To show refugees (and migrants) that self-employment can be a good option, mentoring partnerships are formed with so-called Gründerpaten. These are volunteers – entrepreneurs, people interested in start-ups, employees in management positions or Wirtschaftsjunioren. They give guidance to the refugee and share their business network and entrepreneurial spirit.
By setting up mentoring partnerships, the idea is to make it easier for refugees to set up their own businesses by:
- Offering one-to-one support, sharing ideas and experience.
- Helping them develop the personal qualities necessary for a business founder.
- Giving them access to business networks.
The refugees also benefit from training and seminars and are integrated into the network of business juniors and networking events.
In 2019, the project also supported a competition “Durchstarter” for new entrepreneurs / business ideas (refugees from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Eritrea or Somalia; no more than 7 years in Germany).