Habibou A Success Story from Togo Habibou Ouro-Djobo runs a subcontracting business. For a long time, he lacked confidence in himself and what he was doing. He often gave up at the smallest obstacles. But recently, he has overcome these barriers thanks to the personal development concepts he learned during a Personal Initiative Training. Not only did the course give him fresh motivation, it also gave him the necessary confidence he needed to move ahead on the challenging road to entrepreneurship. ​ “The other business training courses focused merely on the concepts and principles of entrepreneurship. It was more theory than practical knowledge. This was a more dynamic training course, helping us to become engaged by using personal development techniques,” he explains. ​ Habibou has become much more structured and methodical in his work and is aiming to professionalize his business. “During the training we were taught to set objectives for ourselves and how to rise to the challenges we might eventually face. Since then, I have tried to build relationships that can be useful to me in the future. In the past, that was something I didn’t do,” he adds. Today, he honors all of his commitments and works to enhance his credibility with his partners. His ambition is to see his business grow and to leave the subcontracting field in order to bid on projects himself. He believes that he now has the key to achieving that. Success Story of Leila Success Story of Akouélé info@doorways-training.org +49 4134 9099726 Wiesenweg 2 21406 Barnstedt Home Doorways About Us Our Projects Success Stories Clients and Partners Contact STEP STEP Impact STEP Projects STEP Success Stories STEP Publications PI PI Impact PI Projects PI Success Stories PI Publications Blog FAQs Support Us © 2023 Doorways gGmbH. All Rights Reserved Terms of Use Imprint +49 4134 9099726 info@doorways-training.org Wiesenweg 2 21406 Barnstedt

Leila A Success Story from Togo A fashion designer by training, Leila Salifou has been involved in the catering business for several years now. ​ An only daughter, she decided to continue her mother’s business, leading her to take over her mother’s restaurant after her training. But she felt as though something was missing, like a sauce that needs an extra pinch of salt. This was the secret she learned in the Personal Initiative training, which for her was a little like teaching a person to fish rather than giving him or her the fish. It opened her eyes and enabled her to move out of the informal sector. ​ “Before this training, I had a small restaurant. Like so many other good ladies along the side of the road, I sold foufou. But after the Personal Initiative Training, I did some further training in catering and then registered my business at the Centre de Formalités des Entreprises to obtain my official economic operator’s card. It was the training that made me see that I needed to change, to move out of the informal sector in order to develop my business. I was able to print advertising brochures, which I distributed to various businesses. Today, if people need a catering service, they contact me directly. If I had not had this training, I would have always been one of those good ladies along the side of the road. Now I’m sure that I am building a lasting business that my children and grandchildren will be able to take over when I’m no longer there,” she says. ​ Leila is now an accomplished economic operator who is asked to prepare luncheons for training seminars in ministries and other organizations in Togo. She believes that she can grow her business enough to one day cater to heads of state. To realize her dream, she is building a recreation center that will include a restaurant, bar, VIP space, banquet room and, most importantly, a cooking school to train the next generation. Her ambition is to train young women in the preparation of typical Togolese dishes and to export them around the world. She has also started a small side business that offers guided tours. Success Story of Yeshi Success Story of Habibou info@doorways-training.org +49 4134 9099726 Wiesenweg 2 21406 Barnstedt Home Doorways About Us Our Projects Success Stories Clients and Partners Contact STEP STEP Impact STEP Projects STEP Success Stories STEP Publications PI PI Impact PI Projects PI Success Stories PI Publications Blog FAQs Support Us © 2023 Doorways gGmbH. All Rights Reserved Terms of Use Imprint +49 4134 9099726 info@doorways-training.org Wiesenweg 2 21406 Barnstedt

Yeshi A Success Story from Ethiopia Yeshi, a participant from Ethiopia, started her shop for dairy products two years before the training. She sold dairy products and served her customers on the little veranda whenever they wanted to enjoy her products right away. She has 4 employees. During the training she realized that she had been very passive and reactive for the last two years. Instead of renting out the room next-door to another person, she could use the room to serve the customers who needed to squeeze on her tiny veranda so far. The training opened her eyes and she suddenly understood that she had to become active herself and change something in order to increase her business success. ​ Even before the training was completed, she started to paint the room next-door and opened a colorful restaurant. She used chairs and tables from her house and only paid for a new floor. Now her customers can enjoy her dairy products right at the shop and order breakfast and lunch as well. This change already significantly increased her income! Prior to the training, she used to get 1200 ETB rent from the tenant – now she already makes an additional profit of 100 ETB per day. This adds up to around 3000 ETB per month. The new restaurant is also a solution for the difficulties she faced at fasting days and during fasting periods when customers were not allowed to eat any dairy products. Now, she is able to prepare fasting food for these customers. ​ The training has activated her – without the training, she would not have implemented the change, Yeshi says! Additionally, the training helped her to carefully develop her plan step-by-step before putting it into practice. For the future, Yeshi plans to produce dairy products on her own since she has always been interested in agricultural activities. But more importantly, this will allow her to be independent from suppliers in her area. Although she had started this plan many months before, she had not done anything because she was afraid that she couldn’t make it. The training pushed her to pursue her plan – she already bought a piece of land and started negotiations regarding the cows. Due to the training, Yeshi says, she is not afraid any more. Success Story of Akouélé Success Story of Leila info@doorways-training.org +49 4134 9099726 Wiesenweg 2 21406 Barnstedt Home Doorways About Us Our Projects Success Stories Clients and Partners Contact STEP STEP Impact STEP Projects STEP Success Stories STEP Publications PI PI Impact PI Projects PI Success Stories PI Publications Blog FAQs Support Us © 2023 Doorways gGmbH. All Rights Reserved Terms of Use Imprint +49 4134 9099726 info@doorways-training.org Wiesenweg 2 21406 Barnstedt

PI Training for Factory Workers ETHIOPIA CLIENT: THE WORLD BANK ​ Description of project: The objective of the project was to develop a new version of the Personal Initiative (PI) Training curriculum for factory workers at Bole Lemi Industrial Park in Addis Ababa and to test its effectiveness in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a sample of 500 female factory workers. The newly developed curriculum had to incorporate components of the ILO's WASH@work framework. The project could not be completed. STEP Training at Two Rural Universities PI Training for Farmers

Digital Content Creation for Entrepreneurship Education GERMANY CLIENT: UNIVERSITY OF GOETTINGEN ​ Description of project: We created two video sessions on the research and practice of causational and effectuational models of entrepreneurship. The videos were used as part of a blended learning course on Entrepreneurship & Innovation for undergrad students at the university. PI Training in Tajikistan STEP Training in Nigeria

PI Training for MSMEs MALAWI CLIENT: IBF INTERNATIONAL CONSULTING ​ Description of project: The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to increase access to financial services, promote entrepreneurship and capabilities of MSMEs in Malawi including addressing COVID-19 implications. The PDO should be reached through the following three project components: (1) liquidity enhancement for MSMEs (including via a line of credit (LoC), Technical Assistance (TA), and de-risking/risk capital support); (2) scaling of entrepreneurship and building firm capabilities; (3) enhancement of the enabling environment for supporting the financial inclusion and growth of entrepreneurs. STEP Training at Two Rural Universities PI Training in India

To see this working, head to your live site. All Posts Categories My Posts Forum Welcome! Have a look around and join the discussions. Sort by: Recent Activity Follow All Categories Create New Post janaweers Welcome to the Forum in General Discussions Share your thoughts. Feel free to add GIFs, videos, #hashtags and more to your posts and comments. Get started by commenting below. #hashtags 0 comments 0 Jul 23, 2023 Like 0 comments Comment janaweers Forum rules in General Discussions We want everyone to get the most out of this community, so we ask that you please read and follow these guidelines: • Respect each other • Keep posts relevant to the forum topic • No spamming 0 comments 0 Jul 23, 2023 Like 0 comments Comment janaweers Introduce yourself in General Discussions We'd love to get to know you better. Take a moment to say hi to the community in the comments. 0 comments 0 Jul 23, 2023 Like 0 comments Comment Forum - Frameless

PI Training for Rural Entrepreneurs in Tamil Nadu INDIA CLIENT: THE WORLD BANK ​ Description of project: Together with The World Bank’s South Asia Region Gender Innovation Lab (SAR GIL) and the local implementation partner Hand In Hand India we are conducting a randomized controlled trial (RCT) impact evaluation study to investigate the effect of the Personal Initiative (PI) Training among small-scale entrepreneurs. The RCT is embedded within the aims of the World Bank operation Vazhndhu Kattuvom / Tamil Nadu Rural Transformation Project (TNRTP). The TNRTP project aims at rural transformation through strategies that focus beyond poverty alleviation by building sustainability and prosperity of rural communities through enterprise promotion, access to finance and employment opportunities. PI Training for MSMEs PI Training in Egypt

STEP Training at Two Rural Universities SOUTH AFRICA CLIENT: GERMAN COMMISSION FOR UNESCO DONOR: BASF FOUNDATION ​ Description of project: The object of the project was the sustainable research-based implementation of the Student Training for Entrepreneurial Promotion (STEP) at two rural universities in South Africa to contribute to the improvement of the quality of education and life chances as well as to the reduction of youth unemployment in South Africa. In each project year, the 12-week training program was implemented using a randomized control group design (targeted sample: 200 students per year per university). The randomly chosen training group participants were equipped with knowledge and skills important for starting businesses (mixture of topics from business administration, entrepreneurship research, and psychology). ​ Doorways co-founder Carina Bohlayer was responsible for the implementation of the project as a member of Leuphana University. PI Training for Female Farmers PI Training for Female Factory Workers