Ictoria is a social enterprise all about people with unique talents, who are able to make a difference despite challenges. Ictoria employs professionals. Their masters pick up people distant from the labour market and, through many websites, corporate identities, flyers and other graphic and marketing & communication assignments, they get the chance to reach their true professional potential. In 2021, they participated in the IGNITE Award . We spoke to founder Nadia about how they are doing now.
A good example is René: ‘Since I started working at Ictoria, I am much more positive in life and my self-esteem has grown enormously. I also get the chance to develop myself through training here. In my time at Ictoria, I have completed more courses than in the 20 years at my other employer.’
Other impact entrepreneurs looking to make strides in the field of inclusive business have come to the right place at Ictoria. As experts on inclusive HR policies, labour participation and building accessibility, they help them achieve these goals.
Meanwhile, the social enterprise also makes international impact. Specialising in CSR impact entrepreneurs, (semi)government and Microsoft partners, the team provides German, French and Belgian online visibility.
‘IGNITE Award has contributed to this because the programme actively promotes quality of life, because it teaches you to keep your trousers on your own and in doing so you really serve people. We grant it to every social enterprise to work together with IGNITE in a thorough, sustainable, consistent and substantiated way and to delve deeper into their social enterprise.’
Participation in the IGNITE Award
Why?
‘We needed knowledge. You think, we start from the beginning. Anything different, people find exciting. We were terrified to drop by IGNITE Award in the office. You want to do something for people, you are doing it from your own money and you are in the corona pandemic. I wanted so badly to do something for the people around us. When we got the call that we could participate, we went crazy. To their senses, my staff were chosen for the twice in a lifetime. The impact is almost impossible to capture. ’
Key lessons?
‘I didn’t want to become an entrepreneur at all before, I didn’t think of myself as the type for it. But I learnt to be an entrepreneur here. I learned that you can get paid for what you do. Above all, we gained a piece of networking and a new mindset to do it independently.’
What steps were taken?
‘Because we already had a company in place, we could immediately go more into the content. I found it super valuable to also gain network knowledge and grow that way. Plus the steps we took with an eye on finances. We get to make money and be able to help people at the same time. We have made an awful lot of great strides with our team of people.’
Would this have been achieved without participating in IGNITE Award?
‘Without IGNITE Award, we could never have done what we are doing now. If they can only do 5% for others, what they have done for us, you touch so many families. You touch a very big part of society. ’
What did you find difficult and what came to fruition through IGNITE Award?
‘I sometimes found it difficult that winning the cash prize was also an important motivation for others. I understand very well that there are people who also need to earn money and there are phases where that has to be there first in order to move forward. But for me, this was not the main motivation for joining. What you learn with the programme brought the most value for me.’
In what ways has Ictoria grown through IGNITE Award?
‘There are 40 of us now. We have helped more than 400 people get permanent jobs. We have made these people so strong that the content is transcendent. We currently have a waiting list of 100 people. Right now, we can’t offer them all a place right away, but of course we really want to!’
Where do you stand now?
‘We are now in the next phase. We are now becoming a scale-up and need to look at how we can grow. I now need help again and may need to look for a funder now. Our services allow us to organise independently, now we need scale-up funding.’
What would you like to give starting social entrepreneurs?
‘I have grown tremendously socially emotionally. So do this especially if you want to develop yourself and keep in mind why you want to do this. We want to help society, be there for people. Don’t lose sight of that and go for it!’
Why do you recommend the IGNITE Award to start-up social entrepreneurs?
‘To learn everything you need to help society.’
More Ictoria?
During IGNITE Award’s training and coaching programme, Ictoria made this corporate video.
If you want to know more about Ictoria visit www.ictoria.nl
Source: Ignite AWARD