TVET Programme: Registered artisans laud impact of myhandiwork.ng online platform on business growth

Trained artisans of The Technical and Vocational Training (TVET) programme, onboarded about a year ago on the digital platform, myhandwork.ng have praised the impact the platform has made on their businesses in the last 12 months, after a year on the platform.

These are the first cohort of the next-generation grassroots entrepreneurs, earlier trained under the TVET scheme powered by Research Links and Nerdzfactory, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation.

The artisan shared their testimonies at a recent mini-workshop at Ogba, near Ikeja, organised to refresh the skills of the trainees. The workshop was mainly organised to bring together artisans who had challenges in operating effectively on the Instagram platform of myhandwork.ng, as well as other social media platforms.

In the last few months, various visits to beneficiaries revealed that a good number of artisans were not tech-savvy, so they needed urgent assistance to make remarkable business impressions via social media platforms.

The workshop provided hands-on training for artisans on how to effectively expand their digital reach. With the growing relevance of digital awareness in day-to-day business activities, tech experts were deployed at the workshop to train those artisans with challenges in managing their businesses digitally via social media.

At the event, many artisans recounted the benefits they have derived so far from the platform and how it has increased profitability in their various businesses.

Mercy Okundaye, a lady in the business of shoe-making, described her involvement with myhandwork.ng as the best thing that has ever happened to her business.

In her words, “the training over the last year has stirred up my creativity in shoemaking to a level I never imagined.

“Before my business was added to the platform, they taught us so many things about dealing with customers, how to handle our apprentices, how to run our businesses digitally, how to advertise our products online, and many other different things that will help our business grow”.

Based on the training, Okundaye revealed she had to change all her business strategies in line with the training she received to usher in the kind of growth she has been experiencing since the beginning of this year, when she started seeing the impact of the lessons learnt.

Also speaking, Reginald Effiong, a designer and bead maker based in Ogba, stressed that he could not quantify the lessons so far because of the massive benefits they have yielded.

She explains: “We were taught how to manage our apprentices and workers and integrate them into our new business vision. We also received training on how to close sales.

“Now I know how to close huge sales daily. If I had not come in contact with myhandwork.ng, advertising my products on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms would have remained a mystery. I am almost a social media expert today.

“In the next five years, I hope to open branches of my business across Lagos, and I am even thinking of moving beyond the borders of Nigeria”.

On her part, Tina Okafor, a caterer in Oke-ira, revealed that myhandwork.ng has exposed her to business ideas he felt could only be done abroad or by big companies. According to Okafor, “I run a local catering business. And I can now make my food, snap it, post it, and people will start asking for it.

“Let me say, since the beginning of this year, I’ve had about 72 online customers, and many of them book my food regularly. I don’t know most of these people, but when they see my post, they call my number. I do the preparation, and my money is transferred to my account, then I deliver.  This programme has helped me a lot. In fact, if you come to my shop, you may not see much on the ground, but online, I am making a kill”.

Commenting on the success of the programme so far, Eme Young, the Coordinator of the project, expressed great satisfaction that the platform has remarkably enhanced the businesses of artisans and tradesmen of the first cohort.  Speaking further, she said, “All artisans across the country would soon realise that they need our platform, whether you are a plumber, hairdresser, fashion designer, mechanic, technician, or adire fabric maker. All trades can be handled by the website.  They just need to sign up, get trained before they can showcase their trade or services to prospective customers. It is always a win-win situation for all involved.

“We are looking forward to a larger number of applicants when we flag off the second cohort. The current participants are our ambassadors, and they have shown others that our platform will connect participants with tech experts who will offer digital knowledge, potential investors, and mentors who can offer guidance and support as they consolidate their entrepreneurial journey.’’

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