Ijeoma’s desire to train entrepreneurs on acquiring the right skills needed for their business was sparked by an experience she had at a pastry shop. She bought terrible snacks from a shop that was recently opened near her house and she couldn’t help but worry. Why would the shop owner invest so much money in starting a business and lack the necessary skills to make better pastries?
This experience inspired the startup of Beavly, an online marketplace that connects people with top professionals with the purpose of learning alongside them in their workplace. Trainees gain practical knowledge and hands-on experience by interacting physically with the professionals.
“I figured I could start something that brings these two people together — people who want to learn and people who want to train.”
Currently, the platform is focused on making connections in vocational industries such as hair styling, fashion design, beauty and makeup, catering and others and according to Ijeoma, this is because although there is so much potential in these industries, many people don’t consider them.
So far there has been 120 connections both offline and online with about 100 trainees signed up presently and another request waiting list of about 530
Before her graduation, from the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology her startup Beavly, was selected for the second generation of S-factory, receiving a fund of $15,000. Beavly also received an additional funding of $30,000 after being the only African startup to qualify for the 16th generation of Startup Chile.
This is her advice to young entrepreneurs, “It is scary but it gets better. So keep going. Find someone who you can work with and believes in your idea. Also remember to learn along the way and always take feedback and incorporate them.”
