Zuweena Singh
My Business Training
Sunday Akinola
Quick Facts
Sunday Akinola is a hardworking 26-year-old auto painter currently based in Bauchi, Nigeria.
Born in Ogun State into a large family of 11 children, Sunday learned responsibility early while caring for his father, who had survived a severe accident.
Choosing to leave school after primary five, Sunday dedicated himself to mastering his father's auto painting trade.
Now an expert craftsman capable of spray-painting cars, motorcycles, and household appliances, Sunday serves as important financial support for his relatives.
Inspired by his goal-driven employer, he remains deeply motivated to achieve complete independence and establish his own successful workshop.
Sunday Akinola
Business Goals
Sunday strives to establish a professional automobile painting business, offering full vehicle repainting, precise touch-ups, and specialty bodywork finishing.
He aims to provide quality spray-painting craftsmanship for commercial and private transport, including cars, tricycles, and motorcycles, while selling retail painting accessories.
Targeting male drivers, civil servants, transport operators, and military personnel of all ages, Sunday prioritizes technical precision, customer reliability, and flexible pricing. He plans to scale his weekly operations to serve six clients consistently.
Ultimately, Sunday wants to evoke client confidence and trust, building a widely recognized brand that elevates regional automotive aesthetic standards.
Sunday Akinola
Business Obstacles
Sunday has maintained high-quality finishing standards and reliable execution despite currently operating with only a basic spray gun and engine.
To support his extended family, he works tirelessly, but a big obstacle remains the lack of specialized industrial equipment and a permanent workshop.
Relying on basic tools restricts his daily capacity and prevents him from doing large-scale business projects.
Additionally, frequent local power outages constantly interrupt technical operations, while a lack of financial record-keeping restricts growth.
Overcoming these infrastructure and tool deficits is essential for Sunday to gain a competitive edge and prevent operational delays.
Sunday Akinola
Vulnerabilities
Sunday seeks support from Leadership Initiatives to launch his new auto paint services business, requiring a power generator, a buffing machine, an auto paint oven, and starting funding.
This partnership will provide the necessary technical equipment to achieve operational independence and directly stock high-demand painting materials.
With this assistance, Sunday’s business will transform into a spacious main street workshop featuring a dedicated mixing station, display shelves, and a spacious vehicle lot.
This important collaboration guarantees operational success, empowering Sunday to handle complex paint jobs efficiently, build a stable future, and deliver specialized craftsmanship to Bauchi residents.
My Business Proposal
Throughout the program, we worked closely with Sunday Akinola 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 Sunday Akinola 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 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, Sunday Akinola, 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 Sunday Akinola 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.