Keller Reilly
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.
Comfort Hanis
About Comfort
Comfort is a 39-year-old woman who has been working in the provision store business for seven years. She initially developed an interest in running a provision store because she felt it would be a simple business that would allow her to work and take care of her children at the same time. She traveled to a neighboring community to apprentice at an existing provision store to gain insight into the business, before she opened her store.
Though Comfort is occasionally disheartened by difficult customers, she persists in this business because of her children. The profits that Comfort receives from her provision store are essential in supporting her children and putting them through school.
Comfort Hanis
Business Goals
Comfort has several goals for both herself and her family that she hopes to be able to achieve through her provision store. First of all, Comfort wants to improve her family's living situation by either owning a house or moving to a bigger apartment. She also hopes to achieve financial stability for herself and her four children. Lastly, Comfort hopes that her store will create a generational legacy.
Comfort believes that a successful provision store is focused on customer satisfaction, community impact, and personal fulfillment. Comfort hopes that her business will be able to provide all of these things to her surrounding community and in turn herself. She hopes to pursue her passion by doing meaningful work and making a difference in other people's lives.
Comfort Hanis
Obstacles
Although Comfort has many goals she wishes to achieve, there is a variety of challenges that her business faces. The most concerning of these challenges is a lack of security. The store is easily stolen from, which means that Comfort sometimes lacks the inventory to properly run her business. Her profits are especially hurt when she lacks the basic items that customers are shopping for.
Eventually, Comfort wants to expand her business to other markets and locations, as well as increase her inventory. She aims to establish a strong presence in the community and become a trusted staple in the supplying of provisions. Comfort hopes to work with Leadership Initiatives to overcome these challenges and operate her business more efficiently to achieve her personal goals.
Comfort Hanis
Family & Home
Comfort is a 38-year-old woman living in a single-bedroom apartment with her four children in Bauchi State. When she was 19 years old, she moved to Kogi State to be with her husband. At the time, her husband worked a lucrative construction job and was able to build their family a house. Comfort was responsible for caring for their children and maintaining their home. Unfortunately, her husband passed away in a motor vehicle accident.
After her husband's passing, Comfort was chased out of her home by her husband's family. She moved to Bauchi with six children and no means to support them. Comfort eventually saved enough money to pursue her provision shop business.
Comfort Hanis
Our Partnership
One of the most formidable obstacles Comfort faces is a lack of opportunities, a consequence of her socioeconomic background, gender, and other factors. The income she does earn goes towards the care of her children and transportation, which leaves little left for reinvestment into her business. Comfort believes that partnering with Leadership Initiatives will be her chance to overcome these barriers. Eventually, Comfort hopes to expand her business through additional store locations, increasing inventory, and new product offerings.
Comfort says "Working with Leadership Initiatives and the interns is a great opportunity, and I am excited to be a part of this organization. I hope to provide excellent customer service and meet the needs of all customers."
My Grant
Proposal
Our plan is to use the grant money to help expand the business. Ourfirst objective isto move locationsfrom her current location to one more profitable. To find thislocation we did some research into the benefits and drawbacks ofseveral locations and used that information to conclude our decision.
Another objective of oursisto get Comfort means ofsecurity. Comfort has been stolen from many timesso we felt thatsome sort ofsecurity was necessary. We considered many different means ofsecurity which fit our price range and we decided to purchase her a security doorto limit the amount of theft.
Comfort is a single mother of five kids who all take part in ensuring that all of her customersreceive the bestservice. She will also have accessto a refrigeratorthrough the grant to create unique business value where she can sellrefrigerated goods all the time compared to her competitors who have limited accessto refrigeration.
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, Comfort Hanis , 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.