Own business: why Ukrainian women have become more likely to register as sole proprietors, what areas of activity they choose, and how local authorities help

Over the past year, more than 150 thousand Ukrainian women decided to start their own business. For this purpose, women return from abroad, attend special courses, writes UNN.

A full-scale Russian invasion has changed the fate of millions of Ukrainian women. Many of them, fleeing from enemy bullets, shells and rockets, were forced to move to other regions of Ukraine and travel abroad. Some of them lost their favorite job, and some lost a business that they had been developing for more than one year.

According to one study, 95% of women's businesses in Ukraine have somehow suffered from full-scale Russian aggression.

Despite this, we can say that it is women who have recently gradually seized the initiative in the development of small businesses in Ukraine. According to Opendatabot, in 2023, more than 150 thousand Ukrainian women registered as individual entrepreneurs. And, interestingly, in all regions of Ukraine, except for the Luhansk region, the share of new female fops exceeds 50%.

On the other hand, this is logical, because a significant number of men who were engaged in entrepreneurial activities or dreamed of their own business, put it off for later, and went with weapons in their hands to defend Ukraine.

At the same time, do not forget that starting your own business has many risks. You need to choose an interesting idea, determine the target audience of customers, and describe a business plan. And according to another study, Almost 60% of female entrepreneurs do not have a clear business idea for developing their own business.

As a rule, women choose the service sector. On the one hand, there is quite a lot of competition in this market, especially in small towns. On the other hand, it is small businesses that are one of the main sources of filling local budgets.

And in this case, much depends on the local authorities and their desire to develop small and medium-sized businesses, as well as promote the development of women's entrepreneurship.

In particular, this is exactly the way Brovary decided to go when they decided to join the UWE Hub program, where Ukrainian women are taught to open and develop their businesses.

At the same time, Brovary became the only regional center of Ukraine that won such a right. After all, future businesswomen, in addition to Brovary, are trained only in Kiev, Zaporozhye, Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernivtsi.

"We have signed a memorandum with the city authorities. Brovarsky City Council was No. 1, because their enthusiasm, their support, just as they said: We want us to have this hub. And we see this support," told UNN Uwe Hub founder Marina Saprykina.

It is important that thanks to such programs, Ukrainian women who left Ukraine, but want to return to realize their dreams and ideas, have a place to come.

"Exactly one year ago, I returned from Germany with my children. And I saw that something very interesting was happening in our city. Women walk, study. This was against the background of that period of military depression. It was something so interesting," recalls Lesya Taran, a resident of Brovary, who founded her own business to prepare graduates for EIT and NMT.

Only within the framework of the mentioned program and only in Brovary, more than 170 women expressed a desire to start their own business in various areas: original coffee shops, grooming services, financial advice, etc.

"The development of small and medium-sized businesses is one of our priorities. This is not only filling the budget, but also demonstrating that Brovary is a city where you should create and develop your own business. We really want women's entrepreneurship to develop in Brovary. And our city has become the center of Ukraine for the popularization and development of women's business," Brovary mayor Ihor Sapozhko shared his ambitious plans.