Meeting the Business Partners!

On the first full day of the International Leadership and Business Internship, interns met their business partners and began to build strong relationships to make the businesses they would be working with as successful as possible. 

On Monday, interns met virtually with the Nigerian business owners they would be working with for the next week. During this first meeting, interns introduced themselves and got to know the business partners. They asked questions about themselves, their family, and their business to understand how to tailor their marketing and infrastructure proposal to their business partner best. 

The following are our amazing business partners: 

Abdulahi Aliyu Hardawa is interested in creating a house electrical shop as he worked as an apprentice for 18 months, where he learned the necessary skills to run this business. He ultimately wants to positively impact the lives of people within his community by becoming the primary electrical supplier in his community. 

Muhammed Usman wants to have a painting shop where he hopes to create beautiful colors that people in his community can use to create art. He worked in an apprenticeship, where he learned how to paint and mix paint. He wants to have this painting shop because he wants to be able to provide for his family while doing something that he loves. 

Hamidu Mohammed Bukar aspires to run his own barber shop. He was inspired to do so after completing an apprenticeship at his friend’s barbershop, where he immersed himself in grooming and styling. He loves how barber shops allow him to forge meaningful connections with clients, which ultimately boosts their self assurance and inner confidence. 

Hamza Ibrahim strives to run a successful concrete block making shop. He decided on making concrete blocks as he has a passion for building and construction, and concrete blocks are vital for building. Hamza hopes to provide his community with low cost services that would attract people from all over Bauchi state. 

Shafiu Bashir seeks to create a laundry business of his own so he can serve his community and share values of dedication, commitment, honesty, and customer relations. He initially sold charcol, before switching to the laundry business. He now hopes to expand his laundry business to various communities to create the biggest difference possible. 

Hajara Umar yearns to have her own provision store. She chose to open a provision store because she wanted to continue her family tradition of running provision stores. She hopes to allocate her income from the provision store to ensure the well being of her family and to expand her business by opening more provision stores. 

Ikilimat Abdulazeez wishes to run her own restaurant, where she wants to serve delicious Nigerian food. She found her passion for cooking from her mom, and now hopes to continue her mother’s legacy by transforming her recipes into a thriving business. In the future, she wants to use her money to create a safe haven for her family. 

Hauwakulu Mohammad would like to create a cobbling business, as she found her passion for cobbling during a skill acquisition program in Bauchi State. She hopes to turn her skills into a profitable venture where she will then upgrade her children’s education. She also wants to expand her cobbling enterprise so that she is able to create and sell high quality shoes to be worn throughout Nigeria. 

Jibrin Abubakar Gombe aims to create an auto repair business. He was introduced to the auto repair business by his father who encouraged him to join an apprenticeship. He was in the apprenticeship for 5 years and then decided to create his own business to share the knowledge that he had learned during his apprenticeship and to serve his community. 

These are all the business partners that our interns at the International Leadership and Business program would be working with. As introductions with the business partners and the interns come, excitement surrounds the interns who are excited to have new experiences and create positive change.