The COVID-19 pandemic has forced some entrepreneurs to change or postpone their business plans. Such was the case for Prosper\u00a0Hamenyimana, who was about to open a UPS Store franchise in St.\u00a0Boniface in April\u00a02020.<\/p>\n
The idea of opening his own business was not new to Hamenyimana, who was already thinking about it when he arrived in Manitoba in June\u00a02017.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I arrived in Manitoba, the first thing I did was look for work, but I was already thinking about starting my own business,\u201d he explains. \u201cI quickly got in touch with CDEM to get training and learn as much as I could about the ins and outs of running a business here in Manitoba.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2018, the newcomer launched DAPRO Trading & Services, a company specialized in imports and exports. \u201cI had already gained a lot of experience in Burundi and Kenya, so it made sense for me to open my own import\/export business and to assist Canadian companies in doing business in East\u00a0Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2019, Hamenyimana incorporated his company, which then became DAPRO Trading & Services Inc. \u201cFrom then on, I looked for franchises that would offer me good opportunities. I ended up talking to The UPS Store Canada network. They were looking to open a new store in St.\u00a0Boniface.\u201d<\/p>\n
They wanted someone who was able to provide high quality, bilingual services, and Hamenyimana fit the profile. \u201cBeing bilingual, I quickly went to the top of the list as a possible buyer for the new store,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n
Hamenyimana then attended a series of training sessions given as part of opening the franchise. The experience was a positive one. \u201cIt gave me time to learn about the organizational and operational aspects of running a UPS store.\u201d<\/p>\n
The St.\u00a0Boniface location was scheduled to open in April\u00a02020, but the pandemic forced Hamenyimana to put off celebrating. \u201cGiven the situation, I had to wait before opening the store, and getting an occupancy permit took longer, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was only a temporary setback for Hamenyimana, who has learned from experience that the path to entrepreneurship is often fraught with obstacles. The UPS Store in St.\u00a0Boniface finally opened its doors on July\u00a020, 2020.<\/p>\n
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Photo credit: Marta Guerrero<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4143,"template":"","type-de-publication":[69,68],"class_list":["post-4144","publications","type-publications","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","type-de-publication-business-services","type-de-publication-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cdem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publications\/4144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cdem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publications"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cdem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/publications"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cdem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cdem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"type-de-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cdem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type-de-publication?post=4144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}