My name is Mahboobeh Rajabi and I am a professional Digital Artist, Creative producer and Creative Entrepreneur, originally from Iran based in Manchester.
I have been working in the UK and internationally since 2010, working with different communities and cultures. I have been working with many organisations across Manchester, Greater Manchester and Internationally. I am the co-founder of DIPACT which has been chosen as one of the global solutions for the refugee crisis by Refugee Summit 2024, with its ground-breaking business model. My mission is to give a platform and voice to untold stories through the language of art, and building creative sustainable businesses for communities.
What is your business?
What were the biggest challenges you faced when starting your business, and how did you overcome them?
The biggest starting point challenge was understanding the UK system and how it’s working in the arts and cultural sector. I had to navigate the business model of a nonprofit organisation and adjust the business plan with the needs of the communities in Manchester and Greater Manchester. Baring in mind with thinking of how we are going to trade and make money, we create sustainable money making businesses that would create jobs for artists and creatives.
My experience within the arts and cultural sector and working in many projects was one of the reason I manage to overcome this challenge and not only overcoming but actually bringing this model as a solution to why DIPACT can bring change and innovation.
I also did lots of research and meet with different people, community and cultural leaders and professional artists so I can understand what structure need to be put in our business model. DIPACT is an artist led model so we listen and make sure the leadership aspect truly reflects our practice as well.
One of the other big current challenges is fund raising and the reason why it’s still a current challenge is that, being a woman from the global majority and also bringing and innovative idea is not something that the both, arts and cultural sector and business sector, have open platform and opportunity. That’s why I am so grateful to be part of the 20 Pioneers at the We Are The City, who truly appreciating women of colour who are leaders and entrepreneurs.
How did you go about building a network or community in a new country, and how has that network helped you in your entrepreneurial journey?
I started by doing voluntary work because I was an asylum seeker and I didn’t have permission to work. I was also very young and worked on various projects and it helped me to be connected to wider communities, creative individuals and when I got my status and also my career flew internationally, I also manage to create international connection, which helped my learning for my entrepreneurship journey as well.
I co-founded DIPACT with my partner, Mohammad Tohidi, who is a chef and also has art background, so it was important for me to be connected with the world of catering and food and also the mission of cafe’s run and led by artists means that we should not be only connected to the creatives but also we have know about the world of catering and selling food and coffee.
Working over 12 years in the communities also taught me that building trust is the most important aspect of building an idea and initiative, so that also massively helped me in my entrepreneurship journey. That means I am not worried about finding customers and my true marketing is focusing on our mission to create jobs and being the voice of the community.
……..advice would be to believe in your idea and be vocal about it. Take steps to make it happen because your idea matters and you are the only person that can make it happen and that’s why the idea came to you, because it wants YOU to make it happen.
What role did resilience and adaptability play in your success? Can you share a specific example how these traits helped you overcome a major obstacle?
As a refugee from Iran, all my journey is about resilience and adaptability. Without being resilient and have being able to adapt in different situation I could not be here today and achieve the success I have achieved today. Regarding the trait I have to say during my journey of being resilient and continue, it was people who supported me, either in the community or individuals who believed in me. But without being resilient you cannot make your dream a reality. I have to mention the damage and the wound you get during being resilient and make sure that you heal and continue. This is where those people were helping me to heal and got back to the battlefield to fight for my idea.
As a clear example I remember back in 2017 after 1 year of DIPACT started as a collective of artists, I was contacting so many people and trying to get a meeting to share my idea. In one of my meetings, I have been directly told that you don’t know what you are talking about and first you need to understand the arts and cultural sector. On that day I exactly knew what I was talking about and I also completely knew that I know what are the gaps. Out of all my meetings (which was about 20 individuals, community and organisation leaders) Only one person who were Ruth Daniels former CEO and the Creative Director of In Place of War believed in my vision and her motivation helped me remove the other 19 failed meetings for me.
7 years later, I was globally presenting DIPACT as an innovative business model of café clusters run and led by artists and I have stablished my 2nd business as a digital platform connecting to DIPACT which is coming soon.
What financial advice would you give to someone who is just starting out? How did you manage to fund your business initially?
First I have to say that building trust and relationships is more important than thinking about getting the money. The small grants we have received at the beginning of our journey have been given to us because of the belief in our work and the impact we were trying to make. So I would say the most important financial advice is to build trust and have a network, because you don’t only need money once, you need to keep it coming and money is a tool to make things happen, So the next advice is: be clear on what you are trying to make happen and make a difference in the world. When you go to the funder be clear on what change you are making in the world and what impact your business has.
The other important advice would be do your research and find your team that would be on board with you.
How do you balance the challenges of running a business with personal and family responsibilities?
To be honest the answer is so simple in my case and it’s time management and creating a priority list of the tasks. I am a mother to a 5 years old and I manage different projects. After over 15 years of working, the most important lesson I learned and helped me become successful is to do time management for EVERYTHING not only for work, because your mental and physical health is also a priority. So a time management work is to have a clear schedule for most important work, create time to network and also create time to rest, socialise, dance, eat out and exercise. When you make sure that you include yourself in to your time planning and not only work, you will be more productive and see results.
What advice would you give to other refugee women who are considering starting their own businesses?
I would first say that being a refugee doesn’t tell the whole story about you. Being a refugee is just one chapter of our whole life so it shouldn’t stop you for being who you are and what ideas you have. Coming from a forced migration background is an empowering aspect of your strength, resilience and the reason why you are an entrepreneur and a business woman.
I also would say go for it no matter what, when you start and have a voice about your business the ones who need to hear you WILL hear you, so definitely go for it and start it. Find any entrepreneurship or start up business programme and register even if your idea is a one paragraph vision, GO FOR IT. Then be open to the journey and the opportunities that come across you.
What is the most rewarding aspect of being an entrepreneur, especially considering your unique background?
The most rewarding aspect of being an entrepreneur and also coming from a global majority background, is that I meet incredible people who started amazing companies, initiatives and social enterprises. I hear their stories and understand and learn what it takes to start a business and sustain a successful business.
It’s so motivational to be surrounded by especially strong women from forced migration or global majority backgrounds. I meet leaders and strong women who are truly making changes, especially one of them is Vanessa Valley, founder of We Are The City, who is always in the journey of empowering women, especially women from Global majority and forced migration background.
Also the other most important aspect of being an entrepreneur is also the impact we are making in the society and how we also create platforms to empower other leaders and other incredible talents to also succeed.
Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently in your entrepreneurial journey?
I have to say I think I should have started my entrepreneurship journey way sooner. I was an individual artist for years and I could have started my business way sooner. I think it’s hard to get the confidence to be an entrepreneur and start a business and that’s why in my advice I would say go for it and start your business no matter how small, you can grow it. But I also think what I learned in my journey helped to create strong networks and trust that now making my business thrive.
What are your future goals for your business, and how do you plan to achieve them?
For DIPACT our short term goal is to open our own DIPACT café in Manchester and then in 3 years having 2 other clusters of DIPACT in Rochdale and Oldham, so we can connect Greater Manchester Creatives to Manchester. Also we want everyone in Manchester to come to our unique café and experience art and food run and led by artists.
We are also developing a digital platform which will connect artists to the opportunities through DIPACT. It will work as an example, a Linkedin only for creatives that allows artists from forced migration and global majority background to be seen. It is a separate initiative that will work in an ecosystem with DIPACT so we make sure our work is sustainable. This is our exciting plan which is currently formed and we will announce it soon.
Our long term plan is to have DIPACT branch all around the UK in the next 10 years so artists can earn money and be seen and everyone experience food and art in most especial way. That’s why in DIPACT we say are true taste of art.
How important is it for you to give back to your community, and in what ways do you incorporate that into your business?
One of the most important reasons why I started my own business is to give back to the community because I received support in the most down times of my life. DIPACT actually born to be the solution for artists and creatives to thrive in the community. Also our cafes are run and led by artists. It means community ownership, so everyone can be supported and also have great art experiences.
When I received so much support in my life journey I realised how life changing are the communities and their creative projects are, but we need artists and creative to be valued and seen so more individuals and be supported. And also communities get together to celebrate their multiculturalism. In order to achieve that we built in a business model that support artists, creatives and communities and also we have a business plan to generate income and trade via a café. For me it was important to create a business that works for the community and artists, especially artists from forced migration backgrounds to thrive. I believe that’s why we have been chosen as a global solution for refugee crisis because DIPACT
What final piece of advice would you like to share with other aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly those who might be facing similar challenges?
My final advice would be to believe in your idea and be vocal about it. Take steps to make it happen because your idea matters and you are the only person that can make it happen and that’s why the idea came to you, because it wants YOU to make it happen.
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