Business Unusual was created to strengthen social entrepreneurship in Poland, implemented from 2022 to 2025 by the Shipyard Foundation with the support of Google.org. The participants consisted of people initiating activities that support communities with refugee and/or migration experience.
Business Unusual
About the program
Program goals
In order to strengthen the program’s participants on their path to development, we aimed to equip them with competencies, knowledge, and resources necessary to conduct social enterprises. After completion, the program’s effects (to a greater or lesser extent, due to the individual course of support) consisted of:
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sorting out the participants’ legal and accounting circumstances
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increasing competences in organization management
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defining a plan or strategy for the future
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networking
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development of psychological resilience
Our participants
The program involved 33 social leaders spanning from informal social initiatives, non-governmental organizations and social entreprises. 93% of them were women, and 73% of all people were migrants or refugees. Half of the people participating in Business Unusual had two years or less experience in conducting activities for the benefit of foreign communities in Poland.
At the stage of qualification for the program, no criteria regarding entrepreneurial experience or legal form were applied.
If you want to familiarize yourself with the rules of the program, you can read about them here: link to the subpage
Which results were we able to achieve?
Both editions of the program were a success according to the participants – everyone noticed the positive changes that occurred in their organizations and activities thanks to Business Unusual. The three most frequently indicated effects (90% and above) were: establishing new contacts/cooperations, raising the level of management competences and development of psychological resilience. Participants also highly appreciated the refinement of their offer, the ability to take care of well-being, team integration and sorting out the legal situation.
