Mi-Hub: London's First Co-Working Space for Migrant Entrepreneurs and Beyond

It's the brainchild of successful London-based Brazilian-born business expert Rafael dos Santos, who is opening the doors to London's first co-working space targeting the niche gap in a growing market for migrant individuals and groups. 

Located in London, the hub provides an affordable serviced office space to help people grow and nurture their businesses.

Rafael dos Santos has created mi-HUB to overcome the difficulties that migrant entrepreneurs face when starting or running a business in London. 

"Mi-Hub has been set up to fill the gaps from the lessons and experiences I myself faced as a migrant entrepreneur trying to build a business in London," Mr. Santos told Sputnik.

"Although Mi-Hub is open to anyone looking to base in London at an affordable price, targeting migrant communities was something I wanted to do as I remember how difficult it can be. With possible language and cultural barriers, sometimes lack of educational qualifications recognized in the host country or even a feeling of being alone and without a network. I wanted to provide a space that covers all of these areas to help." 

Santos has a great understanding in how to support entrepreneurs and how to provide opportunities which encourage business growth. In addition to mi-HUB's competitively priced serviced offices, it therefore also offers training through a program called the Migrant Business Accelerator. 

The six-month course led by Santos himself focuses on helping participants to structure their business to access finance, another one of the key barriers for migrant entrepreneurs in particular. 

Santos moved to London at the age of 21 in 2002 after living in Sao Paulo, one of the world's largest cities, for two years. He left his job in Brazil as a support analyst at Microsoft to learn English in London.

"In Brazil I was living what would be classed as a middle-class lifestyle. I could afford to go to restaurants, and had a good life. But when I arrived in London, I was struggling. I worked in a number of menial jobs and making ends meet was tough. I just got tired of eating low cost meals and it was even affecting my health. I decided then that I am going to work hard and do whatever it takes to make a success, and thankfully my natural persistence and determination paid off," Mr. Santos said. 

Whilst working in lower-paid jobs, an opportunity to manage houses came available and within two years later Santos was running his own estate agency business. In 11 years his portfolio grew from 1 to 50 homes, 15 members of staff and a turnover of £1.2 million (US$1.6 million). He rented accommodation to more than 2,000 young professionals and student migrants.

In 2015, Mr. Santos began his mission to support migrant entrepreneurs who wanted to start or grow their businesses. He introduced the Migrant Business Accelerator program as a pilot project which featured 25 mentors who donated their time to help participants train for the future. The program evolved to become what is now about to launch, mi-HUB.

"I worked hard to achieve my dreams and tackled the challenges migrant entrepreneurs face. It's difficult relocating to a new country and even harder to start a business. It's incredibly rewarding that I am now in a position to help other migrant entrepreneurs from around the world," Mr. Santos told Sputnik.

Regarding advice for both migrant and wider communities looking to achieve success in the current post-Brexit climate in London, Mr. Santos said:

"It is always difficult for any entrepreneur to achieve success and each person is different, but the key qualities you need to have are persistence and a lack of fear for hard work. 

"Migrant communities worldwide are known for being resilient as they often face added obstacles and struggles. To those who arrive in a new country I would say seek out your own community members for support first and then progress wider as another key for success is to also try and integrate and not segregate if possible." 

Mr. Santos aims to help one million entrepreneurs in the next ten years. The hub will host 150 entrepreneurs and offer a variety of desk options in a modern environment based in the capital.