Learning a skill is step one. Building a business from that skill is something else entirely. Across Nigeria, there are women who know how to sew, cook, or make soap – and are still poor. Not because they are not talented. But because nobody taught them the business side.
At the Uchegbu People Empowerment Foundation, skills training and small business support go together. You cannot have one without the other and expect a lasting result.
The Gap Between Skill and Income
A widow learns to make excellent chin-chin. Her product is genuinely good. But she charges too little because she is afraid of losing customers. She does not track her costs, so she cannot tell if she is making or losing money. She sells only to neighbours and family, so her market never grows. After three months, she gives up because it does not seem to be working.
The product was never the problem. The business knowledge was the problem. And that is fixable.
What Our Small Business Support Covers
- Pricing and costing: How to calculate the real cost of your product or service – and price it so you actually make a profit.
- Record keeping: Simple systems for tracking income, expenses, and stock – even without a smartphone.
- Market finding: How to identify your first customers, approach them, and build repeat business through trust and quality.
- Mobile money and banking: Opening a bank account, using OPay and PalmPay, and separating business money from household money.
- Business registration: Simple guidance on registering with the CAC for widows who want to formalise.
- Growth planning: When and how to reinvest profits rather than spending everything on household needs immediately.
Starter Kits: The Bridge Between Training and Trading
One of the biggest barriers between completing training and starting a business is startup cost. The Uchegbu Foundation provides small starter kits – valued in line with each specific business – to graduates of our training programme. These are working tools meant to generate the first month’s income.
Ongoing Mentorship
The first three months after launching a business are the most critical – and the most likely time for a new owner to make expensive mistakes or give up. Every graduate has access to a business mentor for six months after launch, drawn from successful earlier graduates and volunteer business professionals.
“The women we work with are not waiting for someone to do things for them. They are waiting for the right tools. Give them those tools and step back – they will do the rest.”
Fund a widow’s business launch – donate at www.widowsfoundation.com/donate/ today.
