Indira Cook
My Business Training
Maude Dzelnom
Quick Facts
Maude Dzelnom, who’s affectionately known as "Baba," is a disciplined 29-year-old laundry specialist and National Diploma graduate living in Bauchi.
Following the loss of his father in 2006, Maude watched his mother work tirelessly as a primary school teacher to provide for the family, inspiring his own resilient work ethic.
As the eldest sibling, he carries a deep sense of responsibility, funding his household's rent, utilities, and clean drinking water.
Motivated to be a strong role model for his younger siblings, Maude refined his professional cleaning skills through dedicated training, online research, and self-made practice.
Maude Dzelnom
Business Goals
Maude aims to transition his home-based laundry services into a professional residential clothing care shop named ELHANAN.
Operating Monday through Saturday from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, and Sundays after church, his shop will specialize in cloth washing, ironing, shoe restoration, and carpet cleaning.
Targeting busy corporate workers, business owners, and students aged 18 to 50, Maude offers high convenience through structured pickup and delivery options.
Expecting to process twenty large laundry orders weekly, he plans to utilize external banners and active social media marketing to establish a trustworthy brand modeled after Nigeria’s premium Garment Care franchise.
Maude Dzelnom
Business Obstacles
Maude consistently builds exceptional customer loyalty, but his business growth is severely restricted by operating straight out of a crowded, shared compound.
His primary operational challenge is a total lack of startup funding, which prevents him from buying a dedicated workspace and leaves him competing with neighbors for shared clotheslines.
Additionally, inconsistent regional power cuts make electronic tools nonfunctioning, while the rainy season causes massive drying delays that stall his delivery times.
Finally, navigating fixed pricing structures without formal bookkeeping experience makes it highly challenging to monitor his daily profit margins or build secure business savings.
Maude Dzelnom
Vulnerabilities
Maude is collaborating with Leadership Initiatives to leave his shared family compound and launch an independent, fully-functioning laundry facility.
This helpful partnership will equip his new startup with critical industrial machinery, including an automated washing machine, a heavy-duty dryer, a tagging gun, and a reliable power generator to completely bypass local electricity cuts.
By funding a spacious storefront, this collaboration provides the materials needed to set up an organized intake counter, wall-mounted storage shelves, and open garment hangers.
In addition, this assistance directly enables Maude to increase his turnaround speed, handle many clients, and support his family.
My Business Proposal
Throughout the program, we worked closely with Maude Dzelnom 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 marketing materials necessary to support the growth of their business. We devised a plan that would allow Maude Dzelnom to optimize their business through a new brand identity
Investments in a logo and marketing materials, such as signs and flyers, are vital for establishing a strong brand identity and expanding the customer base. These visual assets create a consistent and memorable image that builds trust and recognition among potential clients.
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 brand.
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 Portugal
- Diplomacy Briefing At The Finnish Embassy
- Professional Mentorship
Our business development journey began with a one-on-one Zoom meeting with our partner, Maude Dzelnom, 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 Maude Dzelnom 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 Portugal, where I gained firsthand insight into the role of diplomacy in fostering strong relationships between Portugal 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 Portugal 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 Finnish 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 Finnish 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.