Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs is a cross-border exchange programme which gives new or aspiring entrepreneurs (New Entrepreneurs) the chance to learn from experienced entrepreneurs (Host Entrepreneurs) running small businesses in other participating countries. The exchange of experience takes place during a stay with the experienced entrepreneur.
The New entrepreneurs’ stay is partially funded by the European Union for the period of 1 to 6 months. There is no fee to be paid by the Host entrepreneurs. The New entrepreneur will spend time with the Host entrepreneur contributing to the development of his/her company, while the Host entrepreneur will help the New entrepreneur acquire the skills needed to run a small firm. Pool of potential activities includes:
- Market research and developing new business opportunities;
- Project development, innovation and R&D;
- Taking a fresh look at existing business operations;
- Understanding SME finance;
- Branding, sales and marketing of company;
- Work on concrete projects in one or more of the above mentioned areas;
- Shadowing the HE, and more.
The Host entrepreneurs can benefit from the mutual cooperation in many ways:
- Discovering opportunities to cooperate with foreign partners;
- Expanding business to another country, starting new international cooperation;
- Getting to know about the new markets, expanding customer base and range of services;
- Sharing and learning new expertise, gaining more knowledge in the respective field of the business, new technologies, trends;
- Getting fresh perspectives on business, finding innovative solutions to improve business, remodelling business plan and a develop new (online) marketing strategies;
- Gaining new international contacts and developing networks;
- Working on common projects (expanding markets) benefitting from each other’s expertise.
ECBN is a partner in the EXCITE 2.0 consortium led by Creative Industry Košice with particular focus to support entrepreneurs in the Creative and Cultural Industries to exchange knowledge and new ideas on entrepreneurship and innovation, to provide access to markets across Europe, boosting international access and business development in the cultural and creative sector.
As an Intermediary organisation in the programme we offer Host entrepreneurs to:
- Help them with the application process;
- Provide the match with the serious, committed and motivated new entrepreneur;
- Support so-called creative spillovers – connections between creative entrepreneurs and other business sectors, thus stimulating creativity-led innovations;
For the hosting of New entrepreneurs we welcome Host entrepreneurs from the creative and cultural sectors and all other entrepreneurs fulfilling the eligibility criteria.
The EXCITE 2.0 consortium represents a network of organisations supporting wide target group of cultural and creative entrepreneurs across Europe. In defining CCIs, the project adopts the approach from the European Commission’s Green Paper “Unlocking the potential of cultural and creative industries”: “Cultural industries” are those industries producing and distributing goods or services which at the time they are developed are considered to have a specific attribute, use or purpose which embodies or conveys cultural expressions, irrespective of the commercial value they may have. Besides the traditional arts sectors (performing arts, visual arts, cultural heritage – including the public sector), they include film, DVD and video, television and radio, video games, new media, music, books and press. This concept is defined in relation to cultural expressions in the context of the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions. “Creative industries” are those industries which use culture as an input and have a cultural dimension, although their outputs are mainly functional. They include architecture and design, which integrate creative elements into wider processes, as well as subsectors such as graphic design, fashion design or advertising.
You can also visit the official page of Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs