SIYBSIYB SuccessSuccess StorieStoriess SIYB case studies from different regions of This document compiles some success stories of the entrepreneurs who were recruited and trained in the ILO- Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) Program and who have successfully established or improved their businesses as a result of what they learned in the program between 2012- 2013

Youth Entrepreneurship Facility Tanzania 2013

Table of Contents

Introduction. 4 1. : “Learning from others and doing it better” 6

2. Musoma “It is never too late to make a Change”. 9 “Using old experience to make a new Future” 11 “Achieving the Unexpected” 13

3. Mtwara (Tandahimba) “Thinking beyond and discovering new Opportunities” 16 “Dynamic Mind, Open Eyes” 18

4. “From drug Addiction to Productive Again” 20

5. “Unstoppable Determination” 23 “Learning to get what you want” 25

6. “Arriving at a life-time dream” 27

7. Pwani (Kibaha) 3 “Golden Opportunity in the Mothers’ Hands” 30 Mr. Jealous Chirove

Chief Technical Advisor -

Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda

Youth Entrepreneurship Facility (YEF)

Introduction The Youth Entrepreneurship Facility has pursued its programme implementation through five inter-related and complementary project components: (i) Promoting a culture of Entrepreneurship; (ii) Entrepreneurship Education; (iii) Promoting Evidence-based Advocacy; (iv) Access to Finance for Young Entrepreneurs; (iv) Youth-to-Youth Fund; and (v) Access to finance and business development services. Youth are recognised from the ages of 18 to 35 years.

The Facility anticipates the following five immediate outcomes: (i) Improved attitudes towards entrepreneurship among young women and men; (ii) The education system produces more entrepreneurial graduates; (iii) Youth start and improve their business; (iv) Youth organizations deliver innovative youth entrepreneurship solutions; and (v) Youth employment policy makers and promoters make evidence based decisions for better resource allocation and program design.

Since 2010, in Tanzania, YEF has reached out directly to more than 100,000 young people with entrepreneurship promotion messages, more than 11,000 through business development services, and it has facilitated 4 access to finance to some of them. Many of the young people have started or expanded their businesses as a result of the interventions. In in order to show some of the stories YEF documents in this publication some of the project successes for wider dissemination to other young people and organizations supporting youth entrepreneurship. The case studies documented in here have been physically visited, and the entrepreneurs were interrogated to openly express their experiences. The sampled regions where young entrepreneurs were interviewed are Mtwara, Mwanza, Arusha, Dar es Salaam, Coastal, Zanzibar, and Mara regions.

Generally this publication has shown interesting motivations demonstrated by the young entrepreneurs as a result of attending the ILO SIYB training. To some of them the training was an eye opening experience to a new business world that they had not thought of before and to others it showed the proper ways of managing their businesses. Aspects that their stories include the general information about the young entrepreneur and the situation before the program, information about the business interventions, the business idea generation, the influence of the SIYB program on the business (how the program interventions have benefited them and the impact now), social values in creating a living for themselves (any change in social and economic aspects) as well as new jobs; what were the challenges, constraints, future plans and dreams of the entrepreneurs.

5 1. Mwanza “Learning from others and doing it better”

Jane Makale

Within Tanzania’s second most populous city, business is peaking with the available market of about 3 million people. Mwanza has a good infrastructure and a lot of business opportunities. It is within this city where a young lady, Jane Makale, who after receiving SIYB training finds her way to increase her earnings.

Jane, 32, a wife and mother of two kids Willie and Mary, is working as a secretary at Okwama Enterprises and Agent Company which is contracted to collect the Mwanza City’s revenue from several sources. Jane has been employed for more than five years, but she felt she needed another source of income in addition to her salary in order to make ends meet. The City of Mwanza, the wide building on the right is Jane’s office building.

Prior to the SIYB training, Jane was intrigued by an idea that was practised by a young lady that used to sell women’s latest fashion accessories at her office. This lady brought in handbags, purses, watches, necklaces, and perfumes, displaying an array of good taste and quality. Not only were her products attractive, but they also had a reasonable price tag compared to the shops in town. Furthermore, she let her customers purchase her items on a credit basis allowing them to pay her at the end of the month 6 when they got their salaries. On attending the SIYB training conducted in Mwanza by the SIYB trainer Musa Mashishanga, Mrs Makale learned how to successfully emulate a business. “When I read about how people get their business ideas, I knew you could also pick it from someone else who is doing a similar business and improve where he or she is doing wrong; I saw an opportunity to take advantage of the idea from the woman who used to sell her products to us” She says.

That is what she did. She picked up the idea of supplying those products to her colleagues. Why not me, she thought? She was closer to her work mates and knew her prospective customers well. In the same building where she worked there were also a lot of other offices for her initial market base. She got all the information she needed about her business from the same woman who used to do it before.

What did the SIYB training teach her? Above all Jane has learned how to do her marketing, and that she now understands that marketing is the life blood of a successful business. “Without a good customer base, which is influenced by marketing, your business would have been doomed from the start”, she says. Jane now focuses on marketing her business inside and outside her office. She is now looking for a permanent address for her business to give it more popularity. However, she says she will still continue with the previous approach of taking the commodities to her customers.

“You know you might think that you are making a profit but the truth is you are just bringing back the money that you had earlier given out”

Jane Makale also pointed out that

Jane in her Office, in the same building she knowing how to calculate the actual distributes products to her customers who costs of a business was a great revolution. are mostly her fellow workmates.

How has her new business influenced her social life? 7 Jane can now afford to provide for her family much better than she could before. She says she is happy when her kids ask for something for school, and she is able to provide it for them without having to tell them to wait for their daddy to come up with the money. She lives in a more comfortable house, for now she can add new furniture from time to time, and most importantly, she has peace of mind.

What are the challenges that she face in her business? Although selling on credit gives her reliable customers, it is, however, difficult to be sure when and whether her customers are going to pay her back. This makes it difficult for her to plan for future purchases and maintain other necessary aspects of a growing business. “Sometimes customers could be very stubborn when it comes to paying or others don’t pay at all, especially when they shift from the office building forcing her to declare bad debts.

What are her future dreams? “I’m not sure yet but I think I’m going to have to quit my job and concentrate on my business, I want to see myself at the pinnacle of the women’s fashion provider in the city.”

8 2. Mara (Musoma)

Lying about 225 kms Northeast of Mwanza, with a population of about 200,000 people, Musoma town provides a reasonable location for business and entrepreneurship growth. Within this small town, two budding entrepreneurs and a group of artistic young minds are successfully running their businesses. “It is Never too late to make a Change” Castol Simon

Castol Simon, aged 35 years old, is married with one child. He studied carpentry, and he is now determined to build his future around it. Before he joined the SIYB training, Castol used to do his carpentry work locally/ unprofessionally, whereby he made small wooden artifacts and sold them to a handful of customers. He did not actually see carpentry as a serious business but rather as a means to survive.

After Castol attended the SIYB training in Musoma which was offered by the SIYB trainer Maghita Nyang’ore, he decided that he would now engage himself in professional and competitive carpentry. “I decided to embrace my passion and commit myself to make something out of it. “Although it seemed to me a bit too Castol at his Business premise late to venture into this, I knew I could still do something productive. The training paved the way for me” he says.

What did he learn from the SIYB Training? “I learned how to set priorities. I had to decide what I needed to do first. I 9 also learned that I needed to be committed to my work in order for me to accumulate the capital I needed for my business.” What does he do differently? Castol has established a permanent business address where his customers could easily find him. He also looks for customers instead of just waiting for them to come to him. He learned that creativity is the key to success in his line of business; “when I go to sleep I think of what should I do different tomorrow?” Castol also trains other young aspiring carpenters who wish to learn his craft, including the three employees that he has employed permanently.

What are the challenges that he faces? Castol has tried to seek for a loan from banks and other financial institutions, but to no avail. He couldn’t secure a loan due to the bureaucratic system in place. The lack of capital makes it difficult for him to achieve his objectives.

What are his future dreams? Castol’s dream is to own a small carpentry industry where he would train youngsters and produce a lot of furniture and wooden artifacts to sell within and outside his town (Musoma).

10 “Using old experience to make a new Future” Thomas Mdau

Thomas, 29, was a fisherman before he heard about the SIYB training program. After joining the training program and gaining insights on business, Thomas made a decision that he would seriously involve himself in business even if he did not yet know what kind of a business he would pursue. After considerable thought, Thomas decided to adopt their family business, a stationary shop.

To start up the business, Thomas borrowed an old photocopying machine from his father and rented a shop inside the Musoma airport premises where he allocated his new stationary services. He says the area is well reachable by customers and is in the middle of the town. However, Thomas does not wait for customers to come to him. Rather he seeks for tenders from educational institutions and offices to get work.

What did he learn from the SI YB Training? ”I have learned a lot about marketing”. Thomas is now convinced that marketing is the epitome of business. ”I learned that business is more than just opening a shop and waiting for customers to swarm in, rather it is about luring them, and trying to satisfy their every need in order to sustain a lucrative business. Once you know that you have managed to pull off such a task, you can rest assured that you will always have customers despite the complaints from other shop owners on business being slow due to the lack of customers.”

“At first I did not think that it was a good business idea but then I 11 thought every business has its Thomas in his stationary shop operating his challenges, so I decided to stick photocopying machine with my idea.” Thomas has employed a young lady called Jane Mashauri (24), a mother of two children. Jane says she enjoys to be employed by a person of her peer, but above all she acknowledges that the business helps her to afford her living expenses with her two children. “The good thing about being employed by a

Jane, Thomas’ employee doing her regular fellow youth is that you feel like you’re activity working with a friend. In most cases we discuss issues instead of him just lashing out orders at me. He motivates me and I feel like I’m a part of the business. This makes me work hard for him because I know if the business does not make a profit I will feel bad taking a salary from him” Jane says.

How has his business influenced his social life? “I used to depend on my parents on a daily basis. Fishing could not sustain me one hundred per cent but now with my own income I do everything I want on my own. I feel free because I know my parents do not see me as a burden anymore.”

What are the challenges that he faces in his business? “A stationary shop largely depends on the availability of power (electricity). With unreliable availability of electricity, business becomes a challenge when customers need our services and we cannot provide it to them. Due to the unavailability of power, we are considering shifting somewhere else where there is a standby generator. Also, recently, we have been notified on the abrupt raise in rent of our shop. We are still not sure whether we are going to afford the rent with the current business trend” He says.

What are his future plans? ”My most recent plan is to have a new machine which can do more printing. By doing so, I will be sure of getting more work and reliable customers”. 12 Thomas is also thinking about adding more services that are not available currently. In the long run I dream of owning a large printing industry, and at that stage I will be able to call myself “a businessman”. “Achieving the Unexpected” Tambo Sanaa Group

A group of 10 friends, 10 young women and men aged between 15 - 25 used to converge in the evenings at a social hall to entertain and tell each other stories.

In due course they discovered that they all possessed different talents, and hence decided that they should share and practise their skills. Amongst them there were people who knew how to sing, recite poetry, and even do martial arts. A professional poet saw them one day and decided to train them. They eventually formed a group which was initially never meant for business.

One day an SIYB trainer in Musoma, Maghita Nyang’ore, was passing by and saw what they could do and thought their skills can be turned into a business. He enrolled and trained them in GYBI and SYB. That training, according to the members, totally changed their lives.

At first they did not comprehend the trainer telling them that they could make money out of what they were doing. After a few days of training, they 13 understood the idea. They registered their group with the local government authorities and then started promoting their group to other people. Since then they have been at the center of different functions for entertainment purposes. They are commonly hired by the government in many of their functions that require entertainment. Hiring them for such functions may cost a client between 500 - 800 USD.

Fred Peter (25), the group secretary said “Right now we depend on our group for most of our needs. Some of us are still students so through this business we are able to pay our school fees. We are happy that we have gained popularity and recognition, previously people used to see us as a group of useless street children”

What were the most important lessons from the SIYB Training? Lucas Mwita notes that “The trainer instilled in us ‘self-awareness’, we learnt what business was. After we understood, it was easy for us to grow from there. As we were going through the manuals, everybody was very encouraged and we were like ‘why don’t we start it now?”

How have their social lives improved from their new business? From different members of Tambo the experience has been very positive and life changing across the board. Joyce Paul (18) says as a girl she feels independent when she doesn’t have to beg for anything from anyone. To her that means freedom and independence. Likewise January Laurent (16) says that he is happy when he can help his mother with her basic needs at home. He feels more useful than before. ”I am confident that I will achieve my dreams without many obstacles.

What are their challenges? The group is just starting up so they are still lacking fundamental things for their performances like uniforms and musical instruments. “People are not yet fully convinced with our group and hence we do get a fair share of cancellations. We did however expect all this to happen in the beginning so we did not despair.”

14 What are their future plans? Fred says that “we are looking forward to the launch of our poetic shows on TV, we have also thought of involving ourselves in the film industry. We want to make movies that encourage youths like us who don’t think they can start from nothing and build something productive. We have already written some scripts, and we are looking forward to finding sponsors who will help us accomplish our mission”

How do they care about the environment in their activities? “Some of the messages that we convey in our songs emphasize on environmental protection. We know that the protection of the environment is a critical issue; we have already made a number of songs for the environment just in case we are called for a sensitization campaign. We also regularly take part in environmental cleaning activities individually or as a group. Generally we do care about the environment and we like to think that we are at the fore front of the preservation campaign”

15 3. Mtwara (Tandahimba)

Mtwara region, though the second smallest region of Tanzania after Kilimanjaro, is one of the most resourceful. SIYB trainers are based in Tandahimba district, one of the five districts. Others are Mtwara Urban, Mtwara Rural, Masasi, and Newala. The economic activity of Tandahimba district is mainly cashew nut production and marketing. But as it seems the cashew nut economy is not attractive for youth. The reason is that you need to wait for about fifteen years to start a reasonable harvest from a cashew nut tree. This means if you start a farm when you are 25 years old, you will start to harvest when you are at least 40.

That being the case, youth around these areas are being used mainly as labourers in the cashew nut farms, and they are not making a lot from it.

“Thinking beyond-Discovering new Opportunities” Wasafi Group Classic Car Wash

Wasafi classic car wash was formed by a group of four young men- Kalim Daddy Kasese (24), the chairperson, Anuali Ahmad Nambunga (22) Abisalami Salum (23) and Ali Hassan Lichinga (18). They were jobless and until recently spent most of their time aimlessly roaming around and doing nothing. The SIYB trainer in Tandahimba, Mbilinyi Isamail, who enrolled these four men, recalls how difficult it was to convince them to attend training because they did not believe that they would learn anything productive. However, they eventually agreed to attend training, and by doing so they made, in their own words, “a life changing decision”.

During training, they decided that they would come up with a joint business idea. The objective was to help one another since none of them had done 16 any business before, and starting alone seemed very challenging. Wasafi group’s business billboard in Tandahimba town advertising Mr. Anuali Ahmad Nambunga operating one their services of the machines they use in their activity

What exactly did they learn from the training? Mr. Annuali states that “the training above all increased my confidence. Things I did not think I could do were made possible by the training I received. You know we live in an environment that made us believe that it is either you get employed or you won’t be successful. For the first time in our lives the training told us something different”.

“We learned that a good business idea is that which brings many customers who are eager to buy your products or use your services. We realized that our business idea has to be unique with less competition, so we decided to create a car wash service” says their chairperson Mr. Kalim Daddy.

How was their business Idea born? When they were thinking of what to do, they discussed many other options until one of them suggested establishing a car wash. By then there weren’t any professional car wash spots available in the area, so based on this criteria of uniqueness and less competition they thought it would be a good idea if they establish one.

How has their new business influenced their social life? The group charges Tshs. 8,000/= ($5) per car. In a day they wash a minimum of five cars, and that makes a sum of approximately Tsh. 40,000/= (25 USD) a day. They can now make choices and influence decisions.

17 What are the challenges that they face? When getting started the local government agreed to give them a piece of land where they could locate their business and a bank gave them a loan of Tsh 1.5 million without having to produce any collateral. The bank gave them a loan based on their motivation. “I think it is the first time that a bank does something like this. “At times it is challenging to pay back the loan, especially when business is not good, but we want to make sure that we uphold our trustworthy relationship with the bank. It is very encouraging to us when people come to share their different ideas with us” says Mr. Daddy, the group chairperson.

What are their future plans? “We intend to establish a comprehensive garage where all services will be offered, and because we lack the technical knowhow, some of us will have to go to school for it. After that, we intend to register our company and to operate even beyond our regional boundaries. “Dynamic Mind, Open Eyes” Hugo Mohamed Upole

Upole Super Star Quality Furniture, the only ready-made furniture shop available in Tandahimba is the brain child of Hugo Mohamed Upole. Upole is a graduate trainee of the SIYB training program, the SIYB manuals have become his daily journals. He says he discovers new things from the manuals every day.

Upole is married with three children. He is serious with his business in order to sustain his family and prosper. Before he attended the SIYB training, Upole had attempted a number of business ventures many of which had failed. At the time of training he was running a restaurant, after the training, he decided to change his business idea. “It was a difficult decision to make, but after what I learned from the training I knew it was for the best.

Why did he pick a furniture business? Upole wanted something unique and new in his area so as to attract more 18 customers. He was also looking forward to venturing into a business less stressful than the restaurant business. He thought of many other options which they analysed in class, eventually he settled with a furniture shop. How the SIYB Training helped him ”The training manuals have become my business guide books. I go through them every day and every day I learn something new. I now know the consequences of not being careful in business. I try to keep my records better and I do my marketing beyond the shop walls. I reached out to my customers and inform them of new stock. I now try to think of different ways to advertise and promote my business, for example, I have made business cards for the first time in his life. I have also made a display album in which I display my products in an attractive way. I know all this is important because it is part and parcel of marketing. I did not know this before.”

How has his business influenced his social life? He used to quarrel with his wife in his previous business. Both of them were working at the restaurant. Now there is peace at his home, and their income has increased. “This business gives me more time to rest and be with my family, and he is happier.”

Mr. Upole in his shop, on the table is the SIYB manuals Product pdisplay in Mr. Upole’s shop that he always reads. The challenges he faces Six months after he established this business he was robbed, and he lost almost half of his stock. He is currently struggling to gain momentum again. It is also challenging to make customers understand the quality of his products. There is also a negative notion on imported Chinese products. He also needs financial capital for his business to comfortably meet his customers’ demands.

His future dreams 19 He wants to build his business into a wholesale furniture shop in the zone. He might need to relocate the wholesale shop to an urban location where he can find more customers. He wants to make sure that he sticks in this business and makes it grow. 4. Zanzibar

Zanzibar city, the capital of Zanzibar (), a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, with a population of about eight hundred thousand people boasts tourism and business as the main economic activity. There are more than five SIYB trainers in Zanzibar and these have reached more than 300 hundred participants.

“From drug Addiction and Back” Mr. Saleh Awadhi The Detroit Sober House in Zanzibar was established for the first time in 2008 by two Tanzanian youths Fatma and Selemani Maulid in collaboration with two American Volunteers David and Magreth Lewis with the aim of rehabilitating Zanzibari’s youth who are addicted to drugs. Currently the Detroit Sober runs nine rehabilitation houses in Zanzibar and three in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Everybody at the sober house including the administration has once been a drug addict.

Mr. Kassim Hamis, the house manager notes that there are several steps in the process of rehabilitation. All the steps are challenging and patients tend to run away in between, but their motto is ‘Keep coming back.” They use all their effort to help others because they have been like them and they know what it means to be a drug addict. Mr. Kassim Hamis-The house Manager

20 He says, however, the most challenging stage of rehabilitation is when a patient moves out of the house. They definitely need something to do otherwise they may go back to their former drug life. For a long time they did not have an answer for this, until SIYB training program. The Sober House billboard in Zanzibar

Mr. Awadhi in his clothing design workshop

Mr. Saleh Awadhi (35) has stayed in the sober house for a year and three months. Before that he was a drug user for more than ten years. Mr. Awadhi received SIYB training under the Kazi Nje Nje program with Zanzibar trainer Mwinyi. Since then Mr. Awadhi has taken a completely new leaf of life for himself and for others.

“I had learned tailoring from my mother when I was young, and I used to tailor until a few years ago when I entered a dark place – the unproductive drug world. When the trainers told us to think of a business idea, I thought of what I was capable of, I thought of my mother’s sewing machine at home, and immediately decided that I would give it a try once more. He asked for permission to bring his sewing machine to the house (sober house) and the manager allowed him to do so.” He has since then started his tailoring business.

What was the biggest lesson that he learned from the training? “Creativity! I have learnt that it pays to create unique products. I have also learned the importance of looking for an adequate and reliable market for my products. I have managed to get a lot of connections and business networks, and now I know there is a bright future ahead of me”.

What has happened since then? 21 I have been visited by many people who come to the centre because they like my products. I have been fortunate to take part in several fashion shows including the Zanzibar Fashion Week and the Zanzibar International Film Festival. This year I have received an invitation to take part at the same events. This will surely open the door to many others. I sell my products at reasonable prices and hence make a good profit.” Saleh has been retained at the centre as one of the tutors particularly on entrepreneurship and self- reliance. “I enjoy helping others who also want to excel in life as I have.

Has his social value changed? “It definitely has. People used to see me as unworthy and incompetent, but now they are charged with hope that I am doing something productive. My family too is happy, because they thought they had lost me, it is like I have come back from the dead. I am happy that I can now take care of my son.

The challenges he gets ”I have an old sewing machine. It is difficult to make new designs and outfits with it when a different kind of decoration is needed. I also feel I need my own business premise to distinct myself from the centre.”

His future dreams “There is a new vocabulary that has recently entered in my head and I want to become it, ‘an international fashion designer’” Mr. Awadhi says.

22 5. Arusha

Arusha city, the capital of Arusha region is a business town and one of the biggest tourist destinations in East Africa and Africa at large. The economy of Arusha is dominated by the tourism and services sector. The city hosts numerous small and large businesses such as banking, retail and commercial enterprises. The city of Arusha is home to the largest manufactures in the region with breweries, tyre manufacturing and agro-forest processing, and a large pharmaceuticals market. In the city of Arusha there are three SIYB trainers who have worked hard to reach about 600 beneficiaries.

“Unstoppable Determination” Amani Simon

Amani Simon (26) completed Form Four but did not perform well enough to continue with his higher education. After one year working at the Arusha Nazi Hotel he was no longer happy with the pay and the general working conditions. He desired to establish his own business but didn’t know how and where to start.

How he got his business Idea Amani quit his job at the hotel, and, armed with little capital but a lot of ambition, he went on to establish a paper bag business where he would buy papers from stationary shops and make small paper bags to sell to pharmacies where they would use them to pack medicine. The business was doing ok but it was not bringing in enough profit as he would have wished to see. He had always dreamed of establishing a unique cosmetics shop and offer services which other similar traders did not. When he joined the SIYB training, trained by Stanley Magesa, he pursued this idea. The trainer helped him do a critical analysis of the idea and see if it could bear fruits. The analysis came out positive. 23 Amani established a cosmetics shop named “Spots Beauty” at Kaloleni area in Arusha. In his shop he sells cosmetics and also offers beauty consultations. He offers free make up services to all customers that come to his shop to buy make-up.

He has employed a young lady named Maurine who studied hair dressing and Mr. Kassim Hamis-The house Manager beauty at VETA.

The street that the shop is located has a number of hair dressing saloons and is visited by many girls and women who visits the shop and buys the products and services.

“Giving free make-up consultations is one of the marketing strategies that I learned from the training program. It really does not cost a lot and it brings in a lot of customers. Small incentives like this can really change the outlook of a business, but entrepreneurs need to first learn how to do it” Amani says.

How SIYB training helped him Amani was generally very inspired by the SYB training program, and he wanted to take action immediately. He learned about the mistakes that other people make in their businesses, and he was keen not to repeat them. His business plan guided him on how he should do his market research and marketing. A guest speaker from Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) who came to speak on the topic of legal responsibilities of a business during the training encouraged him that it actually wasn’t as difficult to register a formal business as he had thought. He was excited to understand how to do the costing of his products and how to do his the financial planning. “Surprisingly, I realized that the capital needed to establish my business was quite affordable, and I could raise the money myself”. After the SIYB classes he quickly acted. Two months later he opened his cosmetics shop, 24 “Spots Beauty”. Challenges he faces Amani says he initially faced difficulties with the procedures of registering the business. However, the networks that he had developed during the training helped him. He tried to access a loan from financial institutions, but he couldn’t. He believes that there is still un-conducive financial support in the country that should more easily provide help to young entrepreneurs to access financial services.

His future plans His dream is to build his business into a complex of shops with a cosmetic shop, beauty parlor, massage center, and a skincare clinic for both men and women. He would also like to expand his cosmetics shop into a wholesale shop where he would buy in bulk from Nairobi and abroad and sell to retailers in Arusha and nearby towns. He also plans to register for evening classes until he qualifies for an MBA. “Learning to get what you want” Christine Joseph

Christine Joseph (25) participated in the SYB training program through the influence of her friend. Although she showed little interest at the beginning, she eventually fell in love with the training and became more and more active. But then there was one problem she says, she initially didn’t have any passion to venture into business and she never thought of doing it at any point in time in her life. “I only thought of getting a reputable job to earn a salary.”

After a pep talk with the trainer, Christine decided that she would give business a try. She said she had saved some money from her salary and that she would use it to start a small business. Which business, she didn’t know. After some time of thinking, she decided that it was to be a stationary shop. Being a secretary she already had some knowledge, experience and connections in that field.

“Starting my business was like a miracle. Until I stepped foot into my 25 shop for the first day of work, I did not believe that I had done it. Now I believe that I am a business woman, and I make a lot of effort to compete with others who are talented in business” Christine says.

How did the training influence her to start a business? “It boosted my self-esteem” she says, “for the first time I was exposed to things that made me feel worthwhile. It helped me discover that business was a reliable and possible activity. It made me more Ms. Christine entering her stationary shop confident.

How did she start, and why a stationary shop?

Christine started with her desktop computer that she had at home. She hired a shop for three months and bought a printer. Her job was to type and print people’s secretarial work. As time went she started to bring in other things and the shop began to grow bigger and bigger. Christine has since hired two employees. Christine’s employees John and Sabina working in the shop

How has her business influenced her social life? “I can make my own decisions, including what time I go to work and what time I return back home. Above all, I can plan how much I want to earn depending on my marketing, I can now support my family and plan for my future”.

What does she plan for the future? Christine says “independence is the most important thing for a young girl so I am employing all efforts to sustain this business. I want my shop to grow until it becomes a wholesale shop”. I think I will also involve myself in another kind of business, particularly a restaurant.” The reason is because she loves cooking and she thinks she can make attractive food for her 26 customers. She also thinks there is an untapped market for organic food restaurants in the area. 6. Dar es Salaam

The City of Dar es Salaam is the country’s largest and richest city serving as an important economic centre. The Dar es Salaam Region has a population of more than 4 million inhabitants. Dar es Salaam is the country’s major trade hub and industrial centre. Many big shops and service businesses are located in the city centre at Kariakoo and Posta. The city is however concentrated with small businesses almost everywhere including in the shanty towns where majority of its population resides. This however doesn’t stop many youth around the country from migrating to Dar es Salaam with the hope of finding a better life. “Arriving at your life-time dream” Max William Samale Max is a very determined man. He dropped out from school when he was in Form Three. He has tried several businesses in his life but encountered a number of obstacles. The last business he was involved in before he started his current one was in mining Tanzanite at Mererani- Arusha. He stayed in the mines for more than five years, got some money, but did not do anything tangible because of what he calls “lack of focus”. With the influence of his parents, who were worried about him, he quit the mining business and came back to Dar es Salaam. Luckily he had informally learned how to do welding from his friend who had a welding business; He decided to involve himself with welding again at his friend’s workshop.

Then Max met an SIYB trainer in Dar es Salaam who invited him to his training program, which he now describes as “a Life Changing experience”

How was the training different to him? 27 Previously I had attended a number of entrepreneurship training programs, Max in the office at his workshop Products at Max’s workshop

some of which I paid a lot of money for. In one of the programs they taught thousands of us in a single venue how to make shampoo, soap and batik clothes in like an hour. How could thousands of people learn the same business? Who will sell to who, I thought to myself? So I thought all entrepreneurship trainings were of that nature, and I decided that I was not going to waste neither my time nor money to attend any of other.”

That was until he heard of the ILO SIYB training. He attended because he thought it might have something different, and it surely did. For the first time he was pleasantly surprised. He felt self-aware and was taught on the key principles of business like marketing, business planning and costing. Immediately he decided “I’m going to have my own business”.

For the next three months Max worked hard with the aim of saving some money to establish his own enterprise. He rented an office and bought the raw materials he needed to start with. He then resigned from his friend’s enterprise and started his own business. He invested in creativity, good customer care, and proper marketing. Now he is able to get a lot of customers. Below are some of the products that he makes.

Max says after the training he reflected on his life, and he went back to the dreams he had when he was young. He felt that he could still make them possible. He also thought of helping other young people whose dreams had faded. That is why at his workshop he has three employees and four trainees 28 who work and also learn to make their dreams a reality. What has changed in his social life? Owning his business has come with its perks - respect, trustworthiness and maturity. He makes more money and he can decide what he wants on his own. Helping people who need his help has been the most fulfilling part for him.

The challenges he faces He says a new business is always challenging, you need to look for new customers and make sure that you satisfy their needs. “Sometimes I don’t get customers at all for a long period of time, but the SIYB training has instilled in me the courage to move along, with these challenges.”

Where does he want to see himself in a near future? “I would like to own a big workshop and a showroom where I would display the products that we make. I would also like to turn my workshop into a learning facility for other young people who have ambitions like mine”

29 7.Coast Region (Pwani-Kibaha) “Golden Opportunity in the Mothers’ Hands”- The Golden Egg Project

The town of Kibaha is the capital for Coast (Pwani) region. It is the closest town to Dar es Salaam and it grows in business with that advantage of being close to the country’s biggest trade centre. Unlike Dar es Salaam however, Kibaha has some uninhabited land which can be used for agricultural and animal husbandry. Because of that Kibaha is the host to many agricultural producers and herders especially of poultry products whose biggest market is the city of Dar es Salaam. The Golden Egg project was pioneered by Mariam Paul Mbogoni, 32, married and a mother of three kids. Mariam attended the SIYB training in Kibaha under the influence of her friend who had attended it earlier. She was trained in Kibaha by Mary Francis and Tunsime Kyando. Before Mariam attended the training she was a house wife who kept a few domestic chickens mainly for family use. After attending the training program she decided she would do poultry as a business. “Considering my situation I thought poultry farming was the easiest business that I could do. I had done it locally for years and I am passionate about it.” ”After the training, I found out that it was more expensive to start up a chicken business than what I had anticipated. The chicken needed a lot of food and medication, neither of which I could afford.” Mariam then came across a group of American Volunteers who were ready to help groups of women who had tangible business plans. She immediately organized a group with her neighbours and presented the same business plan that she wrote in class during the SIYB training. “They were impressed with the plan as it was professionally written. They gave us enough capital to begin with one hundred egg chickens”. Other members of Mariam’s group include Rispa John Omeme (31), Habiba Said Upunda (29) Leah Samson Kusenha (33) and Asha Said Yeru (48). 30 What are they doing to improve their project? Mariam is trying to impart what she learned from the training to her business partners. She teaches them how to find markets and negotiate for Members of Golden Egg Project displaying Chicken that The Golden Egg Project keeps eggs that they have accumulated in a day better prices. This has helped the group has become courageous, enough so that they confronted a difficult customer who was paying them very low prices for the chickens. They cancelled his contract and went on to get another buyer who gave them a better price, and les problems. Mariam credits all this to what she learned from the SIYB training. What are the challenges that they face? Their main challenge is when the chickens get sick. None of the group members are skilled to treat the chickens and hence have to call on the local specialist and buy expensive medication. Housing the chicken is also an issue; they currently only have one house for all the chickens which means they are not able to add new chickens until they sell the ones available. What do they get from this business and how has it helped their family life so far? They collect five trays of eggs a day; they sell each tray for twelve thousands shillings, (about eight dollars). This means they make sixty thousand a day. Half of that money is used to buy chicken food and medicine, and the rest they can save. None of them have had an income like this before and they are thinking even bigger, “If we had twice the number of chickens that we have now, things would be even better”. They are now able to take good care of their families and take their kids to school. People in the village respect them and come to them for advice. What are their future plans? “Our plan is to increase the number of chickens so that we can divide them amongst ourselves so each group member can branch out with her own business. In time we would also like to give some of the chickens to other 31 women who have also wanted to venture into the poultry business. We would like to see almost every household around our area having their own project as there is an abundant market. The UnleashingAfricanEntrepreneurshipinitiativeisapartnership betweentheAfricaComission, The Y outh EmploymentNetwork(YEN)andtheInternationalLabour Organization(ILO) implemented bytheY International LabourOrganization Y outh EnterpreneurshipFacility United Republicof Kazi House,MaktabaStreet www.ilo.org/daressalaam Email: [email protected] READ MOREABOUTUS www.yeafrica.org Dar esSalaam P.O. Box9212 CONT outh EntrepreneurshipFacility ACT US Ta nzania g

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