Social challenge and reasons for project’s initiation

Immediacy of the social problem

According to the 2019 SDG Index, Russia’s gender employment ratio is 79 working women per 100 working men.^[1] At the same time, female entrepreneurship is one of the key drivers of social and economic growth today. Advances in female entrepreneurship develop the social sphere, increase the share of small businesses in GDP and reduce unemployment. In order to stimulate small and medium-sized businesses created by women, the government developed a project to support business women as part of the National Action Strategy for Women. According to the 2015 Female Entrepreneurship Index by the GEDI Institute, Russia has a favorable ecosystem for female entrepreneurship because women here are well-educated, the market is large and conditions for doing business are good.^[2] On the other hand, Federation Council speaker Valentina Matvienko thinks that “there are some problems with female entrepreneurship today – for instance, it is more difficult for women in some cases to get a loan.”^[3]Most of the women (98%) would like to start their own business yet they face some barriers: the lack of start-up capital, the lack of business skills, the lack of confidence, problems with combining the roles of a mother and a business woman. Some women, once they have a second or a third child, want to start their own business instead of going back to work. Quite often, while on maternity leave, women try starting a business of their own, starting a family company or launching a social project. In situations where women don’t want to (or can’t) return to their previous job, the best option for them – and for the national economy – is to become self-employed, with a view to building a successful business which will create new jobs.

^[1] 2019 Europe Sustainable Development Report. https://www.sdgindex.org/

^[2] http://www.mirfinansov.ru/interview/ya-veryu-v-zhenskiy-biznes/

^[3] https://tass.ru/interviews/4075044

External reasons for project’s initiation

The Foundation team realized that in some parts of Russia there were a large number of women raising children and regularly facing a tough choice between their job and taking care of their families. Many of them would like to start their own business, which would help them achieve self-fulfillment and at the same time find a proper work-life balance. Yet they face certain difficulties: they lack boldness and confidence, they lack skills and basic information on how to start a business, they don’t have start-up capital.

In 2013 and 2014, Amway’s Responsible for the Future Foundation and the VTsIOM polling agency did a study to determine if the target audience (women on maternity leave and women with underage children) had potential as entrepreneurs. The study revealed that over 90% (in 2014, even 100%) of the respondents (women living in big Russian cities) liked the idea of starting their own business. At the same time, over a third (39%) were convinced that it was impossible for a woman to start her own business and succeed in Russia. Many women are reluctant to start their own business because they lack money, ideas and knowledge, or they are afraid of financial risks. 95% of them said a person starting their own business should take a course.

Before launching the pilot Businessmom project in Krasnodar, we consulted with key stakeholders (including the city authorities). It turned out that, although the local authorities said they supported women with children, they did not have any special programs for this category, and special classes for future entrepreneurs involved a complicated application procedure or were only available to people officially registered as unemployed.

The Foundation saw this as an opportunity for the Businessmom program, which offers free training in basic business skills and provides start-up capital through competitive grants.

Internal reasons for project’s initiation

The mission statement of Amway says that the Company “will always support the fundamental freedom of people to determine their own future, allowing them the time and resources to protect and nurture their family. Amway will also always offer hope to individuals and the opportunity to earn reward in proportion to their efforts.” Thus, entrepreneurship is one of the Company’s global values. Hence, supporting and developing the business climate is one of the key priorities for Amway’s corporate social responsibility and its Responsible for the Future Foundation.

Project description

The Businessmom program kicked off in 2013 in four cities – Krasnodar, Samara, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk. In 2017, the SME Corporation included Businessmom in its action plan and created a roadmap defining the areas of responsibility for all the stakeholders:

• Amway provides grants under the program, oversees and funds coordination work in the regions, organizes publicity and social media campaigns, and maintains the program’s website, www.mama-predprinimatel.ru. 
• The female entrepreneurship committee of the Opora Rossii Association organizes work at the regional level, actively participates in training activities, interacts with government agencies, organizes business visits for program participants, and supports their startup projects after the course is over.
• The SME Corporation is responsible for the training process. The Corporation provides certified coaches and infrastructure for classes (rooms in local Business Support Centers, consultations on the registration process for small businesses).

As a result, what started as a project by a private company evolved into a national program which was implemented in 20 Russian provinces in 2017. In 2017, the Businessmom procedure was developed, and it became the standard for the program in all the provinces.

In each province, a group of 35 women with underage children is selected from the applications submitted to www.mama-predprinimatel.ru. Most of the applicants will not be efficient as trainees. We select the most motivated applicants who can clearly present their business idea. Importantly, only women who do not yet have an official business are eligible for the program. Participants go through a 40-hour course (five days, eight hours a day), and at the end they present their business projects to the judges. The business plan contest is an important part of Businessmom. Winners get 200,000 ruble grants from Amway to implement their projects.

The independent consists of representatives of national organizers, relevant agencies, business associations, NGOs and media. The business idea has to be implemented within a year, and the donor monitors it to make sure that the funds are spent as intended.

In 2018, the average age for participants was 29, and most of them had college degrees. Most winning project had to do with additional education (17 projects), sewing (13), various handmade projects (6) and beauty and wellness (5).

Team and partners 

Team

• Anna Soshinskaya, President, Amway Responsible for the Future Foundation: strategic planning and program development, interaction with federal partners, government agencies and media
• Yekaterina Lyovshina, Program Director, Businessmom: strategic development and operational control, interaction with federal and regional government agencies, organizers, partners and media
• Anna Chekaryova, Program Coordinator, Businessmom: operational interaction with regional organizers, project coordination
• Anastasia Stalnova, Coordinator, Amway Responsible for the Future Foundation: administrative support, program documentation.

Partners

• National co-organizers – the SME Corporation, Opora Rossii Female Entrepreneurship Committee, Otkritie Bank
• The Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security of the Russian Federation
• Local Business Support Centers, SME centers (business incubators, My Business centers, etc.), Opora Rossii local female entrepreneurship committees, local business people, media.
• In every city, local business people share their expertise with trainees during the five-day course, organize visits to their companies and become mentors for finalists. Traditionally, regional partners offer special prizes for the best projects.

Resources

Financial resources

The 2018 budget for Businessmom was 7.23 million rubles, including 5 million rubles in the grant fund and 2.23 million rubles for administrative and other expenses.

Human resources

• Members of the Opora Rossii female entrepreneurship committee organizing business visits to successful business women in the region
• Company distributors (Amway Independent Entrepreneurs) participating in the program as volunteers: telling potential participants about the program, sitting on the panel of judges, helping trainees prepare their presentations for the final, consulting graduates on how to start and run their business, etc.
• Company employees who help the program as volunteers (telling people about the program and sitting on the panel of judges).

Technological and material resources

• The program’s information portal: https://mama-predprinimatel.ru
• Rooms for classes and opening and closing ceremonies
• Special prizes and other gifts from the program’s regional partners

Achieved results

Immediate results:

Overall results in 2013-2018:

• The program covered 50 Russian cities (a total of 104 trainings, with multiple sessions in some cities)
• Over 3,640 mothers joined the program
• Participants listened to 4,160 hours of lectures
• Grants awarded totalled 15.2 million rubles

Social results:

     Promoting entrepreneurship among women:

• Stimulating interest in small businesses
• Developing small businesses in outlying provinces
• Promoting self-employment and improving economic stability in the province
• Creating new jobs and reducing unemployment
• Promoting self-employment among young mothers
• Increased interest in the program and growing number of applications
• Networking and building a business community, including that of businesswomen
• Bringing in new partners who join the program offering their services pro bono

     Equipping women with skills and training to start their own business:

• A chance to learn from the best entrepreneurs in Russia
• Gaining confidence
• Socialization, developing new contacts
• Implementing a business project, turning profit, attracting investment
• Proper work-income-family balance

Internal project assessment:

In 2018, the Foundation performed its first evaluation of the Businessmom program, where experts questioned both participants and representatives of local organizers, i.e. local Opora Rossii female entrepreneurship committees, Business Support Centers, business incubators, etc.

External project assessment:

In 2019, CAF performed the first external evaluation of the Businessmom program. The evaluation covered the program’s performance in 2018 and included the following stages and methods for collecting and analysing information:

1. Qualitative stage: analyzing program documents, interviewing program staff and partners, including national and local organizers
2. Quantitative stage: online surveys with main stakeholders – participants, partners and organizers – on SurveyMonkey
3. Analyzing the data and preparing a report

Evaluation included a total of 10 interviews: three face-to-face interviews in Moscow and seven telephone interviews with people in other places. The interviewed people included representatives of the SME Corporation, Opora Rossii Female Entrepreneurship Committee and Otkritie Bank. Online surveys covered 206 participants in the 2018 program, including 30 winners and 34 regional partners.

The evaluation established that the Businessmom program helped achieve an important objective, develop skills and expertise that women need to start their own business. Also, the program helped shape a community of business women and promote female entrepreneurship in various regions. Based on the evaluation performed, the program has achieved the following results:

1. The program is a catalyst for female entrepreneurship in Russian provinces. The program is the only available support mechanism for young mother in 72% of the provinces it operates in.
2. The program equips women with knowledge and skills necessary to start their own business. A third of the participants questioned registered their business in 2018.
3. The program makes trainees more confident and helps them overcome the biggest obstacle when starting your own business, the lack of confidence. Almost all the winners (90%), as well as most participants who have not received a grant (68%), said their confidence and self-esteem had improved. Over a half of the participants (59%) said the program gave them confidence to register their business. 40% of the trainees reported that their financial situation improved after the program. Financial improvements were reported primarily by winners (77%). Among participants, the rate was 35%.

This study confirmed some of our theories and showed us how we can take the program forward.    

Project’s distinctive features and know – how

Businessmom is the first program helping mothers with underage children start their own business. There are other effective projects teaching people about the ABCs of business, Businessmom is unique because it targets a very special audience.

Also, the program is special because it relies on partnership between different sectors – the state (SME Corporation), civil society (Opora Rossii Female Entrepreneurship Committee), NGOs (Responsible for the Future Foundation) and business (Amway, Otkritie Bank).

The program’s best practices include the following: combining theoretical and practical studies. Trainees enter the program with their own business idea. They don’t just get some abstract knowledge which has little to do with reality; they test their ideas to see how viable they are. Also, training always involves visits to successful businesswomen who have the experience of building their own company.

The program keeps evolving, responding to the needs of stakeholders. For example, some time ago it became obvious to us that the most vulnerable categories of mothers with underage children on the labor market are those with three or more children, those with foster children and those with children with special needs. In order to address this situation, we launched a pilot Businessmom course specifically for these categories of mothers. The pilot worked well, with over 100 mothers applying for the program. The winner was Xenia Sergeyeva with a project of a tailor’s shop for children with special needs.

Another example of how the program responds to the needs of the target audience is a new format at a municipal and regional levels. Instead of having all training sessions in one city, we decided to have them in several different cities within the region. Several winners from the municipal level would then compete in the finals at the regional level, and eventually one winner would be picked for the region. This enabled us to attract more participants without increasing the grant fund.

Challenges and solutions

In 2019, we conducted a study which helped us identify opportunities for development and improvement:

1. Improving and modernizing the educational component – we plan to move a part of the course online, while in-class sessions will focus on one-on-one consultations with practicing entrepreneurs regarding the business plan and on soft skills (pitching, teamwork, leadership).
2. We need a solution for participants living outside of the cities where the training takes place. (Usually, the training takes place in capital city of the province.) Notwithstanding all the benefits of in-class sessions, it is too difficult for out-of-town participants to travel to the city every day or to move to the city for the duration of the program.
3. We need to provide follow-up after participants graduate from the program (consultations, forming a community, supporting startups). Some provinces are already doing that, but this work should be more systematic and standardized.
4. Participants are all at different levels and require different treatment. According to the terms of the program, Businessmom is only for women who are not registered as entrepreneurs, or have been registered as entrepreneurs for less than a year. Some trainees have more business experience than others. It is easier for experienced participants to win and get a grant while newcomers lack confidence.

Plans of further development   

In addition to expanding to new localities and increasing the qualitative indicators, Businessmom seeks to improve qualitatively. Our plans for 2019 match recommendations provided in the CAF study. For instance, the study confirmed our considerations about making the training available to women living in other cities in the same region.

We found a solution which enables us to:

– increase the number of participants in each region

– make the training more accessible to women living outside of the capital city 

– keep the grant fund at the same level

We have designed a mechanism for implementing the program at two levels – municipal and regional. Instead of organizing the training in just one city (usually, the capital city of the province), we organize it in two or three cities. Each city has its municipal finals, selecting two or three women for the regional finals. Later on, we have 12-15 people competing in the regional finals for the grant. Thus, instead of 35 women, we can have 70 or 105 women participating in the program. It is more convenient for many participants to have the training taking place in the city where they live, or in a city closer to where they live. At the same time, it is still one grant per region, so the grant fund does not get inflated.

We tested this as a pilot project in Arkhangelsk Oblast in May 2019 with two cities, Severodvinsk and Arkhangelsk, with the regional finals in Arkhangelsk. Soon, we will use the same format in Samara Oblast (with trainings in Samara, Syzran and Togliatti, city finals on October 2, and the regional finals in Samara on October 4, 2019).

Another way to develop the program is to make it more focused. In Moscow, Businessmom organized a special training only for mothers with three or more children, mothers with foster children and mothers with children with special needs. Obviously, these women are more vulnerable on the labor market, yet they do have some interesting ideas they want to implement. Joining the Businessmom program may become an important step for them on their path to implementing their business ideas and becoming financially independent. The format proved popular. We received over 100 applications, which means 3.5 applicants per vacancy. If the format is a success, we may replicate it in Saint Petersburg and other big cities in 2020.

In 2019, we plan to develop mechanisms for getting volunteer distributors involved in the program. It is obvious that their experience enables them to share a lot of valuable recommendations with participants, Independent entrepreneurs may soon become full-fledged ambassadors for the program.

Engaging distributors is related to another potential development – setting up local communities, like Businessmom Clubs. Such communities do exist in some cities, where the program has been working for a number of years. For example, 2013 graduates in Samara organized a club called Biz Girls. The club attracts graduates from later years and simply women who want to start their own business. Amway Independent Entrepreneurs could become leaders of such clubs in their provinces.

Recommendations

The program owes its success largely to partnership. When we launched Businessmom alone in 2013, our financial, material and social resources were limited. Today, the program is implemented in partnership with other sectors. At both the national and regional levels, we cooperate with the state, civil society, businesses, media, NGOs, etc. First, this brings in resources. Second, it opens new opportunities. Third, this makes the program more sustainable. Our recommendation is, find reliable partners. Don’t be afraid of some initial difficulties and misunderstandings during the getting-to-know-each-other stage – they are only natural. Support each other.

Also, a program planned for a number of years cannot be effective without development. Don’t become static; be responsive to the needs of stakeholders, regularly collect feedback and come up with new dimensions for progress. On the one hand, Businessmom is a long-term, sustainable program; on the other, it is a lab for experimenting (just like other projects by the Amway Foundation). In 2019 alone, we tested two pilot formats in different regions: a two-stage contest with a city and regional finals and a special program in Moscow for a narrower audience (mothers with three or more children, mothers with foster children and mothers with children with special needs).

The team believes it is very important to get company staff involved in charitable and CSR projects. This includes both Amway in-house employees and distributors, i.e., independent entrepreneurs. Their experience and enthusiasm can make Businessmom our common endeavor. The team recommends getting volunteers engaged. Start by letting the employees know what you are doing.

Project’s documents

• Program Regulations: http://mama-predprinimatel.ru/project/reglament/
• Grading Form for judges