Thank you....to those of you who prayed for the business "training the trainers" seminar, Business Labs Haiti 2009 by Young Americas Business Trust (YABT) in Port-au-Prince last week with the Israeli trainers provided by OAS (Organization of American States). It was a success. Here is an excerpt of a letter from a participant (translated from French):
"...as a participant, I would like to present in my name and in the name of all the participants, my sincere congratulations to the staff of YABT for the realization of this training seminar.
...this seminar rivaled other seminars offered by international organizations, in spite of your meagre financial resources.
I lift my voice as a Haitian and professional of this country to testify to my respect for you because you knew how to do things differently. From the judicious choice of participants, the choice of partners, the trainers, to the organization of the seminar led to the total success of Business Labs Haiti 2009. The participants as well as the trainers openly expressed their satisfaction...
May God bless Young Americas Business Trust"
Showing posts with label business training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business training. Show all posts
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Share your dream
One of the participants in Jen(a)biz started up a retaurant (Le Bon Choix) about a month ago. It's been going pretty well with the main challenge being the shortage of gasoline. The restaurant is in an area that doesn't get much electricity, so they have a small generator and it has to be filled with gas. For a couple weeks people had to wait in long lines to get regular gasoline (we use deisel, so we were spared this time) but that seems to be over now.
Can you imagine running this business without having your own vehicle to transport things like gas to the restaurant? I'm sure it's hard.
Anyway, the reason I wanted to write a post about Elysee and his restaurant is that it seems they just got a good opportunity. A high school near them is going to have a special party for the seniors, called Philo here, (All over Haiti they celebrate "Philosophy Day") there. So far, they've just been cooking food for the small numbers of walk-in customers each day like many other restaurants here. But Elysee shared his dream with the owner of the property he's renting. He explained that he wants to host parties and events, as well. Because he shared that vision, the owner, whose son is a Philo student at this high school, suggested that Philo day be at Elysee's restaurant.
So today they're making food for over 50 people! They borrowed all the card table and chairs we had as well as table cloths to make room for all these folks.
In addition, we have lent them a bunch of restaurant stuff that the old Township House Restaurant in Newtown threw out when the restaurant changed hands. We did not know how and when God would have us use this in Haiti, but he knew. It has been a great blessing to know that God's had a plan for this stuff all along.
Do you have a dream you should share with someone? You never know who God may want to be part of it.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Report on Business Training Seminar
Program:
Thirty-one Haitians between the ages of 18 and 35 attended nine days of entrepreneurial training (Oct. 15-25, 2008) in Port-au-Prince, Haiti made possible through Jèn@biz – 2008, the first annual business development program of the Haitian chapter of Young Americas Business Trust (YABT – Haiti). Twenty percent of the group was female and the rest were male. The participants, from a variety of backgrounds and business experience, shared sessions and group activities where they learned how to do market studies, financial planning and management techniques to help their businesses succeed.
Strategic Objectives:
Capacity-building
Personal and financial disciplines needed to succeed in business
Environmental scanning to identify feasible business opportunities
Organizational leadership to develop teamwork and project management
Entrepreneurship
How to write a business plan
Field research
Marketing their product or service
How to fund their business
Curriculum:
During the first four days of training, leaders and guest speakers provided an overview of business plan development. In the second week, more in-depth sessions were provided in the areas of marketing, production, internet research, management, finances, and the use of information technology in business development.
Throughout the program, an analogy of a tree to the process of business development was unveiled. The seed was compared to the business idea. The soil, the local environment. The need for sunshine was the need for financial capital, while the need for rain was like the need for good personnel. Just as it takes a long time for a tree to grow from a tiny seed, it takes time for a business to develop strong roots and bear fruit. The fruit then attracts birds, which were compared to customers who then go out and spread the word to others if the business is offering a good and attractive product or service.
Activities:
The delegates participated in many small-group activities throughout the training. In one activity, they examined the decisions made by business owners that lead to the gain, loss, and regain of a client’s trust. In groups of ten, each participant acted as a customer at a cyber café. Upon describing a strong reason that a customer places trust in the products and services of the business, participants passed a card representing their level of trust to the “owner” of the café. Each activity was followed by planned group discussions.
During the second week, participants were also required to perform field research each afternoon, exploring their respective target markets, competitors, opportunities, and challenges for their businesses.
Each participant wrote a business plan, complete with financial projections. For the final day of training, many participants prepared a display that highlighted their business plans. Ten participants chose to exhibit their business plan to the group in formal five-minute presentations.
Representatives from two local microcredit institutions gave sessions on their systems of providing financing for small businesses and fielded many questions. In addition, an entrepreneur from Haitian Partners in Christian Development's Business Incubator told the story of how he started his business.
Outcomes:
After nine days of training, most of the 31 participants handed in a business plan to the board of YABT – Haiti. Of the 31, we expect five to ten entrepreneurs will find funding and then we will mentor them for a year as they birth their business ideas into reality. Monthly training will continue for all participants.
The Story of Obias Exilus:
“There are many opportunities, but not enough services. People’s needs are not met.,” says Obias Exilus, owner of Design Plus, an informal printing services business. “It seems that businesspeople are not thinking right. We need more assessments of each area—to do deeper surveys to evaluate the real needs of the areas.”
Exilus was one of 30 participants in the recent entrepreneurship training program, Jèn@biz – 2008, held in Port-au-Prince for nine days. He entered the training with a hope to start Design Plus (a cybercafe and desktop publishing business), and, from the training, walked away with a better understanding of both the challenges and opportunities he holds as an entrepreneur.
“The biggest challenge is the energy problem because of the present price of gasoline used to fuel a generator for a café,” says Exilus. “Instead, we have to be equipped with an invertor or solar panels which takes a lot of money.”
In response to the challenges, Exilus has specific goals to make his business grow. In particular, he recognizes a budding target market which he believes Design Plus is able to meet. “I want to expand it to a cyber café,” says Exilus, “because we have a lot of students in the area who really need a place to do research and complete assignments.”
“Basically, I am learning what to do, what not to do, how to attract people to my...business, and how to increase production,” says Exilus after his experience in Jèn@biz - 2008. “I will get a profit which will help me sustain the business, and have a profit for the employees and myself.”
Acknowledgments:
YABT Haiti thanks the following individuals and organizations for their support of this project:
A Major donor from the US who funded the training
Haititec who provided 8 days use of their conference room for free
Dr. Leslie Jules and the Center for Specilaized Leadership for use of his curriculum.
Eagle Market, One Stop Market and Megamart who contributed drinks
Sogesol and Lumisec, two financial institutions who made presentations, reviewed the business plans and will finance several of the start ups.
The YABT Haiti board and teaching staff
TeleNational who filmed interviews and student presentations at the closing program.
Haitian Partners in Christian Development
AACH who handled the finances
Thirty-one Haitians between the ages of 18 and 35 attended nine days of entrepreneurial training (Oct. 15-25, 2008) in Port-au-Prince, Haiti made possible through Jèn@biz – 2008, the first annual business development program of the Haitian chapter of Young Americas Business Trust (YABT – Haiti). Twenty percent of the group was female and the rest were male. The participants, from a variety of backgrounds and business experience, shared sessions and group activities where they learned how to do market studies, financial planning and management techniques to help their businesses succeed.
Strategic Objectives:
Capacity-building
Personal and financial disciplines needed to succeed in business
Environmental scanning to identify feasible business opportunities
Organizational leadership to develop teamwork and project management
Entrepreneurship
How to write a business plan
Field research
Marketing their product or service
How to fund their business
Curriculum:
During the first four days of training, leaders and guest speakers provided an overview of business plan development. In the second week, more in-depth sessions were provided in the areas of marketing, production, internet research, management, finances, and the use of information technology in business development.
Throughout the program, an analogy of a tree to the process of business development was unveiled. The seed was compared to the business idea. The soil, the local environment. The need for sunshine was the need for financial capital, while the need for rain was like the need for good personnel. Just as it takes a long time for a tree to grow from a tiny seed, it takes time for a business to develop strong roots and bear fruit. The fruit then attracts birds, which were compared to customers who then go out and spread the word to others if the business is offering a good and attractive product or service.
Activities:
The delegates participated in many small-group activities throughout the training. In one activity, they examined the decisions made by business owners that lead to the gain, loss, and regain of a client’s trust. In groups of ten, each participant acted as a customer at a cyber café. Upon describing a strong reason that a customer places trust in the products and services of the business, participants passed a card representing their level of trust to the “owner” of the café. Each activity was followed by planned group discussions.
During the second week, participants were also required to perform field research each afternoon, exploring their respective target markets, competitors, opportunities, and challenges for their businesses.
Each participant wrote a business plan, complete with financial projections. For the final day of training, many participants prepared a display that highlighted their business plans. Ten participants chose to exhibit their business plan to the group in formal five-minute presentations.
Representatives from two local microcredit institutions gave sessions on their systems of providing financing for small businesses and fielded many questions. In addition, an entrepreneur from Haitian Partners in Christian Development's Business Incubator told the story of how he started his business.
Outcomes:
After nine days of training, most of the 31 participants handed in a business plan to the board of YABT – Haiti. Of the 31, we expect five to ten entrepreneurs will find funding and then we will mentor them for a year as they birth their business ideas into reality. Monthly training will continue for all participants.
The Story of Obias Exilus:
“There are many opportunities, but not enough services. People’s needs are not met.,” says Obias Exilus, owner of Design Plus, an informal printing services business. “It seems that businesspeople are not thinking right. We need more assessments of each area—to do deeper surveys to evaluate the real needs of the areas.”
Exilus was one of 30 participants in the recent entrepreneurship training program, Jèn@biz – 2008, held in Port-au-Prince for nine days. He entered the training with a hope to start Design Plus (a cybercafe and desktop publishing business), and, from the training, walked away with a better understanding of both the challenges and opportunities he holds as an entrepreneur.
“The biggest challenge is the energy problem because of the present price of gasoline used to fuel a generator for a café,” says Exilus. “Instead, we have to be equipped with an invertor or solar panels which takes a lot of money.”
In response to the challenges, Exilus has specific goals to make his business grow. In particular, he recognizes a budding target market which he believes Design Plus is able to meet. “I want to expand it to a cyber café,” says Exilus, “because we have a lot of students in the area who really need a place to do research and complete assignments.”
“Basically, I am learning what to do, what not to do, how to attract people to my...business, and how to increase production,” says Exilus after his experience in Jèn@biz - 2008. “I will get a profit which will help me sustain the business, and have a profit for the employees and myself.”
Acknowledgments:
YABT Haiti thanks the following individuals and organizations for their support of this project:
A Major donor from the US who funded the training
Haititec who provided 8 days use of their conference room for free
Dr. Leslie Jules and the Center for Specilaized Leadership for use of his curriculum.
Eagle Market, One Stop Market and Megamart who contributed drinks
Sogesol and Lumisec, two financial institutions who made presentations, reviewed the business plans and will finance several of the start ups.
The YABT Haiti board and teaching staff
TeleNational who filmed interviews and student presentations at the closing program.
Haitian Partners in Christian Development
AACH who handled the finances
Thursday, October 23, 2008
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