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Home / News & Analytics / News

Right to Business is Now in Odesa!

January 8, 2024

We are pleased to announce the start of enrolment for a training course for entrepreneurs and those who want to start their own business.

As a result of the training, each participant will analyse their business project with experts, create a development roadmap, learn how to attract funding, write grant applications for entrepreneurs, establish new partnerships, etc.

IDPs, the war-affected population, and people from vulnerable groups who are also:

  • entrepreneurs who are currently living and working in Odesa or Odeska oblast, engaged in small business or have suspended their business activities and closed their sole proprietorship due to the full-scale invasion but want to resume their business
  • or are currently preparing to start their own business.

Last year, the Right to Business: A Course for Entrepreneurs training programme in Kharkiv lasted from early March to mid-October. There were almost 150 registrations, of which 53 participants with incredible entrepreneurial stories were selected, and 49 reached the final. They received grants of $3,000 to develop their businesses.

The course participants have been tested by war, loss and displacement. For example, Anna Kravtsova joined the course to scale up her cheese factory and open a cafe in Kharkiv where people can taste and buy craft cheese. Her plans were ambitious, but she had to start her own business due to adverse events.

Anna Kravtsova, course participant

With the start of the full-scale invasion, I lost my job. I couldn't look for new opportunities either because the school and kindergarten were closed, and I had to stay home with my children. In addition, our village was under occupation for some time. The idea of making cheese for sale came to me by itself, especially as I was doing it for my family. I had a supply of starter cultures; we bought a goat and started the process. The confidence to start my own business came from sad circumstances: last year, in August, a fire broke out due to shelling, we lost our car, food for the winter for ourselves and our cattle, and much more. When you lose everything you've worked for for years in a few minutes, it's not so scary anymore. Now we have a little experience, our recipes and regular customers. I make the cheese myself, and my husband helps me mail and deliver orders.

The entrepreneur spent the grant money on the goods and equipment she needed for her cheese factory: batteries, furniture, refrigerators and raw materials. These upgrades will help her produce and sell more products and reach a new profit level. 

The Right to Business: A Course for Entrepreneurs training programme is not only about new knowledge but also about a circle of like-minded people who want to work in Ukraine and contribute to its economic recovery. The course participants received free psychological and legal counselling and advice from a business coach. They also learned from the experience of invited entrepreneurs. Participants attended training sessions on marketing tools, accounting basics, different business models, good service and self-presentation.

The course was organised by R2P as a partner of the Ukraine Response Consortium within the Response Consortium: Providing Multidisciplinary Humanitarian Assistance to the War-Affected Population in Ukraine (2023–2024) project. The programme is funded by the USAID Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA).