Onondaga Central
This year Onondaga’s International Business Internship Program (IBIP) team has been working with their business partner Ukasha Alhassan. As many of you may remember last year Onondaga’s IBIP team worked with Shehu Gagare, a fish farmer. Shehu graduated from the “student” division of IBIP and will now work with people on the ground in Nigeria to implement our solutions. Leadership Initiatives is based in Washington D.C. that focuses on improving underserved communities in Nigeria. The International Business Internship Program is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for high school students across the country to work with a real business in the developing world and transform communities across the globe. The team members include Natalie Price, Nicole Dooley, and Dylan Price, the team leader as well as the creator of Onondaga’s IBIP team. Ukasha lives in Bauchi State, Nigeria. At age 21, he has run his own motorcycle repair business for four years. With the help of the International Business Internship Program and the help of Onondaga students, he hopes to expand his business, increase profits, and give back to his community. At six years old, Ukasha had lost both of his parents. His uncle took Ukasha in and gave him a home, but once his uncle got married, Ukasha was forced to move in with a friend. Once again, Ukasha was an orphan, left to work hard, and survive on his own and look after his younger brother. Through his business, Ukasha is able to support his family, including his uncle, who had helped him in the past. Additionally, Uksaha funds his younger brother’s education. Currently, 17 people depend on Ukasha’s business to survive. Ukasha also helps the children in his community, by having 11 teenagers in his community become apprentices. He is able to train them in the profession. By doing so, he hopes he can eventually have employees. At the beginning of the year, Ukasha was lacking the few crucial components to running a successful business. His business needed the following: a business name, advertising, and system of keeping track of Ukasha’s revenue and expenses. People only knew about his business through word of mouth. Ukasha’s goal is that within the next 5 years he would like to move to a bigger location with more customers and own his shop instead of renting a building. He would also like to start selling motorcycle parts instead of customers having to purchase the parts for Ukasha to then fix the motorcycle. Onondaga’s IBIP team has started putting their ideas into action for Ukasha to use. The team got to work by first helping with advertising. The team established a much need business name, “Ukasha’s Motorcycle Repair Shop”. This allowed them to create a logo, business cards, bumper stickers, as well as flyers, all of which will spread the word about Ukasha’s business and attract new customers. In order to improve Ukasha’s financial management, we created two different spreadsheets. One spreadsheet was to record expenses and the other was to record revenue. Likewise, our team created receipts. The team thought of new ideas to help promote his business like creating membership programs and a motorcycle washing station. The team still has more they would like to achieve with Ukasaha and are looking forward to accomplishing more of his goals. However, they are excited to see their ideas come to life, and even more excited to be putting their ideas to good use and helping someone along the way. Onondaga’s IBIP team is helping to change the world one idea at a time. The following is a statement written by Ukasha about IBIP, "My name is Ukasha, I own a small motorcycle repair shop along Zango Road Bauchi. I met a team of 2 girls and a boy late 2019 who have helped shaped my business with ideas that I never had imagined, the revenue/sales tracker I am presently using which was designed by them has made me realize I could achieve my dreams only if I know what I make and how much I spend with regards to business. I have become more conscious of how I spend money and very eager to record whatever transaction I had”. To support Ukasha and Onondaga’s IBIP team you can donate to https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/onondaga-ibip/.
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