A project in Sweden is providing free entrepreneurial training and counselling to newly-arrived immigrants The project, entitled ‘One Stop Future Shop’, organises one-month long courses for immigrants who have recently arrived in the country and who want to start their own business. Free counselling is being provided to entrepreneurs in the city of Gothenburg in particular, with information on what support from Swedish authorities is available to them. According to the project manage
Empowering immigrant entrepreneurs in Sweden
- 15 June 2017
A project in Sweden is providing free entrepreneurial training and counselling to newly-arrived immigrants
The project, entitled ‘One Stop Future Shop’, organises one-month long courses for immigrants who have recently arrived in the country and who want to start their own business.
Free counselling is being provided to entrepreneurs in the city of Gothenburg in particular, with information on what support from Swedish authorities is available to them. According to the project manager, participants are often surprised to hear that they have the same entrepreneurial opportunities as everyone else in the country.
The course is free of charge and is held in simple Swedish, with support available in English, Arabic, Somali and Farsi if needed. At the end of the month-long course, participants present their entrepreneurial ideas to a jury and attempt to convince them of their potential. The jury then provides them with feedback, including tips on how to proceed and warnings about what to avoid.
In the first edition, 21 people participated in the course. One in four are already running their own business. The organisers hope this project, co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, will help more people to become self-sufficient, create their own job opportunities and improve the entrepreneurial prospects of the region.
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Source article on ETC Goteborg 02/06/17
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