ESS BRUSSELS 2011 EAZYPRENEURSHIP GUIDE

Entrepreneurship Summer School 2011 presents:

Eazypreneurship A Guide to Succesful Entrepreneurship

“From Young Entrepreneurs for Young Entrepreneurs” FEATURES: • Characteristics of an entrepreneur • Creating a promising idea • Understanding the market • Ressourcing your enterprise • Working with the media • European opportunities

PARTNERS Founding Partners:

Knowledge Partners:

Corporate Partners:

Location Partners:

Media Partners:

Student Organisations:

For more information on the Entrepreneurship Summer School :

www.entrepreneurshipsummerschool.com

ESS Project Managers: Andrea Gerosa Alexandre Egger Christopher Moore Florent Barel

ESS Learning Director: Steven Price

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Editor and Designer: Florent Barel

Photographer: Alexis Machet

CONTENTS 2

Partners

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Contents

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Forewords

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Speakers and Participants

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Characteristics of an Entrepreneur

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Creating a Promising Idea

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Understanding the Market

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Ressourcing your Enterprise

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Working with the Media

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European Opportunities

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Contact Us

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 think young.

Check out www.thinkyoung.eu for upcoming events.

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FOREWORDS “ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS A LIFE SKILL AND A GREAT ASSET FOR EUROPEAN ECONOMIES” Building a stronger culture of entrepreneurial mindsets amongst young Europeans is a key driver in tackling the major challenges of youth unemployment and building a competitive economy.

Despite European and National initiatives, Europe is still lagging behind on youth entrepreneurship education: young people do not see entrepreneurs as role models and fear the implied risk and potential failure stigma. Education and training of young Europeans are key drivers in improving this process and making youth acquire the relevant mindset and set of skills.

This is what young Europeans at ThinkYoung have focused on when creating the first edition of the ESS, with the vision of offering a solution to youth unemployment and supporting the creation of future innovative business formations to reinforce the backbone of the EU’s economy.

We truly wish to thank our partners, speakers and participants for having made this event a true success. We also wish to thank member of Parliament Lara Comi for having hosted our opening ceremony and opening the entrepreneurial debate to a European perspective.

We hope you will enjoy reading our participants’ conclusions as much as we have enjoyed organising the Entrepreneurship Summer School.

Andrea Gerosa ThinkYoung Chief Thinker

“EUROPE NEEDS ENTREPRENEURS TO MOVE BEYOND THE CRISIS” In some European countries, the Internet already contributes more than 6% to GDP. Recent studies also show that the Web has fueled net job creation with more than two jobs created for every one lost, and that businesses which embrace the Internet are growing and exporting twice as much.

In particular, the Internet benefits small business entrepreneurs by lowering entry barriers and levelling the playing field between large and small companies.

As the biggest contributors to net job creation, Europe’s small business entrepreneurs are fueling economic growth at a time of economic crisis. That is why at Google we believe that fostering entrepreneurship and developing skills is critical to overcome the crisis. Europe’s young entrepreneurs are contributing their part by having bright ideas and taking them to the market.

Further investing in young people who are willing to solve problems through innovation, will ensure that the ambitions of today’s young entrepreneurs become the enterprises of Europe’s tomorrow.

Antoine Aubert Head of the Brussels Policy Team Google

“BUILDING ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDS IS KEY IN BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY OF FUTURE EUROPEAN LEADERS” Entrepreneurship goes beyond the concept of opening a business, it can be defined as a life skill which enables people to turn their ideas into action. Learning entrepreneurship must therefore engage students in a proactive manner. By concentrating on concrete projects, students develop their abilities to set and achieve targets, effectively work in a team and gain confidence by experiencing the satisfaction of building upon their own ideas. In the perspective of large industries, the term intrapreneurship is used to define innovative employee initiatives and is regarded as a highly valued managerial skill.

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Steven Price Founder and Director European Institute for Industrial Leadership ESS Learning Director

SPEAKERS A PANEL OF EXPERIENCED ENTREPRENEURS TO LEARN FROM “Surround yourself with people who know more than you and learn to learn from them.” Participants were given the chance to reflect upon their desired entrepreneurial paths, question and learn from experienced entrepreneurs to build this guide. The skill of questioning (or “interviewing”) experienced people to obtain relevant information proved to be an important success factor for many interviewees. Our findings are based on the EIIL Senior Masterclass (TM) learning methodology and the input of the following guest speakers: Steven Price Founder & Executive Director European Institute for Industrial Leadership ESS Learning Director Lara Comi Member of European Parliament

Wytze Russchen Founder & Managing Director Russchen Consultants Alexandros Koronakis Director New Europe newspaper Tiia Rohelsaar Founder & Creative Director Inspired Generation Jonathan Friedman Co Founder and CEO StudentEvents.com Farid Tabarki Founder Studiogeist

PARTICIPANTS THIS GUIDE WAS CREATED BY YOUNG ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDED STUDENTS FROM ALL ACCROSS EUROPE This summer, 27 students coming from 11 different countries gathered to learn, network and create entrepreneurship guides in teams. This guide is a summarized version of the work of the following participants:

BLACK TEAM Luis Eduardo Obregón, Brasil Daniel Falcón, Spain Sophie Soyoung Choi, Netherlands Rengei Boglárka, Hungary Glenn Servers, Belgium Stefania Dimitriu Vasiliu, Romania Chathudina Janitha Liyanange, Sweden GREEN TEAM Arthur Nobrega, Brasil Kai Oelfke, Germany Ksenija Vojevoda, Netherlands Eszter Benedek, Hungary Dieter Van Isterdael, Belgium Geet Khosla, Netherlands Andrei Daniel Jakab, Finland RED TEAM Antoine Sahaghian, France Silvia Ioana Prisecaru, Romania Yngve Angvik Aanonsen, Norway Amilcar Van Der Horst, Netherlands Jimmy Hoste, Belgium Vanessa Gina Turri, Denmark GREY TEAM Tom De Smedt, Belgium Preslav Mitranov, Bulgaria Inés Bultó, Spain Saverio Calderoni, Netherlands Anca Elena Prisecaru, Romania Dimitri Ushatski, Czech Republic Di Piao, Netherlands

Olivier Hody Co-leader Deloitte’s European Compliance Center Michael Uyttersprot Software Entrepreneur Google - 5 -

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ENTREPRENEUR CAPACITY FOR SELFDEVELOPMENT No entrepreneur knows everything about all aspects of running a business. Always stay curious and keep learning. if you need to market your offering and have no knowledge of marketing, research the topic yourself. With current information technology tools, information is ‘No one minds sharing everywhere, you just their experience with need to find it!

an interested listener; just ask !’

SELF-CONFIDENCE Steven Price Participants discovered a set of common entrepreneurial characteristics amongst speakers.

Entrepreneurship proved to be more than just a a professional activity, itis a lifestyle and an attitude towards life..

PASSION You have to be passionate about your business. Profit alone will not keep driving you through long nights, losses, and market downturns.

Believe in yourself and in your idea. This will help you seize new opportunities, keep you motivated when other people don’t agree with your idea, and help you sell your idea enthusiastically to potential partners and investors. A good entrepreneur shows commitment to his cause, thereby convincing other people of his project.

Therefore, if a business opportunity doesn’t feel right to you, do not push it much further.

will help you make realistic plans and make you appear as a Tiia Rohelsaar trustworthy company.

You additionally need CREATIVITY to be able to effectively Creativity and outmanage your resources of-the-box thinking in order to get the most are fuels of the out of them. entrepreneurial spirit.

If the entrepreneur SOCIALLY ORIENTED is not limited by Business is done the boundaries of between people, not traditional thinking, he between companies. can anticipate market People are the most trends and be more valuable assets. If you open to new business treat everybody as you opportunities. like to be treated, you are more likely to have a PERSEVERANCE vast network of contacts Starting up a new and motivated work business is a risky partners. Moreover, adventure. Therefore, be open to criticism in every challenge order to improve your and mistake should way of thinking and be viewed as an the outcome of your opportunity to learn business. and further develop as an entrepreneur.

WILLINGNESS TO MAKE SACRIFICES ORGANIZED Creating and running a Being well organized, business is hard work, makes it much easier at certain points in time to convince partners you will be asked to or investors that your make personal sacrifices business is viable. This in order to succeed.

“Failure does not exist.”

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CREATING A PROMISING IDEA FULFILL NEEDS Identify your space in the market and tailor your product in accordance to the expectations of your targeted clients.

“My energy comes from seeing opportunity and developing my idea, but I do not like managing money or people.”

To make sure your idea is answering needs in a relevant way, keep up to date with recent trends through business reviews, market studies and social media.

You can furthermore test-drive an idea in a Facebook group, or Wiki page.

Farid Tabarki Making a fortune may be a driver for some entrepreneurs, but participants found that such a purpose can not attract clients and committed stakeholders.

Your business model should be focused towards greater benefits for all, and you should seek to create honest win-win situations in order to succeed.

LOVE YOUR IDEA, BE COMMITTED AND BE OPEN TO SELFIMPROVEMENT Your idea should not only be build on a clear and rational business model and the willingness to make profits. It should contain an emotion, something you have a good feeling about in order to assure your commitment to it in the long run. Always bear in mind that if you don’t

believe in your idea, it will have little chances of being successful and will not .Being aware of your personal development is clearly a key success factor to achieve improvement.

Analyse your decisions and actions, never be afraid of acknowledging you may have done something better. You should then analyse why you took a bad decision and what you will do to improve in the future.

HAVE A CLEAR VISION AND STAY OPEN TO NEW OPPORTUNITIES Beginning with an idea of where you want to go is obviously essential in launching a successful idea, but you should start within realistically achievable terms.

Some entrepreneurs mentioned they were spending less and less time on having a clear vision and mission and focused more on innovative and creative ways of composing with new opportunities.

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MAKE USE OF EXPERTISE CLOSE TO YOU Consider and evaluate your business idea with advise from friends and networks. Use feedback constructively. speaking with experts is a great mean of finding inspiration.

If you don’t know people in your desired field, you can attend relevant events. There are youth entrepreneurship organisations throughout Europe for like-minded people to meet, network and share best practices.

MEETING THE NEEDS OF YOUR CLIENTS Put yourself in the shoes of your client and find a creative way to offer what they need, or create something new which attracts their interest and may create a new market.

Test your product/ service idea – present it to potential buyers and see if they would buy it and how much they are willing to pay for it.

UNDERSTANDING THE MARKET understanding markets you should consider following market trends and the news, talking with people and being inspired by others as a great part of your job.

START IN THE BASIC AND GROW ORGANICALLY Approach the market through your network because they know Alexandros your background and Koronakis you theirs. Start with a simple offer and KNOW YOUR MARKET expand it later as you Do market research understand the market yourself, in this way better and have a you don’t miss out on deeper concentration in important information the market. and comprehend trends for yourself. This step UNDERSTAND YOUR should concentrate on COMPETITION AND markets that are most YOUR UNIQUE closely related to your SELLING PROPOSAL value chain.

Analyze your market, Remember that the consider following market is organic market leaders for so following major best practice ideas. trends and seeking Find out who your to be one step ahead competitors are and in innovation are key what your competitive success factors. advantage is, notably in terms of service and ANTICIPATE THE pricing. In order to keep MARKET competitors out of your Put yourself in the shoes blue sea, emphasize of the consumers in your differences. Once order to answer a need you have managed to in the market, or find a launch successfully, different way to fulfill aim at competing an existing one. It is not on different levels the consumers’ job to through diversification. know precisely what This will enable you to they want, in the end, gain new sources of it is up to you to make profits and make you your offer seductive to less dependent on the people. To be successful well being of a single in getting new ideas and core offer.

“The market is organic, it controls you more than you manage to control it”

FIND DEDICATED PEOPLE TO HELP YOU OUT Build a network around your idea to nurture it. Find interested and dedicated people and offer them updates and regular opportunities to meet in order to keep them interested.

Never refuse a small client, you never know what he may become or what his network is.

IDENTIFY POTENTIAL RISKS AND ACT Analyse your risks carefully. What are the most probable/ dangerous risks? Then, be willing to take measured risks. When an opportunity arises,

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if you wait too long to take a decision, chances are someone else will take advantage of it.

BUILD TRUST, AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT Honesty is crucial, if one of your clients or partners finds you lying, his trust will be forever broken.

Remember that bad experiences are often faster spread than good ones. Therefore, avoid promising something that you can’t deliver successfully. On the contrary, you should focus on building positive brand awareness of yourself and of your business ideas.

RESOURCING YOUR ENTERPRISE before accessing paying ones. Exchanging services with partners is furthermore a great mean of making things happen with little budget.

Investments should have a long term orientation in order to avoid useless shortWytze Russchen term investments.

Manage cash flows in order to pay off all USE YOUR OWN your suppliers, and RESOURCES FIRST ensure that you have Make the most out of all enough money to your existing resources keep your company before seeking them going. Re-invest profits elsewhere. This is just in your company not meant in financial wisely, is crucial to terms, you should make your company equally make best grow. Telephone and use of your previous restaurant bills may experiences and seem like costs which knowledge. could be cut, but they can be a great longExternal funding should term investment when be a last resort, as it they foster positive leads to a diminished relationships with control of one’s stakeholders. business. However, All in all, enhancing if external funding alow-cost strategy is really needed, at is about making the a later stage in your most out of existing business life cycle, be ressources, while extremely careful, and keepnig expenses involve acknowledged at a minimum. professionals in the process, such as lawyers Bartering for services with other small and accountants. companies proved DEVELOP A LOW COST to be a common STRATEGY, AT LEAST IN practice amongst YOUR FIRST STEPS entrepreneurs.

Keeping your Outsource to lower previsional budget low costs may sometimes in the outset enables be a solution, but you to reduce risks. Make should choose people use of all the freely diligently. available resources

“Know people who know people.”

INVOLVE ENRICHENING PEOPLE Involve people in what they are good at.

When bringing people on board you should aim at acquiring skills you don’t have. Diversity in a complementary manner offers greater knowledge and capacities to your idea.

Hiring employees is very expensive , do not simply expect the financial costs, you will also need to follow-up on guidance. and assure that they do not end up lacking motivation. This why having partners who share a common passion and motivation is a good initial way to go.

Once you do have employees, you should aim at offering your colleagues interesting challenges, which suite their capabilities, and treating everyone as a part of the team so that they feel more responsibility towards

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the company and personal commitment.

USE FEEDBACK AND LEARN TO MAKE IT CONSTRUCTIVE Present your ideas to people in your network, both personal and professional.

Be open to new ideas, reconsider and use the advantage of actionoriented feedback.

CLIENTS ARE BUSINESS PARTNERS Do not consider business deals as just cash-flows, they are personal contacts.

Taking advantage of your network. is also satisfying your clients in order to stimulate positive word of mouth.

WORKING WITH MEDIA USE DIVERSIFIED MEDIA, DEFINE YOUR MESSAGES AND ADAPT YOUR STORIES ACCORDINGLY Carefully define your personal brand and carefully choose “It is amazing your target media to see how one accordingly. It is key big mistake of a to know exactly which single person was communication mix communicated in suits you best, this the media, and killed will depend on your one of the world’s market, product, and most powerful strategy. Keep your consultancy.” messages clear and simple to make them Olivier Hody easily understandable and even fool-proof.

Have your messages MEDIA IS AN properly defined and UNDERESTIMATED ensure the consistency DIMENSION OF of your material ENTREPRENEURSHIP within throughout Public Relations is a your communication very powerful tool, which can influence the channels. Use a image of your company diversified media strategy: involve means in both a positive or such as the newspaper negative manner. for a larger scope, and Close links to media the internet for a more can nevertheless be a continuous source of double edged sword.

They have the power to advertising. What you should readapt is the make and break your way you tell the story credibility, therefore and the aspects you be careful about what focalize on, not who you you say, and how you are. say it. People have a very short memory, so you should seek to be in the media regularly yet not constantly.

Being conscious of this phenomenon and keeping it in the back of your mind in your decisions and actions can prove to be very useful.

DEALING WITH MEDIA IS NOT ABOUT SELLING YOUR PRODUCT Do not sell, be natural when approaching media, when you come off too strong people feel pushed to respond negatively. They are mainly interested in writing a story for their readers, not selling your product. Show how you are involved in something of greater societal value. You should seek to inspire them with your passion and drive.

CREATE YOUR OWN MEDIA CONTENT Producing your own content and disseminating it across media contacts is a great mean of minimizing investments for your media contacts and assuring that your message is put across in the way you are targeting.

REPEAT YOUR MESSAGES Be well prepared and willing to

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enthusiastically repeat yourself as many times as it is necessary. The general public tends to have a short memory span, therefore get the right message across, repeat it and keep it in the back of their heads.

Be honest, if you lie the media and later on markets will get back at you.

LOW COST MEDIA STRATEGIES Produce communication material such as articles promoting your business ethics and actions, this is very personal, yet involves the public in a easy manner.

IDENTIFYING EU OPPORTUNITIES to play, the existing mechanisms the EU has put in place to support them. Entrepreneurship education is increasingly considered key to promoting a more competitive and entrepreneurial “We can build a workforce. As such, European Silicon it is a key element Valley.� of the new EU 2020 MEP Lara Comi Strategy. A new expert report calls for making entrepreneurship Participating students education an integral interacted with highpart of school curricula level EU policy-makers and underlines the key during a conference role of action at local at the EU Parliament level supported by hosted by Lara Comi, private associations and member of the enterprises.

European Parliament and Vice-Chair of the THE EUROPEAN Committee on the EXCHANGE PROGRAM Internal Market and FOR ENTREPRENEURS Consumer Protection.

There are many programs out there to YOUTH assist you in developing ENTREPRENEURSHIP your business or IS A EUROPEAN project. Erasmus for PRIORITY Young Entrepreneurs Debates concentrated is a cross-border on the greater exchange programme societal role young which gives new or entrepreneurs have aspiring entrepreneurs

the chance to learn from experienced entrepreneurs running small businesses in other European Union countries.

The exchange of experience takes place during a stay with the experienced entrepreneur, which helps the new entrepreneur acquire the skills needed to run a small firm.

The host benefits from fresh perspectives on his/her business and gets the opportunities to cooperate with foreign partners or learn about new markets.

The stay is partially funded by the European Union.

Whether you are a new or highly experienced entrepreneur, the programme can offer strong added value to your business: possible benefits include exchange of knowledge and experience, networking opportunities across Europe, new commercial relations or markets abroad.

For more information on Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs visit: http://www.erasmusentrepreneurs.eu/

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CONTACT US

Believe and yourself and make your projects fly.

Believe in your ideas and make them fly.

6 Place du Luxembourg 1000 Brussels www.thinkyoung.eu info@thinkyoung.eu www.facebook.com/thinkyoung