Kyra Gerena
My Business Training
Haruna Haladu
Quick Facts
Haruna Haladu, nicknamed "Harun," is a disciplined 35-year-old university graduate and expert tailor from Yelwa, Bauchi.
Raised by a teacher in a large, education-focused household, Haruna developed strong personal values of responsibility and patience early on.
Despite facing severe financial hardships during his university years, he remained deeply committed to his goals.
Today, Haruna is a dedicated husband and father to a newborn son, serving as the primary financial pillar for his family.
He also proudly funds the education of his younger relative and helps support his retired father, driven entirely by his deep commitment to his family.
Haruna Haladu
Business Goals
Haruna aims to transition his current tailoring work into an independent, professional design studio called Harun Tailoring Services.
Operating daily from 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM in a high-traffic marketplace, he will specialize in custom male and children's traditional garments, including kaftans, baban rigas, and senator wear.
Targeting students, civil servants, and business owners, Haruna sets himself apart by consistently delivering quality, custom-made clothing promptly according to scheduled agreements.
He anticipates sewing roughly twenty-one outfits per week. Ultimately, his goal is to establish a premium, highly reliable brand that is recognized for unmatched work and customer care.
Haruna Haladu
Business Obstacles
Haruna successfully retains a highly loyal client base who trust his custom tailoring skills, but his growth is restricted by operating with only a basic manual machine.
A primary operational challenge is the lack of funding to lease his own permanent shop, leaving him dependent on external scheduling of his employer.
Additionally, severe regional power cuts present a major roadblock, forcing him to rely on expensive generators that consume high amounts of fuel and drain his profit margins.
Lastly, navigating job-dependent pricing without formal financial bookkeeping experience makes it difficult to track his daily business earnings or build long-term savings.
Haruna Haladu
Vulnerabilities
Haruna is collaborating with Leadership Initiatives to move out of shared employment and launch his own independent fashion workshop.
This strategic partnership will equip his new startup with essential industrial machinery, including an industrial sewing machine, an efficient solar inverter system to bypass electricity outages, a wardrobe unit, and vital startup funding.
Securing these advanced tools allows Haruna to open a spacious marketplace storefront featuring a clean, organized layout with large display windows and mannequins.
This critical assistance directly helps him increase his daily production speed, accommodate a more clients, and build a secure, thriving business.
My Business Proposal
Throughout the program, we worked closely with Haruna Haladu 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 Haruna Haladu 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, Haruna Haladu, 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 Haruna Haladu 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.