Connor_Gray
Connor Gray
My Business Training
Mubarak Idris
About Mubarak Idris
Mubarak Idris is a skilled and passionate welder from Yelwan Makaranta, Bauchi State, Nigeria. With six years of hands-on experience through apprenticeship, he is committed to launching his own welding and metal fabrication business.
Mubarak envisions a workshop producing strong, well-crafted doors, windows, gates, and tanks for his community. His goal is not only to deliver quality craftsmanship but also to uplift his family by creating jobs and training opportunities for local youth.
Mubarak’s dedication to his craft and community drives his entrepreneurial journey. He aims to build a reputable brand known for reliability and excellence.
Mubarak Idris
Business Goals
Mubarak’s business is built on honesty, quality, and dedication to customer satisfaction. His core values of family loyalty, hard work, and community service will guide every aspect of his career and personal life with great passion.
He sees his shop not only as a place for metalwork but also as a center for growth, learning, and positive impact on his community. Mubarak dreams of establishing “Mubarak Idris Welding and Fabrication Workshop” near AYM Shafa roundabout in Yelwa, Bauchi.
Services include custom doors, windows, gates, tank stands, burglary proofs, and general metal repairs.
Mubarak Idris
Obstacles
Over his welding career, Mubarak has gained valuable skills in cutting, bending, and shaping metal with precision. He fabricates doors, windows, gates, tanks, and burglary proofs while also offering repair services to restore broken metal items.
Despite his expertise, Mubarak’s main obstacle is lack of capital and limited access to affordable financing options. He needs funding to buy welding machines, cutting tools, a generator, raw materials, and to rent or build a proper shop.
Without these essentials, he cannot fully launch his business or expand to serve more customers in a competitive market.
Mubarak Idris
Our Partnership
Mubarak is seeking mentorship, funding, equipment, and business training from Leadership Initiatives to overcome financial limitations and build a thriving business.
With the right tools and guidance, he aims to grow his metalwork shop into a well-known center that creates jobs in his community. He hopes to purchase advanced machines like an aluminum welder to expand his services.
Long-term, Mubarak wants to train young apprentices, support his family, help his wife’s small business, and provide his children with opportunities. Above all, he aspires to be remembered for building something lasting from humble beginnings.
My Grant Proposal Presentation
As part of the International Leadership and Business Internship, I collaborated with top development experts to help grow and strengthen my business partner’s infrastructure.
At the end 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 apply our entrepreneurial skills, showcase our strategic plan, and advocate for meaningful change in our partner’s business.
Our team was awarded a grant that will fund the implementation of our business partner’s plan, providing life-changing support that will expand operations, improve 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.
My Grant Proposal
Throughout the program, we worked closely with Mubarak Idris to gain a clear understanding of their business goals. Though Mubarak has 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 crafted a proposal detailing the infrastructure materials that would support the growth of their business. We devised a plan that would allow Mubarak to optimize their business through a new budget and financial tracking system.
This new budget enables Mubarak to allocate funds toward essential materials and equipment, supporting the optimization of their services. Effective financial tracking will be crucial for managing growing profits and preserving assets, ensuring the business’s long-term growth and stability.
Internship Highlights
Our business development journey began with a one-on-one Zoom meeting with our partner, Mubarak Idris, and our Nigerian project coordinator. This initial conversation laid the foundation for strong collaboration and helped us better understand Mubarak’s background, family, goals for the business, and the specific challenges they were facing.
Hearing directly from Mubarak gave us 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 guided us, helping us ask the right questions and turn our ideas into meaningful, actionable strategies.
I had the unique opportunity to visit the Swedish Embassy, where I gained insight into the role of diplomacy in fostering strong relationships between Sweden and the United States.
The embassy functions as a center for international collaboration, working with partner 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 Swedish Embassy shared how they partner 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.
Throughout the internship, our team had the incredible opportunity to collaborate with top 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 Gerald Gangaram, a decorated Apache helicopter pilot & leadership expert. He gave us a crash course in leadership and decision-making, breaking down the key elements of what makes an effective leader. His insights helped us think bigger and more strategically about how to position our partner’s business for success.
With support from Mr. Gangaram and other global leaders, we sharpened our ideas, refined our strategy, and built a powerful pitch deck to present at the end of the week.
Throughout the internship, our team had the incredible opportunity to collaborate with top 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. She gave us a crash course in marketing and advertising, breaking down the key elements of what makes a campaign actually work. Her insights helped us think bigger and more strategically about how to position our partner’s business for success.
With support from Ms. Brooks and other global leaders, we sharpened our ideas, refined our strategy, and built a powerful 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.