Donnerstag, 03. Mai 2018
At the Social Impact Lab Munich an additional participant took part in the qualification program StartHope@Home. Christian shares his thoughts:
In March and April 2018, Christian has participated in the qualification program StartHope@Home in Munich. He was told about the program by Coming Home, the return counselling service of the city of Munich.
After an individual assessment was carried out with Christian, he developed his business idea in a total of 10 workshops with the support of our coaches. Before he fled to Europe/ Germany, Christian worked as a businessman in the textile industry. He imported fabrics, mainly from India, to resell them in Nigeria. At StartHope@Home, he could rely on his previous experience and complemented it with new ideas. Now, he will take into account the knowledge gained in the trainings to rebuild his company back home: "I learned a lot. For example, online marketing is not very common in Nigeria. Of course people use computers and social media in their daily lifes, but I didn't use it as a marketing tool until now. I got some good ideas how to advertise my business.”
Furthermore Christian learned important new aspects about the financing of the company: "I know now that the bank is not the only option and that there are ways to raise funds within the personal network or the costumers". In addition, Christian hopes for support for his clothe-import company in Nigeria. He may get in touch with a member of staff of the GIZ (German association of international cooperation), who can give him local advices for his business.
"I know the theory. Now I need to put everything into practice. This is the challenge".
Social Impact Lab Munich, 26th of April 2018
