5 Challenges In Business Relocation
Iryna Tytarchuk
???? Executive Director at ITFC | ??♀? Founder at Women IN | PhD in Economics | ?? Gender Equality Researcher | Female Entrepreneurship Supporting | ?? SMEs Developing
The issue of business relocation in Ukraine (and in other countries of the world) is quite acute and urgent. As part of the project with the USAID Competitive Economy Program in Ukraine (USAID CEP) , we ( Ukraine Investment & Trade Facilitation Center (ITFC) & Women IN ) created ???? the West Business Hub in Lviv and Ternopil for 8 businesses that were relocated due to the full-scale war.
Since the beginning of this initiative, we have carefully considered our support and cooperation steps, so I want to share this experience and my reflection after participating in the panel discussion on "Business Support Organizations: Helping Businesses Overcome the Crisis" of the Doing Business in Ukraine: Challenges and Opportunities business forum organized by the USAID Competitive Economy Program in Ukraine (USAID CEP) in partnership with the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and in cooperation with Diia.Business Warsaw and the ???? Polish Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers Zwi?zek Przedsi?biorców i Pracodawców / Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers .
We discussed the opportunities and the relocatiom challenges for Ukrainian women entrepreneurs together with the participants of the discussion: Inna Skarzhynska, Owner of VESNA Natural Skin & Hair Care , Yaroslav Lysak , CEO at Neverdark.one , Yulia Bigun, Founder of Ohrahome.
1?? Family
Business relocation is not only about moving equipment, warehouses, products or re-registration of bank accounts. This is the arrangement of the entire family and the families of employees (if the business is moving as a team): these are children, parents, relatives, pets, etc.
The search for housing, schools and clubs for children, medical support, work, a community for parents — this is a whole ecosystem that must be provided in a new city. It is a difficult choice, a very important step and an extremely high responsibility. Not everyone dares to do this — that is why some refuse to relocate, even in the face of danger. It's not an easy choice either, which we respect.
2?? Integration of business
“Permanent or temporary relocation?” — is an important question that all parties should ask: both those who relocate and those who receive and help. In Ukraine over the past 9 years, these are not isolated cases, but systemic activity due to the invasion of Russia and the occupation of Ukrainian territories. Therefore, arrangements on the ground require detailed studies: both for the relocated and for the local community.?
Challenges and issues that should be noted:
Therefore, the question of whether the relocation is temporary or permanent is urgent and of primary importance for the understanding and adoption of further steps.
3?? Workforce
The migrations resulting from the full-scale invasion for most Ukraininan SMEs are to small towns and villages, where business opportunities are much less than in big cities.?
For example, the search for workers can last for months, because in the villages people often self-employed on their land, rather than looking for a place to work. In addition, the ambitions of people in small towns are much smaller than the impulse for development and earnings in megalopolises. So finding a workforce is one of the main challenges in a new place.
4?? Government support
Relocation of large-scale enterprises is a matter not only of this business, but also of the state. It is more difficult for businesses with powerful equipment and warehouses that need large areas to move.
We received requests for the relocation of businesses with an area of 500 square meters and more — with equipment, a team, families, and pets. Local authorities must be ready to host such enterprises. It is about infrastructure, housing, as well as legal formalities related to this. In practice, we saw that, unfortunately, many such requests remained unsatisfied.
The companies that did not relocate immediately will most likely no longer make such a decision. Among our community there are also such companies: the Zalizo Company from Mykolaiv, Dairy Farm Jupiter from the Kharkiv region, the Sole Proprietor Mykhaylova, which returned from our West Business Hub in Ternopil to Kharkiv. Such businesses need fundamental support on the ground, and international donors can and do provide it.
5?? Socialization
Socialization and the formation of a new (mixed) community is also a challenge for cities and villages, where a large number of people, families, and businesses are relocating.
Ukraine has many "trigger" challenges in society: language, gender, politics, corruption. For any society, it is important to have answers to the questions:
?? Who are we going to live with? ?? How long? ?? Who will be our neighbors?
Cases of toxic relationships and abuse, unfortunately, are not isolated. Local authorities and civil society organizations should work on this. Messages about cohesion and the advantages of diversity & inclusion in communities should sound every day. Then and only then the relocated people?will be "their own", and their new places of life and work will be "home".
In conclusion, I would like to note that there are many opportunities and support for Ukrainian business and relocated enterprises, including grants and information support by our partners — USAID Competitive Economy Program in Ukraine (USAID CEP) .
Olesya Zaluska told about 4 open grant programs: "continuity and recovery", "support of women's and family businesses", "export alliances", "trade and investment missions", as well as two more programs aimed at supporting "processing and innovation enterprises" and " trainings and accelerations", which will be opened soon.
You can also watch a recording of the event in English:
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1 年You're doing an amazing job in very difficult circumstances Iryna Tytarchuk. This is such hopeful news