A veteran, a student, and a pastry chef: a new season of the Do Your Own business idea competition has started

On March 12, the new grant season of the Do Your Own business idea competition from the MHP for Community Charitable Foundation started. This year's grant budget is UAH 10 million. The organizers plan to support up to 80 entrepreneurs in 13 regions of Ukraine, UNN reports.

Details

The competition is open to veterans, military personnel and their families, as well as entrepreneurs affected by the full-scale invasion and community members who are just planning to start a new business.

"Over the past 2 years, we have supported more than 150 microbusinesses for a total of UAH 18 million. Today we have a new stage, a new season of the Do Your Own competition, in which we plan to support more than 70 more ideas.

This year, we want to pay special attention to business ideas, businesses of veterans and their families. This is our conscious decision to support those who gave their health for the struggle of Ukraine," comments Tatyana Volochai, Director of the MHP-Hromadske Charitable Foundation.

Volodymyr Panchenko, Head of the National Projects Department at MHP for the Community, spoke about the key requirements for projects.

"The first is geographical location. We support 13 regions in particular, and entrepreneurs must be from these regions to ensure that taxes go to these regions in the future.

The next requirement is an application form filled out in accordance with the requirements. We have priority areas, such as supporting veterans and their families, and additionally, the business project must be useful to the community. That is, the entrepreneur must write why it is important, what he or she can improve, and why society needs it at all," he said.

The winners of the Do Your Own competition have the opportunity to take advantage of a comprehensive support package. In addition to a grant of UAH 100,000, they get access to a training program that includes courses from leading experts in marketing, business planning, accounting and other key aspects of business development. The MHP-Community Charitable Foundation is responsible for paying taxes on the grant.

According to preliminary estimates, the participants who won in 2023 together paid more than UAH 3 million in taxes to their communities. This shows that the Do Your Own competition not only promotes the development of small and medium-sized businesses but also has a significant impact on the development of local communities.

Applications are accepted until April 9.

Help

"MHP-Hromadas is a Ukrainian charitable foundation that started its operations in 2015. Its main mission is the comprehensive development of communities. The geography of its operations includes 12 regions of Ukraine: more than 700 towns and villages.

Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Foundation has been systematically supporting people in the war zone, Ukrainian defenders and rescuers, communities, hospitals and maternity homes, charitable institutions that care for orphans and the elderly, as well as people who have lost their homes and livelihoods due to the war.