“I Train Young People to Become Entrepreneurs”- Fatty

Mbemba Fatty a tailor at Bakadagi village in Upper River Region has said that after taking a loan of D10, 000.000 from the Bakadagi Village and Savings Credit Associations (VISACA). 

He has now developed a positive attitude towards the development of sustainable enterprise, self employment and social entrepreneurship. According to him, he raised the level of awareness of enterprise and self-employment as a career option for himself as a young person in the village by having his own tailoring workshop. 

Fatty, 29, is happily marrid and blessed with one girl child. He disclosed that since his father passed away in 2006, he became the breadwinner of the family and have learnt the profession from his late father ( May his soul Rest In Peace). 

In an exclusive interview, Fatty in his home village in Bakadagi in Upper River Region, said his tailoring workshop, has transformed many young people in becoming self employed as he has trained five young people in the past five years to become successful tailors in the area. 

 “I trained young people to become entrepreneurs, as entrepreneurs you have to produce for the market not to the market. The product that you provide for the market need, to meet the customer’s satisfaction. If customers are not satisfied with the product they will not buy it.

” Noting that all his products- dresses, shirts, t-shirts all that he sew for his customers are satisfactory and eye catching and have win the confident of many peoples in the area. To be an entrepreneur, he said, one need to understand the key issue that need to go into product they produce for the market and also to understand the market needs and the business environment they operate. 

“I realized that many young business persons lack the required skills and understanding on business development services in my area, this is why I deem it fit to train people who will later train others,” he said. 

His tailoring workshop, Fatty noted has given support to many young people especially youth functions in the village and other social functions, be it counseling, provision of training, advice and many others to develop their various businesses. He said many small businesses venture into the business without knowing the market needs, be it products or services; this affect the development of many businesses in the country. 

“There is a need for a proper business planning for any business, this will help the person to know the market needs, environment and other vital information about the type of business, the strength, opportunity and the weaknesses of the business,” he explained. 

He said understanding the future of the products you produce for the market, which go with a lot of market research to understand the business environment is very important for any type of business in any area of operation.

Author: Mamadou Edrisa Njie GYIN Gambia chapter National Coordinator ,Gyin