My WIMBIZ Story By- Achenyo Idachaba

No matter how much impact we have on the lives of women within our network, we can never share their stories as well as they can. Which is why we created the #MyWIMBIZStory as an avenue for these women to share their stories on the impact associating with WIMBIZ has had on them professionally and personally.

The first edition of #MYWIMBIZStory is by Ms. Achenyo Idachaba, Founder & Creative Director of MittiMeth and WIMBIZ Associate since 2013.

#MyWIMBIZStory

by

Achenyo Idachaba, Creative Director, MitiMeth

When I was asked to share my WIMBIZ story, I was happy to do so. I knew I would be unable to meet the May 28^th deadline but I was confident WIMBIZ would understand why this Associate missed the deadline by a day despite the gentle reminder.  I’ll tell you why at the end of my story but I’ll first start my WIMBIZ story by saying MitiMeth has come a long way since my first encounter with WIMBIZ in August 2011. I was one of a few women selected to participate in the premier Women Entrepreneurs in Handicrafts Business Development Training organized by WIMBIZ, Vital Voices and the ExxonMobil Foundation.  I had seen the “Call for Applications” in one of the daily newspapers and applied. This might sound a bit “self-centred” but the training was specifically designed for ME! It was EXACTLY what my Green Start-Up (MitiMeth) needed at that point in time and I was thrilled to be a part of the training class and connecting with WIMBIZ. 

 

Being based in Ibadan meant that I could not participate in several of the Lagos based WIMBIZ events but that did not stop me from keeping WIMBIZ management informed of my post-training progress and attending the few I could. Thankfully we now have WIMBIZ Roundtable Lunch events in Ibadan. WIMBIZ has been very supportive over the years and has affirmed and validated in MitiMeth in diverse ways. In 2013, I became a WIMBIZ Associate. That same year, I was given the opportunity to speak at the WIMBIZ Annual Conference and was also nominated to participate in the Standard Chartered Bank Dragon’s Den. Thankfully, I did WIMBIZ proud by winning the 1^st Prize at the Dragon’s Den.  Most recently, I was nominated by WIMBIZ to speak at the 2015 Global Summit of Women. I did not end up going for the event but it was very nice to have been considered for the Summit. I thought I’ll end my short WIMBIZ story by saying this once again. MitiMeth has indeed come a long way since August 2011. 

Just in case you’re still wondering why I missed the May 28^th deadline. I was up to my “gills” preparing for another event. A few hours ago, I gave the opening talk at TEDWomen2015 in Monterey, California. The theme of this year’s conference being Momentum. Let us all keep the Momentum going as Women in Management, Business and Public Service. GOD bless you.

Click here to watch her TEDWoman2015 talk

 Interested in sharing your WIMBIZ Story? Send an email to wimbiz@wimbiz.org with the subject #MYWIMBIZStory.

WIMBIZ Impact Investment Competition

The 13^th WIMBIZ Annual Conference themed Nigeria Rising… Accelerating Transformation will feature a nationwide pre-conference competition for young Nigerian women.
Goal: equip between 1-3 young Nigerian female owned startup businesses with the necessary support to ensure their success and sustainability.
The competition which is open to women between the ages of 21-30, will identify three winning business plans that meet the following criteria:

The business must:

1.     Have clearly defined goals and objectives

2.     Be sustainable and profitable

3.     Impact society

4.      Be in the start-up phase and should not be more than 12 months old

The Award:

1.      1,000,000NGN will be awarded to the top 3 businesses.

2.      The top 10 applicants will be granted scholarships to attend the Annual Conference  

3.      Awards will be presented to the winners during the closing ceremony of the Annual Conference

4.      The winners will be assigned mentors on the platform of the WIMBIZ mentoring program

Application Process:

1.      Fill in the online application

2.      Create a 1-3 minute(s) video marketing your unique product and/or service, upload to YouTube and paste the link to your application

3.      Create your business plan with the accompanying financial statements and send to conference@wimbiz.org with your name and title of the award as the subject e.g Opeoluwa Uzoma Adamu Impact Investment Competition (The entire document, including financial projections should not exceed 7 pages)

Eligibility To apply for this award:

1.      You must be a citizen of Nigeria

2.      You must be a woman between the ages of 21-30

3.      Your business must be situated in Nigeria and should have a sustainability component for Nigeria

4.      The value of your request should not exceed 300,000NGN

5.      The business must be in the start-up phase and should not be more than 12 months old

6.      The owner must demonstrate commitment and interest in the business

Guidelines

1.    Call for applications- August 1- September 19, 2014

2.    Screening of applications and selection of top 10 winners- September 19-30, 2014

3.    Interviews with the top 10 and selection of top 3- October 16

4.    Notification of winners-  November 4, 2014

Sample Business Plan Outline

1.      Overview of business: vision, mission, objectives, core values

2.      Industry analysis

3.      Market analysis

4.      Competition analysis

5.      Unique selling point/ business advantage

6.      Profitability

7.      Financial projections

8.      Next Steps

Click Here to Apply HERE!