Business Ladies

Business Ladies project strengthens the business expertise of migrant women entrepreneurs in Finnish Lapland region. The project empowers and aids immigrant women who interest in starting a potential business.

The project activities will strengthen the business skills of immigrant women, in particular through networking and with peer support. The objectives are also to provide migrant entrepreneurs with the skills to utilize existing and promote cooperation and networking between migrant entrepreneurs with Finnish native female entrepreneurs

Business Ladies project builds a support community for immigrant female entrepreneurs to strengthen the business expertise and grow sustainable business in Finnish Lapland region. Entrepreneurship can be a powerful tool to immigrant women to integrate into the host society. By creating a job for themselves, immigrant entrepreneurs also create workplaces for others and contribute to the economic development of their new home country. Supporting immigrant women after establishing enterprises, would be the main focus of the project so that women can properly operate their enterprises during the first 2-3 years which has been named as “Dead Valley”. The project support and actions can be a way to improve current tight economic situation of immigrant women entrepreneurs as well as Finnish economy. Special attention should be put to female entrepreneurship because immigrant women face greater risk of exclusion from society according to the OECD report 2018. Many families from third countries have a patriarchal culture where women are seen as caregivers for their homes and children. Continuous staying at home limits women's integration into Finnish society.

In this sense, entrepreneurship for these women can make it possible to reconcile work and family. Entrepreneurship can improve the economic and social status of migrant women and accelerate integration into the life of a new country. However, entrepreneurship in a foreign culture and in a foreign language can be really challenging and more challenging for immigrant women to understand many laws and regulations which are in Finnish languages.

That is why immigrants fail in business more often than the general population: a lack of entrepreneurial knowledge, language skills, networks and support. Immigrant women are potential entrepreneurs. They should be a subject to various support measures that would lead to the establishment of sustainable business. They would need more counselling time along with a fellow mentor to help them in every step of the journey. In Lapland, migrant women are not sufficiently targeted to support their integration. Women's entrepreneurship offers the target group one meaningful and flexible option to promote its´ integration.

The project endeavors to activate the potential of immigrant women entrepreneurs by a dynamic pilot program in the municipality of Lapland. The program will include such elements as creative workshops, benchmark-visits, mentorship, pitching for funding and advice, networking and be designed to meet particular needs of the target group. The business / personal needs and goals of immigrant women will be considered in every step of the project. The project will increase measures for entrepreneurship among immigrant women and promote sustainable development of their
businesses. They will be approached with a supportive attitude and a multicultural understanding. They will be served in accordance with the principles of equality.