Across the Netherlands, Iceland, Spain, and France, more than 100 migrant men and women recently completed training as part of our project partnership. What they showed us was powerful and inspiring: migration is not only a moment of change, but also a gateway to discovering purpose through entrepreneurship.
Leaving your home country is a daunting experience. I know this firsthand, as I am a migrant myself. Migration often comes with uncertainty, loss, and the challenge of rebuilding your life from the ground up. Yet, within this experience lies something remarkable — a unique set of skills that form the very foundation of entrepreneurship.
When you arrive in a new country, you immediately become a problem-solver. You learn how to navigate unfamiliar systems, overcome language barriers, and adapt to a new culture. You negotiate daily — for housing, work, services, and opportunities. You build networks from scratch, often without the safety net of established connections. You must be creative, resilient, and resourceful just to move forward.
Aren’t these exactly the skills needed to build a business?
Entrepreneurship demands adaptability, courage, creativity, and persistence — all qualities that migrants develop through their migration journey. Migration itself becomes a head start. It sharpens entrepreneurial thinking long before a business idea is even formed.
This is why the participants in our project were able to thrive. Throughout the training, they shared how they are transforming change into opportunity, maximizing the skills they gained through migration to start their own entrepreneurial journeys. For many, entrepreneurship was not just about financial independence, but about reclaiming purpose, identity, and confidence in a new environment.
Their stories remind us that migrants are not starting from zero. They arrive with lived experience, resilience, and an incredible capacity to adapt — assets that are often overlooked but are essential for success in business and beyond.
At Inova, we are deeply honoured to have witnessed these journeys. Seeing participants turn challenges into strengths and uncertainty into action has been both humbling and inspiring. Their stories reaffirm our belief that with the right support, recognition, and opportunity, migrants can not only integrate — they can thrive.
A new beginning does not mean starting over. It means building forward, using everything you already carry with you. And for so many of the men and women in our project, migration has been exactly that: the first step toward a future shaped by purpose, entrepreneurship, and growth.
by Eric Wijmenga
Co-Director/Finance Manager
Eric is Inova’s Co-Director and Finance Manager. He is also the founder and Director of our subsidiary Inova Education, an educational marketing and recruitment agency, established in 1996 and working across LATAM. Inova Education delivers services in partnership with UK HEIs, British embassies, national funding bodies, the British Council and Chevening teams across LATAM.
