The adaptation of former military personnel to civilian professions is an extremely important and socially significant issue. For example, last month the last forum of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation “Community” was held with the participation of representatives of NGOs. discussed Measures to support citizens of the Northern Military District and those returning from the front; They often need help with socialization, career paths and profile creation. Experts concluded that it is largely the non-profit sector that must respond to the challenges of the time, but gradually the business world is also involved in solving this acute social problem.
One of these organizations is PSB Academy. The academy not only creates a unified educational environment to strengthen the personnel sovereignty of the state, carries out personnel retraining and training of specialists for industrial enterprises, including the defense industry, but also develops and implements social support programs for former military personnel and members. from military families.
Therefore, since 2019, PSB Academy has been running the social education program “Small Business Course”. Its purpose is to comprehensively support family members of military personnel and demobilized citizens on their path to establishing professional trajectories by engaging in entrepreneurial activities. KMB helps students with social and psychological adaptation, career guidance and self-realization: former military personnel have the opportunity to retrain and quickly integrate into socio-economic relations, and family members of military personnel have the opportunity to build a non-standard career. conditions.
To retrain former military personnel for civilian professions, we need a high-quality product that is easily perceived by this audience. To prepare such a product, it is necessary to go through a certain path with adjustments, take into account psychological characteristics and distribution mechanisms. For five years, the KMB team listened carefully to listeners, adapting, improving and modifying the program to fit the needs and context of the listeners. During this time, the learning trajectory is structured in such a way that at the end of the day, students receive not only the knowledge and tools to run their business, but also a business project ready for implementation.
“Entrepreneurship is a comfortable direction for our students to realize themselves; This allows us to see results in a short time and gain financial benefits and prospects. After all, the personal and professional qualities necessary to run a business – a high level of discipline and self-organization, responsibility and courage in decision-making, clear planning, data analytics and teamwork, adaptability to frequent changes – all these are inherent in the business. both former military personnel and military spouses. And in a more dynamic entrepreneurial environment, these qualities make it possible to comfortably combine previous and new experience and apply it in practice,” said Alena Kotova, director of the center for the development of social projects.
Knowledge, Experience and Community
The program is not only suitable for those who want to acquire initial knowledge about entrepreneurship, but also helps to rethink processes for those who are already trying to carry out entrepreneurial activities. In the Small Business Course you can both work on your existing idea and create a new one.
“This is a completely new direction of activity in my life. The accessible format and simplicity of the course introduced me to a whole new world and allowed me to learn the basics of doing business. It is now much easier for me to understand the quality and relevance of my ideas. “I can calmly apply the knowledge I have acquired to any situation and put my ideas into the tools I have acquired at KMB,” shared 2023 graduate Andrey Kovalev.
All KMB materials are constantly updated and aggregated in such a way that complex things are conveyed in an accessible language; This allows you to apply the acquired knowledge and tools almost immediately outside of training. Course participants study the main aspects of entrepreneurship: developing business models, learning how to manage finances and create financial models, learning to manage brand reputation and create a project team, and creating a customer-oriented service system. Moreover, the Small Business Course develops an important area: women entrepreneurship. During the five years of the program’s existence, approximately 1,500 women completed it; many of them now own their own businesses and are actively developing them.
“The program has made a head start, my creativity is no longer a hobby. After the training, I stopped just thinking and dreaming and started developing my business in the summer of 2022. “I can now say with confidence that I am a paper weaving master and the owner of a women’s carpentry workshop,” says Elina Zhmykhova, a 2021 and 2023 graduate.
At the same time, KMB takes into account the peculiarities of doing business in all regions of Russia. KMB teachers are active entrepreneurs, many of whom are ex-military and share the characteristics of doing business in different parts of the country. And by working on projects during the hands-on portion of training, students are already able to focus on the real business environment of a particular area. Thus, if they need to move, members of military families have a prior idea of how businesses are set up. Other cities from Vladivostok to new regions. The program helps residents of the Novorossiya regions to quickly integrate into the business environment of greater Russia.
“During the training, students create their own business projects and from flow to flow, understanding the features and regional demand, the ideas become more ambitious, the level of the projects increases. For example, among postgraduate studies, entertainment centers and other areas of education and consumer services, light industry enterprises, the tourism sector and mass catering are very popular. There are also examples where students became business partners after training,” said Alena Kotova.
After completing the course, every student can join the alumni community, where the atmosphere is not only professional but also friendly. Alumni support each other, exchange experiences, build useful tools and connections, share ideas and test each other’s user journeys, and also motivate each other to achieve new goals. When the idea changes or an existing idea needs improvement, some students come back for training and also attend events for the alumni community.
Acceleration programs – “KMB Workshops” are carried out for graduates who implement the task of comprehensive educational support and socialization of the audience. The workshops target expert assistance in existing business projects in terms of management, service, sales and marketing, making the projects more sustainable. For example, in the “Management Workshop” you can work on main and subsidiary business processes (legal aspects, financial model, personnel issues) and also get help with business optimization and scaling. The Sales Workshop helps graduates develop product lines, conduct problem and decision discussions, conduct market analysis, and receive assistance in creating sales funnels and accounting.
“Thanks to KMB Workshops, I am now combining some of my aspects and moving to a new level: the production of dollhouses and textile products for children. At the same time, I do not give up the production of wooden and paper wicker products for comfort at home. The new direction complements everything I do. There are also plans to open a large workshop in the city in the next calendar year,” adds KMB graduate Elina Zhmykhova.
Thus, PSB Academy helps former military personnel and their family members integrate into the socio-economic environment of the country through the Small Business Course. Every listener can create a professional path that suits them and start doing their own thing. The course helps former military personnel find a new career in life and become stronger professionally, while military family members become more determined and confident by realizing their potential in all circumstances.