Meet Ayub: How Your Support Helped a Motorcycle Driver Turn a $66 Savings into a Chicken Business

Growing up, Ayub never imagined that he would be a business owner someday.

Just four months ago, he was working as a hired motorcycle driver, earning a meager 50 cents a day. This small wage was barely enough to cover basic necessities for his family, let alone pay for his child’s future schooling. To make matters worse, the work was highly inconsistent; some weeks, he was only able to secure work for two or three days.

As a father, this constant financial instability deeply worried him. He was terrified of failing to provide his son with a better future.

Everything changed when Ayub got the opportunity to attend Global Village Connect’s community development program.

Learning to build from scratch

Through the GVC community development training, Ayub learned the foundational principles of how to start a business from scratch and manage it effectively. He took this training very seriously, seeing it as the tool he needed to rewrite his family’s story.

One of the key lessons he took to heart was that he should use his existing skills to get started. Leveraging his years of experience as a motorcycle rider, Ayub approached a local gentleman who had suffered a foot injury and could not ride his own motorcycle. Ayub proposed a partnership: he would ride the motorcycle on the injured man’s behalf until he recovered.

The gentleman agreed, allowing Ayub to drive the motorcycle for a daily wage of $1.40.

Sacrificing for a new beginning

Ayub rode that motorcycle for 45 consecutive days, determined to save every single cent he earned.

To slash their household expenses and maximize their savings, Ayub and his wife made profound daily sacrifices. They ate only boiled food to save on cooking oil, skipped their morning tea entirely, and restricted sugar purchases solely to sweeten their young son’s morning porridge.

By the end of the 45 days, their rigorous saving paid off: Ayub had accumulated $66 in starting capital, enough to launch his own enterprise.

Rearing chicks for a stable livelihood

After conducting diligent market research, Ayub decided to venture into poultry farming, drawing on his existing knowledge of how to care for chickens.

He invested his saved capital to purchase 50 chicks and a half bag of maize to feed them.

“I cannot contain my excitement for this new chapter in my life! The thought of being able to buy food, water, and milk for my child gives me the motivation to continue working hard in my new business.”

— Ayub Ayub’s hard work is yielding impressive returns. By rearing his hens to maturity, he plans to sell them at $3.60 each. This will generate a gross income of $178 by the end of November.

After deducting all feed and operating expenses, Ayub will take home a net income of $66 in just six weeks, fully recouping his starting capital and establishing a highly profitable, self sustaining livelihood that secures his child’s future.