June 2024 Edit: Use this discussion to also ask me questions regarding the UN workshop on how to create a business by refugees or for refugees. As a speaker for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) workshop in Tokyo (sponsored by Nakano ward), I'm happy to answer your questions and read your insights and inputs.
What is this discussion? This is an online roundtable to share and discuss experiences, resources and practical advice for those who start up a business or a startup, especially if you're a woman or a mom 😁
#How #Business #Productivity #Femtech #Entrepreneur #Resources
Intro: To help other female entrepreneurs/ mompreneurs like me, I’ll be sharing here what steps I took/am taking as the founder of my recently created platform ProMaman, and hear from you your experiences and questions.
Up to this point, ProMaman has won the prestigious AXA insurance award, became part of 500 Global and United Nations DP, was featured in various media and we’re now building a great mailing list of companies and organizations that want to support women by holding helpful discussions that are easily accessible (it’s easier to participate on ProMaman than going to offline events or attending Zoom sessions, especially when guests have other work and childcare commitments).
My Steps So Far, in Brief:
Interviewed other women in similar situation to mine, to shape my idea
MVP (minium viable product)
Started building a list of trial clients (in our case, businesses that want to support women)
Joined governmental and private organizations for startups ( Tokyo government startups consortium, Google for Startups, etc.)
Selected to world leading accelerator: 500 Global (pre-seed/seed cohort, sponsored by Aichi government)
Partnered with more relevant organizations (JP-MIRAI/JICA, etc.)
Joined expo: Sponsored by JICA to co-exhibit with them and their partners (NHK, JP-MIRAI, etc.) at Tokyo International Expo.
Selected to United Nations DP Co:Youth contest (finalist)
Chosen by AXA insurance as the best startup for the AXA award at Tech4Good themed contest by the French Chamber of Commerce
Joined more expo: Sponsored by Tokyo government for a booth at Tama Mirai Innovation Fair)
Selected to United Nations accelerator
Media coverage by KDDI magazines, Global Piece Foundation, etc.
Now: Growing clients waiting list, preparing the platform for them to host discussions on ProMaman
Ask me anything, I’m happy to detail my above steps in the discussion below.
About me: I’ve always wanted to make a powerful social impact, but my background (educational and professional) weren't in the field of business. So, when I finally started working on ProMaman, I admit that I felt absolutely terrified to be driven purely by my passion to solve the problem my project was addressing, without existing contacts and prior knowledge on how the startup world works. I'm also a mom of small kids, so additionally to having a limited budget I also have limited time. Finally, I'm also an immigrant, so language plays quite the barrier, too. Scroll down to see my insights and experience and share yours!
I have a question about starting a business that is targeting refugees. I actually never thought of such a thing, but seeing what's going on in the world I can understand the strong and seemingly growing need. What are the biggest pains refugees face? I assume it's language barrier and adapting to a new place, but isn't these two areas already dominated by very hard to compete with players? For example, language barrier can be solved with Google Translate and Google Translate is extremely hard to compete against. Pains related to adaptation are likely already handled by government agencies and many NPOs, so it's hard to see how a for-profit can succeed there. What are your thoughts?