PASSION is the starting point for any business but it's not the only ingredient to success.

That's the lesson 24 female entrepreneurs from Papua New Guinea are currently learning at the University of the Sunshine Coast's Innovation Centre this month.

Barbara Yegiora, Margaret Tepi and Veronica Merimba all run their own businesses in various provinces of Australia's Pacific neighbour and said the entire group was undergoing a "mind-shift” in the way they viewed their work and their relationships.

Ms Tepi, who owns a florist, said though traditional culture emphasised sharing, Western influence over the past century had fostered a self-centric mindset among business owners.

"Now, we are learning about networking and collaboration,” she said.

"If we can help our communities become better places, it has a ripple effect.

"We never thought we could have that power, but together we do have that power to make a change in our communities.”

"(The course) has helped our confidence to market our products too,” said Ms Yegiora.

The cohort is almost exclusively female, which was a deliberate decision, given the additional challenges women in Papua New Guinea face in the business sector.

All of the women are mothers as well as entrepreneurs.

Rodney Sumale, who was the only man and represented a state entity, said he was proud to see his countrywomen so empowered and as a result, he believed attitudes toward women in Papua New Guinea are changing.

"I feel so excited to see these women, who have such a passion, being able to get out and make a difference,” he said.

USC gender expert Tami Harriot said women were a strong economic force in our societies.

"It is important to develop women (as) there is a correlation between women's participation in the economy and a growth because when we do economies and communities benefit,” she said.

The entrepreneurs will stay another two weeks before returning home.