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December 4, 2004

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Zeinab Defeats Circumstances with Will to Succeed and Her Own Business

When I completed the training, I felt like a new woman. I was about to start my own business and enter the world of entrepreneurship,” says Zeinab. USAID Training opens many doors of options for Jordanians, especially in rural areas, increasing their employment opportunities and providing Jordanians with new hopes for the future.

   
  Zeinab is finally fulfilling her life-long dream!  
 

Her high school scores did not allow her to fulfill her life’s desire of attending university, but Zeinab’s shattered dreams did not stop her from seeking other options. The 25-year old Zeinab Momani heard from her brother about a short business-management training program that teaches participants how to start their own business. She quickly enrolled in the “Simplified Start and Improve Your Business” training program only to fill her time and change the routine of her life. But, by the end of the program she realized that she could start her own business and began to rethink her future.

“When I completed the training, I felt like a new woman. I was about to start my own business and enter the world of entrepreneurship,” says Zeinab. New hope was filling Zeinab as she felt she “was contributing to changing the stereotypical image of women and proving to those around me that the Jordanian woman is capable of participating in the social and economic development if she has the opportunity.”

After conducting the feasibility study and a market needs assessment, Zeinab obtained a loan of $4,000 from the Development and Employment Fund to open a nursery and kindergarten in her small village of Sakhra, near Ajloun in Northern Jordan. She now has a 110 students enrolled in the KG and employs 9 women from her village. Besides her business, Zeinab established a cooperative association for the women in her village to utilize their many skills in improving their standards of living. The association will be starting many small projects such as a mill, a diary products production lab, and recycling of wool waste.

But the most important change in Zeinab’s life was fulfilling her long-awaited dream of enrolling in the university to study business management.

 
     
  Zeinab and her kindergarten students.  
 

Poverty and unemployment rates were rising fast in the impoverished areas of Jordan, and entrepreneurship became a practical solution to boost sustainable quality employment and increase income. But missing were the basic principles of sound business management skills. Potential or existing entrepreneurs needed to learn how to assess the market needs and improve their business performance in order to establish viable businesses and realize their full growth potential.

To meet this challenge, USAID developed and implemented a short-term business training initiative to help microentrepreneurs in underprivileged communities of Jordan start or improve their businesses. In addition to the highly interactive, simple training programs, the initiative provides post-training follow-up services of individual counseling, business mentoring, and business evaluation.

With an investment of only $500,000, the results of the USAID initiative have been astounding. In the one year since the training modules were developed and tested, training activities covered almost all areas of Jordan. Over 1500 entrepreneurs were trained, 80 percent of whom were women. Fourteen entrepreneurs have started their own businesses as a result of the training, and 45 more have conducted feasibility studies in preparation for starting their business.

Hundreds others have expanded or improved their existing businesses by either changing their marketing tools, developing pricing strategies, or introducing new products and services after conducting sound market needs assessments.

This simple, short training program is opening the door for many Jordanians to realize their potential and become productive members of the economy.

 
     
    Last updated on: October 26, 2004
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