BusRyanHessamfar
Ryan Hessamfar
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.
Wendjourben Michael
About Wendjourben
Wendjourben obtained his diploma in woodwork education but could not find a job at the time. To support himself, he decided to learn the fish joint business about 15 years ago with a senior colleague of his in Bauchi. He trained for a one-year period and then went on to establish his own fish joint independently.
During his training, Wendjourben learned three different recipes for fish roasting and grilling. He also learned how to cost his roasted fish for a higher profit, gained contacts with fish farmers for easy buying and reselling, and mastered the correct way to weigh the fish for maximum profitability. As the apprenticeship ended, Wendjourben was able to establish his own roasting fish business and provide another avenue for food for his local community.
Though Wendjourben is passionate about his work, his business has faced financial hardships and cannot adequately fund equipment upgrades. Despite the challenge, Wendjourben persists because he finds immense satisfaction in seeing his work's impact on the local community.
Wendjourben Michael
Business Goals
Wendjouben hopes that one day his fish joint will grow to the level where he can start to farm the fish himself, expanding his business from a food stall to a fish supplier for local roasting fish joints across his community, thereby creating a more integrated and self-sustaining operation. Wendjouben believes that this business change will garner more revenue as farming fish would ensure he’ll have a constant supply of fish to roast for his roasted fish business, significantly reducing dependency on external suppliers. Excess fish can be sold to nearby fish joints as a side business profit, adding an additional revenue stream to his enterprise. By having multiple streams of income, Wendjouben’s business will not rely on one avenue of business and can aid in expanding his outreach with other local businesses and diversifying his customer base, ultimately fortifying his market presence and economic resilience.
Wendjourben Michael
Obstacles
Operating a roasted fish joint in Bauchi State, Nigeria poses several significant challenges for small business owners. Firstly, sourcing fresh and high-quality fish consistently can be problematic due to seasonal variations, unreliable supply chains, and competition from larger establishments with better procurement networks. Secondly, ensuring food safety and hygiene standards amidst inconsistent electricity supply and limited access to clean water for washing and cooking can pose health risks and regulatory challenges. Thirdly, navigating bureaucratic hurdles to obtain licenses and permits required to operate a food establishment can be arduous and time-consuming, potentially delaying business launch or expansion.
Wendjourben Michael
Home & Family
Wendjourben is a 39 year old man who immigrated from Carmeroon to Bauchi state, Nigeria. Growing up Wendjourben was in a family of 8 with 5 other siblings and his parents and tried to support them by testing various small jobs around the community. Eventually, through his diverse career path, he narrowed it down to working at a roasted fish joint and inevitably starting his own joint. His fish joint was doing fairly well, however, because of the responsibilities and duties he was unable to grow his business as rapidly as he had hoped. He currently is sponsoring his two younger siblings University education in Bauchi state and has also taken full responsibility for his mom’s needs after his father passed away. Shouldering some of the financial hardship of the family after his father’s late passing, he became financially strained from supporting his siblings, his mother, and his own family with his wife and two sons.
Wendjourben Michael
Our Partnership
Through the partnership with Leadership Initiatives and working with the interns in the Leadership and Business Internship, Wendjourben hopes to actualize his dreams of expanding his roasting fish joint operation and improving the reception of his product to many more people within his community. One of his largest struggles as a food vendor in Bauchi is advertising his food to the local community as his lack of funds to promote his product diminishes his outreach efforts. With Leadership Initiatives he hopes to grow his customer base enough to fulfill his dreams of attaining financial stability and hopefully expand into having a fish farm to supply his operation without needing to outsource fish from elsewhere.
In his words, “Being selected for this partnership is a life-changing opportunity for my family and me. I am very excited and grateful for this moment. My goal is to create a platform to assist immigrants from other African countries in settling seamlessly in Bauchi. I also aim to train those interested in entrepreneurship or business. I believe that this partnership will provide my business and company with the necessary boost to achieve this goal.”
My Grant
Proposal
Our mission is to take actionable steps that will develop a practical, profitable, and sustainable business using the resources of Leadership Initiatives. Our business partner, Mr. Wendjourben, envisions a family-oriented roasted fish restaurant, providing a comforting environment where community members will dine and indulge in the cultural staple of inland seafood. Wendjourben aspires to develop his restaurant into a fish farm in an effort to supply his own restaurant in the future, reducing his dependency on external suppliers. Through a continuation of this development, Wendjourben can then become a local supplier, expanding revenue opportunities for his enterprise and assisting his community. Wendjourben has a long-standing passion for cooking. Originally from Cameroon, he emigrated to Bauchi State, Nigeria. Following the completion of his diploma in woodworking from Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic Bauchi, Wendjourben struggled to obtain a woodworking position. He then began an apprenticeship at a roasted fish shop, where he worked alongside a senior chef for one year. Through this introduction to the industry, Wendjourben spent the next fifteen years establishing his own fish joint and networking with local farmers to improve the efficiency of their supply. Finding success in the fish industry has provided Wendjourben with an opportunity to solve financial instability for his family, in addition to impacting the local community.
Due to Nigeria’s inherent societal barriers, many women are not directly a part of the work force. In recent times however, there has been an increase in women looking to work and help support their families financially. Within this business, Mr. Wendjourben is looking to employ his wife. His wife has a degree in accountancy and will take over the finances of the business. With the resources provided by the grant and the plan enacted by Leadership Initiatives, Mr. Wendjourbon is creating a work environment which can help uplift the community.
Another barrier is the cultural divide that stems from Mr. Wendjourben’s upbringing in Cameroon. He has had to navigate the cultural differences and will continue to as he establishes his business with a new target market. One competitive edge he has is that part of budget is allotted to getting his business registered. Many street vendors, which are his biggest competition, are unregistered businesses. This leads to greater transparency and less barriers to cross.
My Grant Proposal
Presentation
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
- Portugese Embassy
- Embassy of Argentina
- Expert Assistance
Our team began the business development process by having a one-on-one Zoom call directly with our business partner,Wendjourben Michael, and our 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 their 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 Portugese Embassy, where I learned about diplomatic relations between Portugal and the United States.
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.
Portugese 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 Embassy of Lebanon to learn about the role that Lebanon plays in domestic and international development work. We discussed critical topics including investments, international trade, and human rights.
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.
My visit to the Embassy of Lebanon was not only educational, but inspiring. It allowed me to see Lebanon’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.