Anna Schmidtlein
My Business Consultant Training
Collaborated With A Business In The Developing World
Our team reviewed the economic, social, political, and environmental factors that impact our partner business to design a launch plan and identify how to bridge the gap between our business partner’s current and desired conditions.
Earned a Development Grant to Enact Solutions
In order to fund the proposed business, our team composed a detailed plan and pitched our proposal to request seed funding from the Leadership Initiatives Grant Committee.
Collaborated With Business Development Experts
After researching the socio-economic conditions facing our business partners, our team worked with the Nigerian development staff to create effective solutions to the challenges our business partner was facing.
Muhammad Nurudeen
About Partner
Muhammad started his carpentry journey with his father, who owned a carpentry business and provided training to him. His father taught him the basics of carpentry, handling a business, and customer relations. In addition to his father, he also trained with three other carpentry masters which allowed him to enhance his skills and ultimately open his own business.
Though carpentry can be costly and clientele can be challenging, Muhammad is fueled by a passion for self-growth and development. He feels great joy from serving his community members through his carpentry work. Muhammad ultimately hopes to garner the same respect and praise from the community that his father has earned through his business.
Muhammad Nurudeen
Business Goals
Muhammad has several goals that he hopes to achieve with his business throughout the coming years. First of all, he hopes to improve the socioeconomic well-being of the people in his surrounding community through employment. He believes that employment will be the best way to achieve a fulfilling family life for the community members.
There are multiple obstacles Muhammad must face to reach these goals. Muhammad does not own a storefront for his business, which hinders his ambition for business growth. Further contributing to the stasis in his business is the high cost of materials. Muhammad is unable to purchase the items he needs to continue carpentry, whether that be client-commissioned or ready-to-buy pieces. Lastly, Muhammad lacks a reliable source of electricity, which is essential for the use and maintenance of many of his tools.
Muhammad Nurudeen
Obstacles
Outside of providing for his community members and their families, he hopes his business is a force to be reckoned with and one of the best in the Bauchi area and beyond. He wants to diversify his business to produce more modern carpentry works to keep up with the current trends in carpentry. He believes that expanding into modern carpentry will be the best way to increase revenue and grow his clientele base.
Ultimately, Muhammad wants to provide his people with high-quality products at a low cost. He is hopeful that this will attract the youth in the community to work as apprentices and learn the skills of carpentry. Muhammad is determined to use his business to break the cycle of poverty for his people.
Muhammad Nurudeen
Home & Family
Muhammad is 25 years old and comes from a family with 22 children. Muhammad has always been concerned with providing for his family's needs, especially as his father ages. He is responsible for providing food, making sure his siblings attend school, and paying the bills. His business has greatly impacted his family. Muhammad's mother says that she "lacks words to express [her] gratitude", as she describes him as the "breadwinner" for their family.
Though Muhammad obtained a marketing degree from Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic University, Muhammad intends to follow in his father's footsteps in the carpentry business. He has a great desire to serve the people in his community and provide for his family. He hopes that his business will continue to be profitable so that he can eventually get married and have a family of his own.
Muhammad Nurudeen
Our Partnership
Muhammad is tasked with the tremendous responsibility of caring for his large family. He is excited to learn from his partnership with Leadership Initiatives and take his business to the next level. Muhammad hopes further developing his business will allow him to impact the members of his community through employment opportunities. He also looks forward to opportunities to meaningfully engage with the community through carpentry and wants to attract the youth to apprenticeships, where they can learn the skills to support themselves through their work.
Muhammad says that "I really appreciate the kind gestures offered to me this year to be part of the Youth Development Program. I assured LI and the interns I would use this opportunity to better the life of my people, my community, and my country. I want to say a big thank you for everything!"
My Grant
Proposal
The advertising team, made up of Edward, Juliana, Harman, Anna, Tadas, and Lillian, have teamed together with Muhammad to learn vital details regarding his business, Anoor Furniture Company, and his specific needs for advertisement.
By collaborating with Muhammad and his project coordinator, Glory, the advertising team has created an advertisement proposal featuring his preferences and vision to make an aesthetically pleasing and distinctive marketing brand. The materials will capture potential customers’ attention and keep target clientele loyal to Anoor Furniture Company.
In collaboration, this skilled advertising team is confident in empowering Muhammad and making his well-deserved dream a reality through sustainable branding that captures the essence of Anoor Furniture Company.
My Grant Proposal
Presentation
Leadership Initiatives is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is dedicated to creating future leaders across the globe through experiential learning. In the International Leadership and Business Internship, I worked directly with some of the world’s leading developmental experts in order to build my partners business and brand.
At the conclusion of this internship, our team pitched the final proposal to a panel of esteemed judges from the Leadership Initiatives Nigerian Development Team and the Leadership Initiatives Grant Committee. This formal pitch allowed our team to practice our skills and utilize our entrepreneurial toolkit, all while showcasing our efforts to transform the business we partnered with.
At the end of the pitch, we were able to receive feedback on our proposal for our business partner. Over the next year, our business partner’s venture will be made into reality and monitored for sustained success and growth.
Internship Highlights
- Business Meeting
- Swedish Embassy
- International Monetary Fund
- Expert Assistance
Our team began the business development process by having a one-on-one Zoom call directly with our business partner, Muhammad Nurudeen , and Nigerian project coordinator to ensure productive collaboration.
We learned more about their life, family, and desires for the proposed business venture, as well as the challenges they were facing. By discussing first-hand the challenges our partner faced, our team successfully and efficiently began to brainstorm solutions to launch her business.
Each morning we held constructive discussions about our ideas, the advice we received the day before, and the timeline necessary to begin implementing our ideas in real-time.
The on-staff project coordinators and business development experts helped facilitate the ideation process and ensured our team asked the right questions to produce tangible results.
I had the unique opportunity to visit the Swedish Embassy, where I learned about diplomatic relations between Sweden and the United States.
While touring the embassy, I learned about the wide range of policy issues and gained a better understanding of the embassy’s role in international development through sustainable and inclusive initiatives.
The embassy serves as a hub for collaboration with partner countries and international organizations, which facilitates the creation of solutions to address global issues, such as poverty, gender inequality, and climate change.
Swedish diplomats and officials work closely with local communities to identify needs and design programs that empower individuals and enhance overall societal well-being. This community-centered problem-solving is something my team and I aspired towards while crafting our business proposal.
I also visited the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which plays a crucial role in promoting financial stability throughout the world, facilitating trade, and providing financial support to member countries during economic hardship.
For over 50 years, the IMF has provided capacity development programs that drive effective economic management and policy implementation through technical assistance and training.
The IMF’s research-driven policymaking and dedication to sustainable economic management has established it as a key power in addressing global economic issues.
My visit to the IMF was not only educational, but inspiring. It allowed me to see the institution’s pivotal role in advancing international development and how I can implement their ideals into my own work.
Our team met with leading experts in the fields of business and economic development from Johns Hopkins University, the State Department, and GlobalGiving.
One such expert was Carla Brooks, Business and Development Officer at Johns Hopkins Center for Communications Program. She provided us with a crash course in advertising and marketing, in which we learned essential components of an effective marketing campaign.
Our work with Ms. Brooks was essential in preparing us for our culminating pitch deck presentation. With her and other expert guidance, we streamlined our initial ideas to further our efforts in launching the venture our business partner envisioned.
By the end of the week, we had incorporated the advice of leading experts from across the globe for our business proposal to empower and transform the life of our business partner.