The declared state of emergency and the restrictive measures imposed due to the spread of COVID-19 have led to a change in the business environment and to an increase in social needs in our communities. The consequences of the crisis have affected the way we operate in the medium and long term, and at the same time, we, the social enterprises, are called to offer sustainable solutions to address issues of public importance, most of which existed before the crisis but which have been deepened as a consequence of it.
It was in the context of the crisis in June that our friends and colleagues from BCNL offered us a focused and intensive support, which addressed the specific needs in view of our plans for development and helped us clarify many ideas that had emerged in recent months.
Together with 14 other civil society organizations, we joined the program, which lasted 3 months (June-August) and which provided individual support to all 15 organizations. A team of mentors works with each social enterprise (experts in various fields: financial planning and sales, marketing and advertising, organizational and legal issues). The online meetings included individual sessions with mentors to set goals and tasks. Throughout the period we received specific advice and expert support from 4 mentors from the Business Institute, 9Academy and Unicredit Bulbank.
The business idea we worked on together with our great mentors was the launch and distribution of the latest product of the Bread Houses Network – the innovative online training platform on unique methods developed by Dr. Nadezhda Savova-Grigorova – Bread Therapy™ (https: / /breadtherapy.net/). The purpose of the platform is to enable people and organizations from all over the world to be trained in our methods of Bread Therapy™ in an online environment without having to travel thousands of kilometers, as this has been our practice so far. An entirely new set of video lessons and an educational manual on Bread Therapy was developed, describing in detail all 23 methods and programs (13 social programs and 10 unique paid services). This new product has allowed us to follow the mission and goals of the organization, constantly evolving and offering new tools for building a fairer and better world.
Participating in the Let’s Go Program has given us the opportunity to define the steps we need to follow to allow our methods to reach more people and communities and bring more sustainable social change globally.
We thank our wonderful mentors from the Business Institute, 9Academy and Unicredit Bulbank, as well as BCNL for the extremely professional organization and support throughout the program. We will keep you updated about the development of the platform and about the welcoming of the new Bakers without Borders, joining our global family!
