn’t want to just walk away & become distant memories to one another. We wanted to stay connected in a meaningful way.

So interested members came together, talked, agreed, & by the end of 2020, we had begun the process of registration and drafting a constitution, with a target of starting to save on 1 January 2021.

We called it Profectus Investment Club (PIC)

From the very beginning, we agreed on a few non-negotiable fundamentals.

We didn’t reinvent the wheel; we benchmarked against the model of the investment clubs under Y-Save, a multipurpose cooperative started by Mr. Danstan Kisuule & a few members, under the Watoto Church ecosystem, that has served many people, and also Harvest Multipurpose Cooperative (under Worship Harvest).

We borrowed their best ideas and tailored them to fit our own context. Their example proved to us that when collective saving is structured well, it becomes a serious engine for wealth creation. Without their blueprint, Profectus would likely have ended up as just another failed club.

Our Model

a) We committed to a 5-Year Cycle timeline… we would start saving in January 2021 and end in December 2025. We knew that people commit differently when they can see both the journey & the finish line.

b) The “Investment First” Rule. Before a single shilling was saved in 2020, we agreed on our target: buy & sell land. Many groups fail because they collect money first and argue about where to put it later. By then, everyone’s different risk appetites clash. Agreeing early gave us a filter… if you weren’t into land, you didn’t join. It saved us from future deadlocks.

c) The equality model: Every member saves the exact same amount. We avoided varying monthly contributions to prevent the “big savers” from having more influence than others.

d) The strategy: We settled on saving UGX 300,000 per month. So, we would invest in unit trusts while we hunted for land. We would also have some cash left behind for member borrowing (at the lowest interest rate possible). Our wealth loop was to buy land, offer it to members first at near-cost, then sell the rest to the public at competitive prices to grow the club’s capital.

e) The “Lock-In” Commitment. We agreed early on that there would be no withdrawing savings until the 5-year cycle ended—whether you stayed active or chose to leave. This gave us total capital stability. It ensured we never had to sell land prematurely or deplete our unit trusts just to pay out an exit. Most importantly, it protected the club from a “viral exit”—where one influential person leaves and triggers a panic. It kept the ship steady for those who stayed.
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We learned a lot along the way, some of it the hard way. We dealt with delayed payments, inactive members, the risks of a vague constitution, and the value of audits.

I learned the importance of governance & a strong EXCO leadership. I learned that land (or any investment) isn’t a place for guesswork; you need people who truly understand the business.

Looking back on my time as President & chair, here are my 20 lessons from the 5 years of leading the investment Club.

1. Friendship is not enough to run an investment club. Start with a “Why”.
Excitement gathers people, but a clear purpose keeps them when the honeymoon ends. We didn’t start because clubs are “nice”; we started to build wealth together.

2. Choose your investment direction on Day 1.
We chose land before the first shilling was saved. If you wait until the money is in the bank to debate, different risk appetites & fears will cause deadlocks. Consensus becomes harder after money has already started coming in.

3. Give the club a “Finish Line” (a cycle timeline)
Endless saving tires people. Our 5-year cycle gave members psychological clarity. A cycle creates urgency, seriousness, and hope. People stay disciplined when they can see the destination.

4. Simplicity is an unfair advantage.
We all saved the same amount (UGX 300,000). It removed complexity, made communication easy, and ensured no single “big saver” had more influence than others.

5. Professionalize your friendships.
The moment money enters the room, “being friends” isn’t enough. You need roles, records, and consequences. Don’t run a financial institution like a social circle.

6. Everything rises and falls on leadership.
Don’t just pick “nice” or “prayerful” people for your EXCO. In addition to prayerful people (because prayer is very key for us), pick people who can read a document, ask hard questions, and follow through. Bad leadership can waste a good club & good leadership can stabilize even an imperfect one.

7. Write a constitution for your worst days.
When you start, everyone is cooperative. A constitution isn’t for when things are good; it’s for when feelings fail. Define the fines, the exit process, and the “what-ifs” while everyone is still being cooperative.

8. Sometimes, your constitution will still need amendments.
At one point, our member wanted to withdraw from the club, and he challenged the constitution because it did not explicitly say whether someone exiting early could leave with their money or leave it with the club. We had to wait for the AGM, discuss it, resolve it, and amend the constitution. It taught me that you must be willing to amend and evolve as real life “knocks on the door.” Even the best discussed constitution may still have gaps.

9. Late payment must have a consequence: fines.
We had a fine for members who did not save in time, and our administrator implemented it religiously on the first day of the new month & we maintained it till the end of the club. If a member did not add the fine, it would be deducted from their savings. If late payments don’t have consequences, discipline collapses. Systems are only respected when they are enforced.

10. In investment clubs, mercy must have structure.
For us, if someone failed to save for 3 months, the constitution provided for action, the exit (after several attempts of communications). One person’s chronic indiscipline eventually punishes the entire group. Compassion is good, but vagueness is expensive.

11. Administration is work—pay for it.
Members are busy & EXCO members are busy too. Running a club takes follow-up, records, reminders, statements, fines, meeting coordination, and communication. For us, we agreed in our AGM to pay one of our willing members a monthly allowance to handle all that. If your club grows enough, build an administration on pay. Volunteer energy has a shelf life; professional work doesn’t.

12. Respect the time of the EXCO.
Thinking, reviewing deals, attending meetings, making calls, and solving club issues takes real time. For us, we agreed at the 2nd AGM to give a meeting allowance to the EXCO, & in one particular year, a small block portion of the profit made that year. It acknowledges that leadership has a cost.

13. Meet as EXCO regularly, but do not exhaust members with unnecessary meetings.
We didn’t meet just because the calendar said so. We held EXCO meetings regularly, but only called member meetings when there was real value to share. People respect meetings more when meetings respect people’s time.

14. Hold AGMs properly. Every year.
AGMs are where leaders are held accountable, trust is renewed, questions are answered, policies are adjusted, and members remember that the club belongs to everyone, not just the people at the front.

15. Audit professionally.
Nothing matures a club like professional books. It forces the leadership to stop “guessing” and start speaking in audited figures. It creates instant peace of mind.

16. If you are investing in a business you do not understand, borrow expertise before you borrow confidence.
For example, land looks simple until you start dealing with titles, boundaries, authenticity, valuation, transfer processes, and fake land (what we call, “empewo” (buying wind), here in Uganda.
For us, our 2-member investment committee had experience in the land business. As president, I had little to no experience in land, so I relied on them as I learned the in’s & out’s. Don’t invest in what you don’t understand without having an expert in the room.

17. Share some profit along the way.
In 2023, we did a 60:40 approach on the profit made that year; 60% shared to members, 40% reinvested. We periodically paid out interest to members. Periodic rewards keep the club credible. People should occasionally taste the fruit of discipline, not only hear speeches about the harvest.

18. Build relationships, not just capital.
Some of our best moments were in going out, networking, and having fun. The club shouldn’t only be transactional. Money grows better in an environment where trust & human connection are also being nurtured.

19. Leadership transition matters & governance keeps the ship steady.
Our EXCO terms of service were 3 years, after which members could vote leaders back or out. We had clear terms and handled resignations amicably. By the end of the 5-year cycle, out of the original 41, three (3) had left along the way, 1 became completely inactive, and we closed with 37 active members.

20. Closing well is part of leadership, too.
As I write this, we are still in the closing process. At our 5th & final AGM (held on 21st March 2026 at Forest Cottages, Naguru), we partied. We gave all members gifts as a thank-you for saving, cut cake, gave plaques to EXCO members, ate, laughed & we honored the road we had walked. Don’t let your institution end like an exhausted WhatsApp group.

Many know how to launch; few know how to exit.
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As I wrap this up…

If there is one thing I have truly learned, it is that leading an investment club or a small business is much heavier than it looks from the outside.

Serving as President of Profectus Investment Club has been one of the most practical leadership masterclasses for me. It taught me that collective wealth building is possible, but only when people are willing to be governed, stay patient, be accountable, and think long-term.

What started as a simple conversation among alumni in 2020 became a life-changing investment journey.

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Joseph Rwabutomize