𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗢𝗦 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿, Sofia Development Association, 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲

After several intensive learning sessions, the first drafts of the business plans of the participants (refugees) in the Business Accelerator programme under the PLOUTOS project are finally ready. Ideas for service businesses such as 👩‍🍳𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀, ✂️𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 🎼𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱. One highlight was a session featuring a special guest mentor, Milad, a Syrian refugee who successfully established his own small business. On March 6th, participants had the opportunity to meet Milad face-to-face. He graciously shared his journey and the challenges he overcame to set up a thriving restaurant in downtown Sofia. From licensing to initial investments, access to banking and credit, hiring practices, and even attitudes towards refugees, Milad provided invaluable insights.
Among the key lessons shared were 🗣:

“𝐼𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑜𝑓𝑓: 𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑓𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑔𝑒𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦”
“𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙. 𝐼 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑎 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎, 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠.”
“𝐿𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒.”
“𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ-𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑠 𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘.”
“𝑅𝑒𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑦𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑒𝑠, 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠.

The participants in the Business Acceleration program greatly valued the opportunity to learn directly from peers. This firsthand knowledge not only enriches their understanding but also equips them to avoid common pitfalls. Don’t miss the chance to watch the video featuring Milad as he shares his inspiring story and valuable insights.