ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMER SCHOOL 2013 PRESENTS
EAZYPRENEURSHIP 2013
GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURSHIP ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEA RESOURCING YOUR IDEA MARKETING AND MEDIA NETWORKING
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THERE WILL BE ENOUGH TIME TO SLEEP IN THE GRAVE - BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
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For more information of the Entrepreneurship Summer School www.entrepreneurshipsummerschool.com
ESS PROJECT MANAGERS
ESS LEARNING DIRECTOR
PHOTOGRAPHER
Celine Wiertz
Steven Price
Cristina Frauca
Atanaska Varbanova
DESIGNER
EDITOR
Gor Melikdjanjan
Cristina Frauca
Gabriella Bossman
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contents FOREWORDS............................................................................................... 04 SPEAKERS................................................................................................... 05 PARTICIPANTS............................................................................................. 06 ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEA.............................................................................. 08 RESOURCING YOUR IDEA............................................................................. 09 MARKETING AND MEDIA.............................................................................. 10 NETWORKING.............................................................................................. 11 FAILURE...................................................................................................... 12 PARTNERS................................................................................................... 13
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forewords ThinkYoung believes in the power of ideas. With our fourth edition of the Entrepreneurship Summer School seeing a growth in participants and organisers, we have seen how one idea can lead to the creation and regeneration of so many others. Education is necessary, education is evolving but education does not have to be limited to that which takes place within institutions. In an era where thinking outside the box has become the norm, why should entrepreneurial training be confined to four corners? This is the concept of the Entrepreneurship Summer School. Learning through active engagement and participation means not only the acquisition of knowledge, but the internalisation of all the material gained through the proactive method of interviewing. The Entrepreneurship Summer School is a platform in which budding young entrepreneurs can break past the stereotype of a lost generation and share with one another their ideas, visions and concerns. Traditional education has forgotten the importance of encouraging individuality and idea creation in its students. Cultivating these cognitive capabilities will be the key to the door of opportunity, job creation and innovation this generation is looking for. This school has created a platform in which young entrepreneurs can learn vital information to making their entrepreneurial idea a success from experienced and established entrepreneurs; learning from their successes and failures. The school was created four years ago and has grown with every edition. With 100 participants from over 30 countries this year, the success of the school is becoming evident in the interest that it has generated. On releasing the Fail2Succeed campaign during our session in the European Parliament, the removal of the negative connotations of failure in business was a key learning of the week. Understanding that failure is not the end, and that the stigma of failure is a matter of perception is vital; for it is the getting up, not the falling that counts.
andrea gerosa thinkyoung
ChiefThinker
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speakers pierre buffet
marco kuravic
Coached a number of start-up enterprises having his own consulting firm in financial management for SME.
Head of the Unit ‘Entrepreneurship’ in DG Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission, engaging in the deregulation of start up procedures.
andrada calugaru
harley lovegrove
philippe de backer
jean-baptiste nyssen
andrea gerosa
steven price
Working with young people since 2002. Co-founder of Think Young and creator of summer schools for young budding entrepreneurs
Engineer by profession, he has worked in a variety of international operations; currently owner of consulting business providing services to develop project management skills.
david ghysels
isabelle rabier
tin hang liu
neil rafferty
geet khosla
wytze russchen
alexandros koronakis
madi sharma
Starting her business whilst in studies, it provides an opportunity for every person who wants to create an extra revenue for themselves through direct sales.
Flemish member of the European Parliament and graduate from the University of Ghent in Biotechnology.
Forming his first company at the age of 21 he is now the Chairman of the Bayard Partnership after numerous successes in business ventures in Belgium and abroad.
Founder and owner of Keep on Toasting, quality food on the go. Highly connected to social media, found in different places across Belgium.
Co-founder of Events in the Sky in 2006 organising events in the sky expanding to 40 countries in just 5 years.
Founder of Dermance budding beauty brand. One of the first dedicated to skincare for women over 45, the company produces a range of skincare products.
The founder of SEOLAB, an Italian company with top clients, focussing on reviewing local businesses and is in partnership with the media group in Italy.
25 years of experience in the Telecoms and Technology sectors before setting up Potent Business Services.
Alumni of the Summer School and interim CEO of Press-Doc. He created GVK Internships, specialising in short term employment projects.
After years in politics, founded his consultancy firm which continues to advise various large multinationals and federations in the field of EU public affairs.
Chief of New Europe, he spearheads the digital development, heading up the different development projects for various media outlets of the company.
Founder of Madi Group which combines both private sector and not for profit companies with a philosophy to create ideas tailored to local action. -05-
participants
This summer, 100 students coming from 32 different countries gathered to learn, network and create entrepreneurships in teams. This guide is a summarized version of the work of the following participants.
12 TEAMS 1.ATHENS
2.BERLIN
3.PRAGUE
Fabio Federici Nisa Akin Andreas Partz Samantha Ball Andrea Borg Renata Magdić Jürgen Vleminckx Lodovico Gavotti
Valentin Calomme Elisabetta Roncalli Mohamed Alrefaie Katarzyna Wrześniak Patrick Buhagiar Malcolm Bolton Daniel Fritz
Marco Calliari Giorgia Chille Matthew Morley Manuela Codo Sebastian Mihai Staicu Alevtyna Pabst Joris Swinnen
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4.SEOUL
7.JAKARTA
10.MADRID
Nikolaj Hass Monica Dellepiane Alexander Polunin Nataliya Voytovych Semen Shchavelev Gabriella Bossman Cristiano Recchia Vladimir Vroonen
Jamie MacLeman Florence Cosse Pavol Toth Sofia-Danai Dovletoglou Dmitry Kozyrin Gigliola Mariella Cielo Nicolò De Benetti Ruben D’Hauwers
Lorenzo Dell’Elce Anna Voitika Laurent van Eesbeeck Mihaela Boteva David Harris-Burland Nora Suranyi Jiri Vlcek Christoph Schulz Abhiram Muddu
5.LONDON
8.ROME
11.TOKYO
Kerem Alanli Jingnan Zhang Jean-René Lebon Natalia Gomankova Bartlomiej Barwicz Sara Monreal Holgado Etnik Blakaj Mohammed Shana’a
Andreas Pfleger Mairead O’ Connor Jiabo Wu Nensi Lici Philippe Trembovelski Gitte De Block Filippo Caracciolo Lory Catinel
Valerio Burlizzi Eva Greco Simon Benard Veronika Ivanova Thijs Buirma Sanna Bengtsson Dominic Stevens Osman Ali Ciftci Nathanael Walther
6.ASTANA
9.HONG KONG
12.DOHA
Alessandro Provaggi Marie Ozanne Flack Pimentel Ribeiro Elena Manova Mitja Pasutto Luis Florit Justin Knaven Chris Forrest
Roberto Mossetto Violet Palmer Sergei Krauze Rosalien De Saer Fabio Lanzalonga Alona Sakhnenko Hazem Abdelaal Frank Hamm
Andrea Calliari Carmen Muley Morales George Iavorenciuc Sinead Maya Martin Diatta Alberta Catena Gregory Ruessmann Ahmet Burak Nalbantcilar
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entrepreneurial idea
“You can have the best idea in the world, but it’s an idea not a reality. If you don’t believe in it enough, don’t do it. Only focus on what feels right and what you believe in”
“Having a niche is very important in business. You have to be different “ wytze russchen
geet khosla
The desire to make something everyone will enjoy and appreciate, whilst making you money, is no longer enough to create a successful entrepreneurial idea. There are actions that need to be taken in order to make the abstract into a reality. I. PASSION, MISSION, PURPOSE These three drivers are key to the creation of an idea. Beyond the clichés, an idea is more likely to be forgotten or dropped before it has reached its full potential. Our commitment to tasks is heavily affiliated to our connection and emotional affinity to the activity or project. When there is a daunting task ahead of you, it is your relation to its objective that will keep you on track to its creation and completion. This is why a person can work within an organization without pay and a highly paid employee could resign- money is not the motivation. Like a new-born child, you will spend a lot of time caring for the idea; a lot of time and energies will be focused on ensuring its welfare. Passion provides power, mission gives direction, and purpose brings focus; these principles are all necessary if you desire supporters of your idea and converts to your way of thinking. These drivers are the engine to the persistence necessary to have your idea manifested. II. NURTURE In nurturing we feed and encourage growth. Your dream is just that, a dream, unless you put into action what is needed to cultivate it. By making use of people around you and experts in the desired area, you allow the seed to grow and develop. By gathering information, researching the market and collecting feedback at this stage, you avoid mistakes that could be made, reducing the -08-
costs and ensuring the feasibility of your entrepreneurial idea. It may be that you do not have people who can constructively criticize your work, in such circunstances, conferences, events and networking are great ways to get the advice that you need. Avoid using your ‘lizard brain’ and jumping right into tasks; take the necessary time to invest in the idea and see its growth, fleshing and evolution. It is vital to understand that you are not the customer; their needs, and not your desires, are number one. The idea can thus evolve and become relevant in the market, as it has been well evaluated before its official release. III. INDIVIDUALITY AND ADDED VALUE With such a variety of markets and subject areas, it is important to stand out from the crowd and for your product or service to shout louder than the others in the noise that is the global marketplace. It is becoming increasingly important for not only the product to sell itself but also for you to be affiliated with whatever it brings. Your uniqueness as an individual and your personal brand can be the difference between positive and negative feedback from your consumers. Look at gaps that exist in your desired field and fill them. Target the right market and create a buzz around yourself. With your following, you have people that support your challenge of the status quo and are intrigued by the uniqueness of your idea. Identifying your ‘Unique Selling Point’ and judging your product beside those already existing in that particular area, you allow for direct comparison and if justified, the merits of your product to stand out from competitors. Your idea does not have to be revolutionary but can come from an already existing idea that is transformed to create something new and innovative with added value.
resourcing your idea Resources are more than just the finances your idea requires. Resourcing your idea includes finding people to make the idea a working enterprise, realizing the why of what you need, and scaling the idea accordingly. I. PEOPLE AT THE CENTRE Connected to everything you need is an individual or group. In regards to human resourcing, people will be the carriers of your vision. Choosing the right people is just as important as choosing the right source of finance; the two are heavily connected. Looking for winners and people who have ambition as well as drive is the key to resourcing an effective and motivated team. Failing to choose the right people can be fatal and take away from what could be a great plan. Employing people from mixed backgrounds, age groups and interests is important to the diversity and reach of your idea. People can be placed in their right roles after observation as opposed to allocating them based on skills they may not yet have. Attracting people to you as a person and finding out how useful they can be to you is crucial to human resourcing. The ability to encourage people to work for you is determined on your belief in your product. When starting off there is no need for an excess of people tied to your idea; the fewer people the better for management reasons and to cultivate talents efficiently and effectively.
“At the start I didn’t have a great location, but overtime my reputation grew and they gave me a better place” jean-baptiste nyssen
II. THE QUESTION OF WHY?
“Sometimes you meet people who are useful. You will be useful to them, and they will be useful to you” isabelle rabier
“To innovate is to use the same thing that already exists but you make it in a new way” harley lovegrove
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Why do you need the resources you perceive you do? What is the purpose of the resource? These are questions that you need to ask before you approach any type of investor. Remember your initial investor is yourself in your investment of time, energies and in some cases, finances. By effectively using your own personal resources, there is no need to outsource and increase costs, especially in the early stages; a high flying office and company car are easily replaced by your living room and discounted public transport. You may realize that in recognizing your own resources, you will need less than you anticipated. Furthermore you can get the resources needed from those around you as opposed to finances provided by investors who are only interested in the rate of return provided by their investment. By writing a list of who you know and what they do or have, you will soon realize that your network can be of great help in your resourcing phase. Selling the ‘why’ to people and investors is important to resourcing and marketing. Business angels, Banks, venture capitalist, crowd funding and family/friends will all need to believe ‘your why’ before investing in your idea.
marketing and media II. TRACK ENGAGEMENT
“Sometimes you meet people who are useful. You will be useful to them, and they will be useful to you” tin hang liu
Marketing is paramount to making potential customers aware of your idea and kept informed about your developments. With this new technological age there are a plethora of ways to promote your idea and many platforms for marketing; some less expensive than others. With the costs of obvious forms of advertisement on the rise and speculations of its effectiveness, an era of innovative marketing strategies has been birthed. I. SEIZE OPPORTUNITIES As much as strategic planning is necessary to effective marketing of your idea and campaigns, often unforeseen opportunities of promotion may arise, and these must be seized in order to maximize your brand awareness. Offers to feature in an online article or opportunities to have your idea reviewed on a site of your prospective industry are all great methods to market your idea in a relevant and focused way. These opportunities often lead to more open doors to positive marketing. By choosing your grounds, understanding what your story is and what your end goal is, the message you send will be effectively communicated. Being aware of certain trends and being a vocal participant in your industry of choice, your voice and opinions are heard, and even more importantly, you can hear the views of other stakeholders.
With all the strategic planning made, it is vital that you do not allow all your efforts to go unnoticed or forgotten. The aims and objectives of the marketing tool must be not only tailored to the target market but tracked to ensure that these goals have been met. If these goals have not been met a new strategy must be put in place that may be better suited to your goals. By tracking your progress through methods such as unique visits to your page, online surveys and presence on industry websites and other key performance indicators, you are able to have an insight into the effectiveness of your marketing strategies. In finding out the place or method in which your clients are informed of your product, the successful method of marketing can be maximized. With the goal of marketing being to influence the consumer, strategic tracking of consumer awareness, perceptions, and behaviour gives marketing intelligence to help guide marketers within the confusion of the wide ranging marketing channels. If you track consistently, it is possible to monitor the effects of specific marketing programs as they are introduced. III. SOCIAL MEDIA AND ONLINE PLATFORMS It would be negligible to deny the importance of social media as a means of marketing your product. In an era of the virtual platform, programmes such as Twitter, Facebook, inexpensive dot coms and others are a great tool to reach a wide audience at one time with your vision and in some cases hone in your promotions to a specific group. Having a presence online means being in constant contact with your desired audience and keeping them aware of your moves and developments. Creating a following is vital to keeping people interested to hear more about your brand. Statistically 89% of marketers say that social -10-
media generates more business exposure. Here marketplace intelligence can be collected and the millions that are connected to the various platforms can access crucial information about what you seek to promote. Besides your product, you can brand yourself and your image in various ways which can then be connected to your product. By being a part of and connected to groups and lists within your industry, you are not only up to date with trending topics but can be cleverly positioned as being a leader in your field. IV. IT’S ON THEIR LIPS What’s your name? Who are you? What is your story? Success comes from self-packaging. You are your most valuable asset in many senses and promotion of your product is a benefit of your individuality. Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, they are all positively associated with their products; they are irrevocably connected to their product image. Ensure you create a positive image of yourself; charisma is not the only way to make an impact, by taking interest in others, having interesting and thought provoking conversations, you and more importantly, your product will be remembered. Remembering that a client’s success is your own success is paramount to achievement of your own goals. With all the exciting new strategies to market your product, word of mouth is an age old method of creating positive reviews. Many ideas and businesses live off only this method and thrive equally as much as those with limitless marketing budgets. 92 per cent of consumers say they trust recommendations from friends and family above all other forms of advertising. When we are uncertain about what to buy, it’s common for us to depend on the influence of friends. Word of mouth can also be digitalized if needed to be tracked for its effectiveness; integrating elements such as rating and recommendation systems and social sharing buttons are effective ways of following through with word of mouth.
networking family background and current city of residence for example. Not only is it in your interest to keep those in your network connected but it can also act as a positive action for those you are connecting. Networking is not only for your own benefit but can serve the interests of others, including those that work for you. Sending employees to events on your behalf and encouraging them to connect acts as a rope that ties your interests to theirs. Not only is such activity great PR but also has huge benefits such as projecting your brand, projecting yourself, aims and goals. Furthermore in following up on your connections they are cemented. Who makes an impression on you? Who have you made an impression on? Simple actions of writing where and when you met the person on the back of their business card and something that stood out in your conversation, you always have something to go back to.
“It’s a peoples sport; it’s not about the products or the material...it’s all about the people” wytze russchen
III.UNDERSTAND DIFFERENCES Behind a need is a person, and these people must be sought out. While some take a strategic approach to networking, there are also natural ways to create a larger and higher quality network; for it is not the number of people you know, but the connection you have with them that determines the strength of your network. I. BE A GIVER It is better to give than to receive from people within your network. Giving without a hidden agenda or ulterior motive will receive benefits in due time. Taking a genuine interest in the welfare of your connection means a deeper association and relationship built. Remembering little things to do with family or birthdays are a great way to show genuine consideration of the individual. A careful level of respect is necessary and a line between professional and personal relations is needed. Time is a precious resource and to give this to someone is a sure sign of an investment in them; this is a reinforcement of the ‘givers gain principle’ in action.
Cultural and individual differences are inevitable within a vast network and increasingly globalized world. By being informed of differences and variations in practice, you will be sure not to offend and to make a good lasting impression on your new acquaintance. Never underestimate any individual; every person has value regardless of their ranking or position. Invest in people and also the people around them. They are the door to your need. Allow room to connect on a deeper level besides business; this can be done by avoiding conversations about your business and more about your story and interests. Be present as much as possible. Don’t be afraid to speak out and don’t let fear get between you and your vision for greatness. Differences do not need to be a barrier.
II. CONNECTOR NETWORKER By connecting people in your network you make the strength of your relationship again much sturdier. The rule of three can be used here, where you immediately associate people already in your network with a new associate through factors such as occupation, field of study, interest in particular areas,
“Don’t burn bridges! If you do then they have a tendency to come back and burn you!” neil rafferty
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failure Popular opinion is that failure is negative and something we avoid at all costs. It is what stops many great entrepreneurial ideas from becoming a reality. On the release of our Failure2Succeed campaign over the course of the Entrepreneurship Summer School, we aimed to combat the stigma associated with failure. Many of our guest entrepreneurship asserted the importance of failure for success. Failure allows the opportunity to stop and analyse what has gone wrong in order to avoid it in the future. There are ample examples of even the most successful entrepreneurs failing in a business venture; these entrepreneurs do not shy away from sharing these failures as they are a sure sign of hard work and an idea’s life cycle. The more you fall down, the more ways you discover how to get back up.
The Fail2Succeed campaign aims at reducing the stigma of entrepreneurial failure in Europe and wants to encourage young Europeans to go ahead with their start up, ultimately making a proposal for an improvement in bankruptcy laws. Beginning in September 2013 and ending late 2014, a pan European study and campaign will be developed. From ThinkYoungs Entrepreneurship Summer Schools a repeating topic that has been noticed is that young Europeans are socially and financially concerned with the risks of starting up a business, and the pit falls of failure that come along the way. This is in complete contrast to the US, where failure is positively associated with the learning and develo-
“In the end you need to jump in the water and swim, just make sure someone pulls you out if you drown” harley lovegrove
pment process, and appreciated by lenders, future employers and in the public. ThinkYoung will conduct research in all EU member states on young people’s perception on failure. A quantative survey will produced which will then be spread through ThinkYoungs pan European network gaining a wide and diverse variety of answers. This research will go hand in hand with an audio visual documentary that will put a face and a story behind the numbers, giving real life cases of young people who have overcome failure and persevered to try and make a success. These documentaries create a more accessible output for viewers to connect with the project and the topic, increasing engagement and understanding. These studies will be developed alongside a media and marketing campaign highlighting the advantages of failing, such as the learning experiences, being able to test the market, and knowing what is right and wrong for future ventures. Other highlights also include the promotion of famous people, such as entrepreneurs, sportsmen and politicians who have all used failing experiences to develop their life goals. -12-
Finally the results will then be presented in a series of conferences across Europe, before being submitted at a final ThinkYoung conference in December 2014. To conclude ThinkYoung will present a policy paper with the findings of the research to the European Commission with a proposal for an improvement in bankruptcy laws in Europe for starts-ups and SMEs. Due to the niche topic of the project and the increased talk of the importance of youth in Europe, the pre-launch of the campaign has already gained media attention, with articles in New Europe and European Business Review.
partners Founding Partners
Knowledge Partners
Corporate Partners
Location Partners
Media Partners
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THINKYOUNG LOBBIES FOR THE PRESENCE OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN EUROPEAN DECISION-MAKING.
FOCUSED ON CONDUCTING SURVEYS, ORGANISING CONFERENCES, PRODUCING DOCUMENTARIES AND PUBLISHING RESEARCH BY YOUNG EUROPEANS, THINKYOUNG AIMS TO MAKE “BRUSSELS” AWARE OF WHAT YOUNG PEOPLE THINK
ITS VISION IS TO MAKE EUROPE THE BEST PLACE TO LIVE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.
© 2013 THINKYOUNG Place du Luxembourg 6 - Box 2 1050 - Bruxelles Belgium
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