Alexander Vlok
My Business Training
Hauwa Ofuenyi
Quick Facts
Hauwa Ofuenyi, affectionately known as "Mommy Philip," is a resilient entrepreneur from Bauchi State.
Raised in a crowded, close-knit family in Kaduna, she overcame limited resources to earn a Higher National Diploma in Public Administration. Formerly a supermarket sales representative, Hauwa used this experience to launch a beverage provision shop and a backyard poultry farm.
A dedicated mother of three, she is motivated to work hard for children’s comfortability and manages her household with their support.
Despite facing early setbacks with her business, Hauwa remains an optimistic woman committed to providing essential goods and supporting her community’s growth.
Hauwa Ofuenyi
Business Goals
Hauwa strives to create a professional beverage shop where customers feel refreshed and valued.
She hopes to provide students, vocational workers, and civil servants with high-quality drinks, ranging from yogurts, energy drinks, and Coca-Cola products.
Prioritizing affordability and exceptional service, she aims to serve her customers daily in a welcoming environment.
Hauwa hopes to expand her business’ reach by securing a permanent shop, accessing a transparent refrigerator, a generator, and seed capital for more drinks.
For her branding, she envisions a welcoming, family-friendly atmosphere with bright colors and refreshing themes that promotes excitement and trust in those that come across it.
Hauwa Ofuenyi
Business Obstacles
Hauwa maintains a consistent supply of beverages and snacks despite operating from a location that may change.
To meet community demand, she opens daily, though her business faces seasonal slowdowns during the cold, rainy months.
Her primary challenge is reaching more customers and the unreliable electricity, which makes keeping drinks cold difficult.
Since the beverage market is competitive, Hauwa aims to distinguish herself through increased marketing and fair pricing per customer.
Her limited funding also makes expanding inventory hard, but acquiring a power generator and a transparent refrigerator is essential to gaining a competitive edge and preventing financial loss.
Hauwa Ofuenyi
Vulnerabilities
Hauwa seeks support from Leadership Initiatives to increase the impact of her beverage business, requiring a permanent shop space, a generator, and a transparent refrigerator.
This partnership will provide the necessary funding to increase her inventory of Coca-Cola, Cway, and other products.
With this assistance, Hauwa’s workspace will transform into a professional, well-organized shop featuring vibrant signage and a comfortable customer seating area.
She envisions a family-friendly space where clients enjoy their drinks and the good service.
This collaboration ensures business success, allowing Hauwa to support her family while offering her community accessible and affordable refreshments.
My Business Proposal
Throughout the program, we worked closely with Hauwa Ofuenyi to develop a clear understanding of their business goals. Though they have leveraged their skills and years of experience to create their business, they face obstacles hindering the expansion of their work.
Guided by their vision, we created a proposal detailing the infrastructure materials necessary to support the growth of their business. We devised a plan that would allow Hauwa Ofuenyi to optimize their business through a new financial tracking system.
This new budget enables Hauwa Ofuenyi to allocate funds toward essential materials and equipment, supporting the improvement of their services. Effective financial tracking will be crucial for managing increased revenue and preserving assets, ensuring the business’s long-term growth and stability.
My Business Proposal Presentation
As part of the International Leadership and Business Internship, I collaborated with top development experts to strengthen my business partner’s operation and finances.
At the conclusion of the program, my team presented our final proposal to a panel of judges from the Leadership Initiatives Grant Committee. This formal pitch allowed us to demonstrate our entrepreneurial skills, showcase our strategic plan, and advocate for meaningful change in our partner’s business.
Our team was awarded grant funding to support the implementation of our business partner’s plan, providing life-changing support that will expand operations, strengthen financial stability, and create new growth opportunities. Over the next year, this grant will help transform the future of their business and improve the quality of life for both the entrepreneur and their community.
Internship Highlights
- Business Partner Meeting
- Visit To The Embassy Of Serbia
- Diplomacy Briefing At The European Union's Embassy
- Professional Mentorship
Our business development journey began with a one-on-one Zoom meeting with our partner, Hauwa Ofuenyi, and our Nigerian project coordinator. This initial conversation laid the foundation for strong collaboration. It allowed us to better understand our partner's background, family, goals for the business, and the specific challenges they were facing.
Hearing directly from Hauwa Ofuenyi provided the insight we needed to begin brainstorming practical, personalized solutions. Each morning, our team held focused discussions to refine our ideas, reflect on expert advice from the day before, and adjust our timeline to move our plans forward efficiently.
Throughout the process, on-staff project coordinators and business development experts offered guidance, helping us ask the right questions and turn our ideas into meaningful, actionable strategies.
I had the unique opportunity to visit the Embassy of Serbia, where I gained firsthand insight into the role of diplomacy in fostering strong relationships between Serbia and the United States.
The embassy serves as a center for international collaboration, partnering with countries and global organizations to address pressing issues such as poverty, gender inequality, and climate change. Through this visit, I learned how diplomats engage in meaningful dialogue and policy development to create sustainable, people-focused solutions.
Officials from the Embassy of Serbia shared how they collaborate with local communities to identify needs and implement programs that empower individuals and strengthen long-term development. This commitment to community-driven impact inspired my team and me as we worked to develop our own business proposal focused on creating lasting change.
During my visit to the European Union's Embassy, I gained insight into how diplomacy shapes international cooperation and development. The experience deepened my understanding of the embassy’s role in promoting peace, fostering economic partnerships, and addressing shared global challenges.
Embassy representatives discussed how their work supports cross-cultural exchange, advances policy priorities, and strengthens relationships between the European Union's people and the United States. I learned how embassies serve as bridges, connecting governments, communities, and organizations to create innovative solutions for global issues.
This visit broadened my perspective on international leadership and inspired me to think critically about how collaboration, cultural awareness, and strategic planning can drive meaningful progress- principles that our team applied while developing our business proposal.
Throughout the internship, our team had the incredible opportunity to collaborate with leading experts in business and economic development from Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. State Department, and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
One of the highlights was a session with Carla Brooks, Business and Development Officer at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs.
My team also worked directly with a personal mentor. Our mentor provided us with career insights, project support, and feedback for our business ideas. The meetings we had throughout the week with our mentor provided critical insights from the initial business ideation phase through our project presentation.
With support from Ms. Brooks and other global leaders, including Eric Rosenstein, we refined our ideas, strengthened our strategy, and developed a powerful and polished pitch deck to present at the end of the week. Their guidance helped us take our business proposal to the next level, creating a plan designed not only to launch a venture, but to transform our business partner’s future.