The young entrepreneurs with Imbuto Foundation officials
Imbuto Foundation has urged local young Entrepreneurs to be driven by “Passion – Purpose – Profit” as they look forward to creating and grabbing local entrepreneurial opportunities, through invention, development and exploitation of entirely new ideas, products and services.
The observation was made by Sandrine Umutoni, Director General of Imbuto Foundation during the completion of a weeklong entrepreneurship training for local startups at Business Professionals Network (BPN) headquarters in Kigali city, on November 18.
A total of forty-five (45) entrepreneurs were awarded certificates, after attending training in various fields including tech solutions, catering, medicine, tourism, manufacturing, among others.
“As you navigate the turbulent terrain of entrepreneurship, let the following 3 Ps be your compass; Passion – Purpose – Profit. Keep in mind profit should always come after passion and purpose,” Umutoni said.
“Allow me to leave you with these last few words, as you move on to the next stage of your journey: Begin with your legacy in mind. Do your research and make an effort to find information that’s not easily findable,” she added.
The training was part of the Imbuto foundation’s iAccelerator program, which is a mentorship-driven acceleration programme, supporting young entrepreneurs with seed funding, training and skills development to generate innovative solutions in response to challenges related to sexual and reproductive health and rights.
It targets solving challenges related to sexuality education, family planning, maternal health, mental health and other population development issues.
This and more are part of the discussions happening during the Global Entrepreneurship Week in Rwanda, which is being held under the theme, “Unleashing a Collaborative Ecosystem.”
The theme aims to inspire communities to work together to create and share networks and markets to help rising startups thrive. It also seeks to celebrate the triumphs and learn from other entrepreneurial communities around the world.
Sandrine Umutoni, Director General of Imbuto foundation
During a week-long training, Imbuto foundation partnered with BPN to deliver lessons on business innovation, effective communication, resilience, creativity, web development, financial skills, project planning and strategizing, and digital marketing.
“In business, decision making is an important factor, it develops or fails. The entrepreneurs were tipped on that, but also being innovative, understanding market trends. They should not rush for immediate profits; they can come in the long or short term,” Alice Nkulikiyinka, Country Director of BPN said.
“They got all the basics for the business development. During the selection, they indicated potential in doing business, good planning and operations. Most of the time, people tend to think that businesses fail because of money, but they fail because of decisions,” she added.
This week, similar entrepreneurship workshops and training alternated in local universities and colleges in Kepler University, Carnegie Mellon University, and Davis College. Other students from various universities attended in different venues including Norrsken house, Kigali city.
“Business needs patience, proper planning and decisions. We have got basic training to push us ahead. We have understood that entrepreneurship is never easy, but possible to make it,” Gisele Umukunzi, a student at University of Rwanda said.
The GEW officially closed yesterday at Norrsken house. It was in Rwanda for the first time since 2018, hosted by Jasiri and aimed to inspire entrepreneurs to unleash their innovation and contribute to our Country’s economic growth.
