Partnership Overview

Many young Nepalese, in fact most young Nepalese people, see their future outside of Nepal. From an early age their sole ambition is to leave the country for education and for employment. They do not like Nepal and they are attracted to the lifestyle outside the country. Their dream is to get to the West and if that fails, to get to India. However, most do not make it and their dream dies. They have few opportunities in Nepal and they are unmotivated to attempt anything. To be fair, there is little incentive within the country for them. Many who do get to leave end up without jobs anyway which results in a great deal of frustration. 

This project is being established to deal with an issue that many Nepalese young people face. They spend a great deal of money on their education and they desire to leave the country. However, most fail and so find themselves with an education, some ideas, but no access to capital to fulfil their dream. This centre will provide training, development, mentoring and connection to potential investment resources. It also creates a movement of young people to support and encourage each other as they grow and develop.   

History of Partnership

Bright Hope World first met Niranjan in 2003 while he was a student at South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies (SAIACS) in Bangalore, India. Subsequent to his return to Nepal, BHW financially supported a project in Saptari and then the establishment of a medical centre, agriculture development and micro-enterprise loan programme in Nawal Parasi in 2008 (NEP02b), followed by a poultry farm in the same area in 2012 (NEP02c), a cafe in Kathmandu in mid-2019 (NEP04) and then an increase in the loan programme in 2020 (NEP02d).

Due to the worldwide COVID pandemic BHW team members have not been able to visit Nepal recently but over a period of two years Niranjan has been dreaming about this idea and talking to us about it. He has also had ongoing, frequent discussions with potential beneficiaries and has decided that there is sufficient need for this and that the time is now right. He would have been keen to commence this earlier but has delayed things due to COVID. In July 2021 the BHW Executive approved commencing this new project.  

Beneficiaries

The main beneficiaries will be young people who have an entrepreneurial vision to become productive, economically self-sufficient and successful in business. Most of these people would have been trying to leave the country for some time but have failed and have not been able to find a way to fulfil their dream up to the time they enter this training. 

Any person will be welcomed at this centre as long as they want to bring positive sustainable initiatives that bring change in their local communities. Welcoming non-Christians is the best way to create opportunities for gospel presentation. 

What We Like About The Partnership

It targets a group of vulnerable people who have the potential to become successful but who have little opportunity.
It is the concept of a partner who has proved himself in several successful enterprises.
It has the potential to interact with a group of people who would normally not be exposed to the Christian message. 

Key People

Leadership Profile

The key people are Niranjan and Sonu Adhikary. They live in Kathmandu. After training at university Niranjan was employed by Campus Crusade for Christ. He developed into a leadership role there, especially in training people. After marrying, they decided to go to SAIACS for further training and while there decided that on returning to Nepal they would look for a totally different model of doing ministry. He was, and still is, very concerned about the dependence that a lot of Christian ministry in Nepal has on outside funding and resources. He wanted to develop a Nepali way of doing and funding ministry so he began training people in a different way. Many of these people have gone out into difficult areas to plant churches.  

Niranjan continues to provide leadership and oversight to the training programme, and gets involved in resolving issues when they arise. Niranjan and Sonu are also involved in leading a small church near their house.  

Other People Involved

Niranjan has been training a group of young people who are university graduates to assist him with the leadership of this programme. 

Vision And Annual Strategy

Vision 

To provide full-scale services to start-up businesses and entrepreneurs.

This Centre is totally committed to eradicating poverty especially in the younger generation which is mostly underestimated. Unemployment is increasing day by day among this group who have spent a lot on their education and have a great responsibility for their family.

Strategy

The plan is to run a course every month for people who want to get into business or some form of enterprise. The context is that the Nepalese economy is stagnant. Very few jobs are being created and the population is increasing rapidly. The economy is swamped by India and corruption. There are few opportunities and the private sector is the only hope for these young people. 

Up to 50 people per month will be brought together to attend the Business Incubation Centre. They will pay to attend which will generate funds to operate the programme. The course has numerous components starting from training, counselling, developing business plans, and connecting them to potential investors for capital financing. The Centre will provide physical facility support, networking facilities and support services. 

The intention is to run 12 courses per year with up to 50 in each course. In five years, theoretically there could be hundreds of new enterprises established generating many jobs. 

The participants will be divided into three different groups
1) Basic group: (25) Mainly students who want counselling and are determined to do something but are confused about where to start. This group will be focused and supervised the most among the three groups and will be provided enough counselling and support through mentors and also connecting them to local potential investors. 

2) Intermediate: (15) Consisting of small investors who have ideas and are looking to initiate a business but are new to this. This group will be given the training to turn their ideas into reality with the investment they have, providing knowledge for business setup, financial management, staffing, marketing, and product distribution etc. 

3) Advanced: (10) This group will consist of people who are experienced in their business and people who went abroad but were not successful in getting a job. This group will be trained on how to do their existing business in different innovative ways and adjust to the change happening to the business environment. Similarly, counselling individual people to set-up a new business involving people from the community.

The course will be run by a team of graduates who are knowledgeable in this field, who understand the need for change in the Nepalese society and existing problems for small businesses, and can solve these issues with innovative solutions. They have access to mentors who have business study degrees and work experience in this field. 

Each person will be treated as an individual. Once the course is finished and they understand the person and know their financial capacity, i.e. whether or not they have their own resources to commence on their own, then the Centre will act as a mediator between them and potential investors. Investors could be an individual from their network, banks or financial institutions or, for small investments, farmers co-ops and agriculture businesses, e.g. the Ray of Hope Resource Centre (NEP02d). Similarly, pooling money from different individuals could also be one of the ways to invest in those ideas.  

Annual Budget

They are seeking assistance for some initial set-up costs and the first month of rent after which the centre will be self-sustaining. The initial one-off amount required is US$6,261 and this will fund furniture, equipment (computers, video projector, printers), books and research journals and one month's rent. 

All the services of the Centre will be delivered with certain charges which will allow them to operate smoothly. In terms of financial income from the centre, they have estimated receiving US$1,000 per week (50 people x $20) from counselling and course study and US$500 per week from the sale of the business journals.