Susie Toth
My Business Training
Abubakar Sani
Quick Facts
Abubakar Sani, nicknamed "Baba Habu," is a hardworking 32-year-old automobile technician from Liman Katagum, Bauchi State.
Growing up in a large extended family of thirty-five, he learned the value of labor early, helping his mother sell food to support their household.
After trying tailoring and carpentry, Abubakar discovered his skills in auto repair. Now married with four children, he balances long workshop hours with his home responsibilities.
Deeply inspired by a local colleague and driven by a powerful desire to fund a quality education for his young children, Abubakar works tirelessly to build his independent mechanical workshop.
Abubakar Sani
Business Goals
Abubakar strives to establish a leading automobile service business, Baba Habu Auto Care, providing professional engine repairs, car key fixing, electrical repairs, and selling spare parts.
Targeting private and commercial vehicle owners who rely on their cars for daily activities, he prioritizes high efficiency, technical expertise, and job-specific, affordable pricing.
Abubakar plans to manage an ongoing volume of six clients weekly, operating twelve hours daily on a prominent main street.
Ultimately, he aims to build an exceptionally fast-paced customer experience that fosters deep brand loyalty, ensuring community drivers experience unmatched reliability and vehicle safety.
Abubakar Sani
Business Obstacles
Abubakar maintains excellent diagnostic standards and reliable mechanical execution despite currently owning no professional tools or repair equipment. Working directly under his boss restricts his financial independence, making it difficult to fund his startup venture. Because peak demand occurs predictably around month-end salary cycles, his lack of heavy machinery like a chain block or a dedicated workspace creates severe logistical delays. Furthermore, navigating early-stage market competition, building trust with a new clientele, and balancing intensive family financial demands complicate his expansion. Overcoming these critical asset shortages is vital for Abubakar to secure a true competitive edge.
Abubakar is great at fixing cars and troubleshooting engines, despite not currently owning any of his own tools or repair equipment yet.
Working directly under his boss limits his financial independence, making it difficult to save up and start his own garage.
Because businesses tend to have higher demand at the end of the month when people get paid, his lack of heavy gear like a chain block or his own workspace causes major delays.
Navigating competition, earning customer trust early on, and balancing heavy family bills make expanding tough. Getting these vital tools is his biggest step forward.
Abubakar Sani
Vulnerabilities
Abubakar seeks support from Leadership Initiatives to launch his independent mechanical garage, requiring a complete toolbox, a drilling machine, a piston cram, and a three-ton chain block.
This partnership will provide the necessary seed capital to acquire an expansive main street repair lot and an inventory container for spare parts.
With this assistance, Abubakar’s business will transform into a fully equipped, fast-paced service station capable of handling major commercial cars easily.
This collaboration guarantees long-term business success, empowering Abubakar to confidently sponsor his children's education while providing premium automotive care to the community.
My Business Proposal
Throughout the program, we worked closely with Abubakar Sani 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 Abubakar Sani to optimize their business through a new financial tracking system.
This new budget enables Abubakar Sani 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 Lithuania
- Professional Networking Panel
- Professional Mentorship
Our business development journey began with a one-on-one Zoom meeting with our partner, Abubakar Sani, 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 Abubakar Sani 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 Lithuania, where I gained firsthand insight into the role of diplomacy in fostering strong relationships between Lithuania 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 Lithuania 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 the career mentoring panel, I had the opportunity to learn from professionals with diverse experiences across higher education, athletics, business, and entrepreneurship. Andrii Marchak and Anthony Annan shared insights from their careers and experiences at Georgetown University, while Scott Rezendes discussed his professional journey and work with the Soccer Syndicate. Together, their different backgrounds provided valuable perspectives on navigating career opportunities, developing professional skills, and building meaningful relationships.
Throughout the panel, we were able to ask questions about networking, career planning, leadership, professional growth, and finding opportunities in competitive industries. The panelists discussed their own career paths, the decisions and experiences that shaped their professional development, and strategies for building strong networks and making lasting professional connections.
This experience broadened my understanding of the many different paths a successful career can take. Hearing directly from professionals across different fields encouraged me to think more intentionally about my own goals and reinforced the importance of communication, adaptability, networking, and taking advantage of opportunities throughout my education and future career.
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.