Interned with Leadership Initiatives to improve a business in the developing world.

Consulted with CEOs and marketing experts to develop viable solutions for a business in Bauchi State, Nigeria.

Received a grant reviewed by leaders from Exxon, The United Nations, and the Nigerian Embassy to implement solutions for my business partner.

Safi Marghub

The Bullis School

Class of 2023

Safi is excited to be participating in the international leadership and business internship. He is eager to learn how to develop ideas into business plans and help communities around the world.

He is an avid fencer and has competed in national and regional tournaments. His fencing has brought him the ability to focus and work hard towards his goals. He loves photography which helps him develop his creative skills and connect with the community at the Bullis School.

In the future, he would like to explore his interests and find ways to solve global problems (climate and education) and help others around the world.

Collaborated With A Business In The Developing World

Earned a Development Grant to Enact Solutions

Collaborated With Business Development Experts

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.

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.

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.

My Business Consultant Training

Jibrin Dahiru

Quick Facts

Business Partner Age: 26 years old

Business Partners Current Living Place: Behind NTA Makara huta, Bauchi

Marital Status: Married

Spouse Name: Maryam Yahaya Aliyu

Children: None

Type of Business: Coffee & Tea Business

Years Working: 13 years

Top Problems: 1) Does not have money to purchase shop location, 2) Purchasing new technology, and 3) Maintaining quick speed of other coffee and tea businesses

Jibrin watched his uncle while he ran his Tea/Coffee business and gradually developed an interest. When his uncle noticed Jibrin's interest, he decided to train him as an apprentice. Jibrin worked for him for two years learning all about what it takes to run a Tea/Coffee business. Since then, Jibrin has hoped to own his shop.

Jibrin loves working in his Tea/Coffee shop. People expressing happiness about his tea brings him joy. He also loves getting to meet new clients and enjoys having the opportunity to serve them exactly what they want.

Jibrin says that "to me, success is my ability to build/own a house, pay for my school fees. Moreover, being able to support my sick father and two siblings is another way I define success in my life."

About Jibrin

Jibrin wants to pay for his wife and two siblings to go to school. He also wants to make sure that his family will always have enough food on the table and can help others in the community who may be struggling to pay for food. Lastly, Jibrin wants to make sure that he saves enough money to take care of his father's sickness. His father suffers from leg pain and is unable to work.

Business Goals

Jibrin is a 26-year-old man who lives with his wife in a small house in Makara huta community, Bauchi Sate, Nigeria. He does not have any children.

Every morning, he wakes up early to observe his prayers, take a bath, and goes to his Tea/Coffee shop. When he goes to the shop, he first he goes to the market to buy fish. He prepares and fries the fish before evening when his clients start coming to the shop.

Jibrin's father is sick and has severe leg pain, so he does not work. For a long time, Jibrin has had to provide for his father and his two siblings.

Family & Home

Jibrin says that "[he] hope to improve my managing of my business, especially by attracting customers through excellent service delivery so as to retain them and increase the customer base in the business. I hope to get better equipment through the financial support from Leadership Initiatives and one day hope that my business would expand and improve into a standard Tea/Coffee joint!"

One day, Jibrin hopes that his Tea/coffe business will grow and employ more young people from his community to give them an opportunity to escape the cycle poverty and afford an education. Jibrin also hopes to provide more customers with quality services and make enough profit to take care of his family. Through his partnership with Leadership Initiatives, Jibrin knows he can achieve his dreams and make a change in his community as a whole.

Our Partnership

This proposal will introduce and provide insight into the tea and coffee shop. Abban-bula Tea joint, and its inner workings. The ideas expressed in this proposal are based wholly on information gathered from our client, Jibrin Dihiru and the overall environment of Nigeria as a whole. The information pertaining to the environment focuses on the culture of Nigeria. We will provide detailed explanations that span all aspects of the business. We will explain the goal of our team, Problems affecting our business partner, solutions to those problems, and how the money will be used. Our team has undergone rigorous training that covered the socio political situation of Nigeria and why businesses fail in the country.

Our team's objective is to help Jibrin create a more sustainable and successful business by establishing a positive and serene environment for his shop. Our goal was also to help him create a clear brand identity and add a personal touch to his business, which is a privilege many other merchants in Bauchi State do not have. Along with this, we have created a financial tracking plan to allow Jibrin to keep track of his business and personal spending.

We believe our solution provides the most benefits to Abban-bula tea and noodle joint. We hope that after listening to our presentation and reading our proposal you will agree. Both our infrastructure team and advertisement spoke in depth with our business partner to formulate solutions for their respective areas. Our main method to ensure the success of Jibrin’s company is paying close attention to every element that affects his business as well as his personal life. We gathered tons of information on his personal expenses, his rent, upgrade costs, rival restaurants and the wages of his employees. We used all of the gathered information to formulate solutions related to infrastructure and advertisement. We made sure to run every idea by our client before it became a full-fledged solution.

My Grant Proposal

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 Business & Development Internship, I worked directly with some of the world’s leading business and development experts to learn about international business and development.

My Grant Proposal Presentation

At the conclusion of the internship, I presented my grant proposal to a panel of distinguished judges.

Internship Highlights

Our team began the business development process by having a one-on-one Zoom call directly with our business partner, Hajara Isa, and Nigerian project coordinator to ensure productive collaboration.

We learned more about her life, family, and desires for the proposed business venture, as well as the challenges she was 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.

I had the unique opportunity to visit the Embassy of Sweden in Washington, DC, where I learned about Sweden and its diplomatic relationship with the United States.

The current ambassador of the Swedish Embassy is Ambassador Karin Olofsdotter, who is Sweden’s first female ambassador to the United States.

While we toured the embassy, we also learned about a wide range of policy issues including climate and sustainability, trade, security and democracy, gender equality, freedom of speech and culture.

Our team met with leading experts in the field of business and economic development from the State Department, Exxon, Harvard University, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, and top US companies and nonprofits.

These leaders included Dr. Sarah Stiles, Professor and Provost at Georgetown University, and Tiffany Norwood, serial entrepreneur with seven startups and nearly a billion dollars in funding under her belt.

With their guidance, we streamlined our initial ideas to further our efforts in launching the venture our business partner envisioned.

Our team advanced our communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills through hands-on project management and development.

Our team pitched the final proposal to a panel of expert judges from Harvard University, 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.