Coach Gildas Bagné, who works for Social Impact’s StartHope@Home project, helps returnees develop a business idea and a business plan for a fresh start in their country of origin. He plans each coaching individually to achieve maximum impact. 

You offer valuable support for people willing to leave Germany. How do they find out about you?
They can come on their own account, or they are referred to us either by their return counsellor, an NGO, a volunteer or other institutions involved in return programmes. 

What happens when they first get in touch with you?
We start with an interview, in which I want to find out where the person comes from and where he or she wants to go. Once a participation agreement is signed, I start the profiling process, which is an individual assessment of the person: his or her professional background, personal history as well as expectations and skills. Then we find a common goal and design a qualification plan. 

Fears over security and infrastructure

What do they need the most when they come to you?
The most important thing is to come up with a viable business idea: One that matches the demand of the market but also their personal strengths. In my opinion, it also takes passion to be successful. So, we try to find out what suits them, what they are really good at and how they can get involved wholeheartedly. From there, we develop a business model and then a concrete business plan. And we take our time for that because it is the core of their new life. 

What do they fear most going back home? 
There are usually two things that worry them: One is security, the other infrastructure. We have to take that into consideration and include it in the business plans. In many African countries for example there is a lack of electricity. So they need to buy generators and anticipate these costs. For example, I had a participant from Senegal. He wanted to do vegetable farming in a rather arid area. He had land, but irrigation was a problem. So we had to make an investment plan that included water supply. 

During the coaching do you get a feeling of whether they can be successful with their new business?
I do. And I feel that most of them will succeed. Because when they return, they have a real business plan they can follow, and they get financial support from different sources to start out with. Also, I am happy to continue to offer guidance from afar. The coaching programme is intense and the participants leave Germany well prepared to start this new phase in their lives. 

As of: 09/2021