Success stories

New entrepreneur:
Natalia Zaitseva (Ukraine)
Age: 55
Company name: (Start-up)
Sector of activity: Crafts, art materials and accessories

Host entrepreneur:
Neringa Zmejauskienė (Lithuania)
Age: 40
Company name: Gaja Namai (18 years of experience)
Sector of activity: Community, social and personal services

Ukrainian artist Natalia Zaitseva had been working in the HR department when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in full force. Then she moved to Kaunas in Lithuania and decided to change her life. Natalia came up with the idea for her new business with the desire to use art not only as a means of expressing feelings, but also as a distraction from daily routine and a tool against stress. She wanted to learn something new and have the opportunity to develop new artistic ideas in a creative environment. And the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme helped her do that. Natalia now works with Lithuanians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. Neringa Zmejauskienė is the co-founder of "Gaja Namai" and "Gaia Tribe" and has more than six years of experience in branding and new business strategies in the fields of education, industry, consulting, therapy, workshops and art.

Natalia and Neringa spent almost six months collaborating together. Neringa helped Natalia with business strategy. Natalia learnt more about branding and new business strategies in Neringa's areas of expertise. The two entrepreneurs shared skills, discussed and benefited from exchanging information about their countries' markets and different business approaches. Natalia reports that thanks to the exchange, she learned about art therapy workshops, consultations on rebranding or social media communication and was able to gain knowledge on how to start and develop an SME. She also learned about business management in Lithuania and the regulations there. According to Neringa, participating as a host entrepreneur allowed her to see her business from a different perspective and develop her mentoring skills by sharing her experiences in education, consulting,and various therapy workshops.

During the exchange, Natalia built a close relationship with Neringa, improved her English skills, found out how to do business in Lithuania, familiarised herself with Neringa's business model and strategy. Moreover, as a new entrepreneur, Natalia has gained from Neringa important knowledge on how to find new customers through social media, how to deal with costs and how to deal with different types of situations. Natalia has temporarily moved back to Ukraine, but plans to resume her activities soon. She remains in contact with Neringa to plan future collaborations.

For more information, please contact the local contact points involved in the exchange:

New entrepreneur's contact point:
Alfred Nobel University (Dnipro, Ukraine)

Host entrepreneur's contact point:
European social entrepreneurship and innovative studies institute (Kaunas, Lithuania)

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