Project title: ENTREPRENEUR+ : EXPLORING ENTREPRENEURSHIP BEYOND CONCEPTS
Programme: Erasmus+
Action Type: KA220-YOU - Cooperation partnerships in youth
Project identification/ contract number: 2021-1-RO01-KA220-YOU-000029184
Start: 01/2022 – End: 08/2023
Objectives of the project
“Entrepreneur +: Exploring Entrepreneurship beyond Concepts” is an Erasmus + project (Key Action 2 - Partnerships for Cooperation) that aims to increase the capacity of youth workers to deliver qualitative learning programs and activities fostering entrepreneurial competencies among young people through a set of four innovative tools and methods developed within the project. It lasts 20 months and is implemented between January 2022 and August 2023.
Results
The results of the project include the creation of various intellectual products such as: a board game for the development of non-formal learning contexts "Future Entrepreneur", two handbooks and training curricula "From idea to business", respectively "How to finance your own volunteering project “and a set of 15 videos “How to - Business Plan ”. Other activities include conducting a business plan competition with at least 40 participants, organizing an international training on entrepreneurship with 24 participants from 4 countries, conducting 4 local volunteer projects involving at least 40 young people, organizing 8 multiplier events with the participation of at least 300 youth workers.
Target groups
The products developed are aimed at youth workers and people who work directly with young people based on their workplace (teachers, staff of non-governmental organizations, etc.). The project actively involves in various activities young people interested in entrepreneurship from the partner countries.
Coordinator and partner organisation
The Cluj-Napoca Volunteer Centre or Centrul de Voluntariat Cluj-Napoca (CVCN)(Coordinator)
Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa (Germany)
Backslash (Spain)
Associazione di promozione sociale joint (Italy)
Contact:
Perdita Wingerter
Gemeinsam leben & lernen in Europa
Tel. +49-851-2132740
wingerter(at)gemeinsam-in-europa.de
Future Entrepreneur Board Game is READY!
A board game to expand your entrepreneurial knowledge!
Future Entrepreneur is one of the results produced under the ENTREPRENEUR+ project. It supports the players learn about entrepreneurship in a fun and dynamic manner - extremely useful when working with younger audiences. It helps improve the vocabulary, and learn how to set up and run a business. Future Entrepreneur combines two types of board games: resource management & decision-making games.
In the beginning, each of the players randomly selects a business card. The business cards are grouped into three sectors: hospitality, services, and the food industry. Each business has some features listed on its respective card: the yearly revenue made, the risks it is prompted to, and how much a cost unit is. Throughout the game, the players will roll the dice and advance on the board. Similar to other popular games, they will either cash in or cash out some of their money, depending on the box they find themselves in. Otherwise, they will need to draw a card:
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knowledge cards will test the players’ knowledge related to entrepreneurship, economics, or business administration,
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surprise cards will affect the player only if their business is prompted to such a risk, as the one listed on their card,
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development cards test the participants’ entrepreneurial abilities and add more interactivity to the game.
Because we aim to promote a healthy mindset, we introduced also the happiness points, one would receive after answering successfully a question on a knowledge card. The happiness points have a specific role in the game and are associated with several benefits the individual can enjoy in life.
The game can be played individually, or in pairs, with a maximum of 12 people, with a duration of 90-120 minutes. A facilitator is needed to support the participants’ learning process and ensure the rules are respected.
Future Entrepreneur is an open-source game, that one can print out and use for non-profit, educational purposes: in the classroom, in the training room, or in other circumstances. The kit contains also printing instructions. The game is available in 5 languages: English, German, Italian, Romanian, and Spanish.
You can access it for free, here.
From Idea to Business is already available!
The methodology and Handbook for young people to develop their entrepreneurial competencies.
“From Idea to Business” is another one of the results of the project Entrepreneur+. It consists of a Methodology and Handbook of activities, that aims to be a training for trainers material that gives youth workers the theoretical background and practical activities to implement entrepreneurial education with youth. Both documents contain tools, exercises and activities related to entrepreneurial education and training, using non-formal education and a methodology in which the youth are active participants and owners of their own educational experience.
This methodology has two objectives, first is to deliver the needed entrepreneurial training to youth workers, using a participative methodology and, second, to guide future entrepreneurs while moving their business ideas from just a dream to a tangible achievement.
“From Idea to Business” has been developed to promote a wide understanding of the basic entrepreneurial topics, even if the reader has a low level of entrepreneurial education. A material created by youth workers for youth workers, in which the youth participation and involvement is the key to success.
The methodology is divided into 3 chapters that represent the three phases necessary to start your own project, although each of the chapters can be used individually:
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GENERATION OF THE BUSINESS IDEA. Explanation of the processes necessary to generate the project idea, realistically and measurably present objectives, and more knowledge on how to correctly, measurably and functionally present the project proposal.
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BUSINESS MODEL. Basic concepts about how to build a business and consider all the important aspects in the process. Including human resources, customers, key resources, cost management or risks.
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RUNNING A BUSINESS. All things that should be known for running a business perfectly. From marketing to project management.
Finally, the handbook, complementary to this methodology, compiles all the activities from the different chapters with the aim of facilitate the trainer’s work and have the activities at hand with the specific objectives, materials, duration and implementation steps.
The methodology is available in 5 languages: English, German, Italian, Romanian, and Spanish.
You can download “From Idea to Business” for free here
22 young people from Germany, Italy, Romania and Spain participated in the ENTREPRENEUR+ training course in Cluj-Napoca
Between May 30 and June 4, 22 young people participated in a training course organized in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The young people, from four European countries – Germany, Italy, Romania and Spain, had the opportunity to participate for free in a series of entrepreneurial training sessions, but also to meet local entrepreneurs from whose experiences they could learn.
It is a course organized within the ERASMUS+ program, the European Union program in the field of education, vocational training, youth and sport. The program has been providing learning and development opportunities for more than 35 years, and approximately 13 million people have participated to date.
Training course participants were selected following a business plan competition. They had the chance to improve their ideas in order to be more competitive in the market. If some were just at the beginning of their journey, others have already launched their business, or will do so soon. Their chosen business field is different, some of the young people want to venture into entrepreneurship through various mobile applications, others have chosen to deliver certain services, based on their skills set, while some have already launched their own production line of dog care products, sports clothing, etc.
"It was an extraordinary experience, a new experience that took me out of my comfort zone. I had the opportunity to meet wonderful people from several countries, extremely friendly and empathetic people that I will keep in touch with in the future. The course was extremely useful and I strongly believe it will help me in the future. I think that this course helped me the most to learn to better manage costs, risks and time" - Sergiu, young man from Romania, interested in launching a company specialized in software product development services.
In addition to the educational activities, the participants also enjoyed social and cultural activities, including a guided tour of Cluj-Napoca and a cultural evening, in in which each of the countries represented shared cultural elements and stories with the others.
The course is part of the "ENTREPRENEUR+: EXPLORING ENTREPRENEURSHIP BEYOND CONCEPTS" project, coordinated by Cluj-Napoca Volunteering, in partnership with Associazione di promozione sociale Joint, Backslash Association, and Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e.V. and co-financed by the of the European Commission.
Entrepreneurship...but in 2 minutes
Are you a young person wanting to learn more about the world of entrepreneurship, perhaps to start your own project? Are you an educator looking for tools to introduce your young people to the world of entrepreneurship and increase their entrepreneurial skills?
To meet these needs, we decided to launch a series of 15 2-minute videos, pills that will help you understand more about how to make your business idea real. The videos, designed for TikTok, use simple and straightforward language that can both help young people with little knowledge of the subject and give useful hints to more experienced ones.
The 15 videos can be watched in series, or you can decide to watch only those that you find most interesting. The contents cover different topics and can be a useful tool both for getting answers to specific questions and for gaining a clearer picture of the entrepreneurial world in general. The videos will help you find answers to questions such as: How do I define the scope of my company? How do I define my long-term objectives? What legal form should I give my company? How do I forecast my initial investment and how do I manage costs? What do I have to do to present my idea to financiers? How can I manage my staff?
This is also a useful tool in entrepreneurship training courses aimed at young people, since they can serve as a support to introduce or deepen the contents of the lessons. The videos are available in 5 languages (English, German, Italian, Romanian and Spanish) and can be accessed on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube
You can access the playlist in English: here and with German subtitles: here
Handbook: How to finance my own volunteer project
You want to implement your own volunteer project?
In order for your project to be successful and work efficiently, you need business knowledge and skills. Especially when it comes to financing a volunteer project, many people don’t know what they are doing.
And this is where we want to support you. As part of our EU project “Entrepreneur+” we organised workshops on this topic. You can now find our concentrated knowledge on our handbook “How to finance my own volunteer project?” The handbook is also suitable for people, who have little experience in the financial field.
In the manual, we not only provide you with theoretical knowledge, but it also contains many practical exercises and templates. We hope that this will help you to finance your own volunteer projects.
In the 3 chapters, we will introduce you to the following steps that are important when financing a project:
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What do I need for my project?You will learn how to plan a project, how to set clear goals and how to determine what resources you will need.
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How do I get what I need?We introduce you different financing methods. You can find out which method is the best for your needs.
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How do I handle the money? You will learn how to keep track of your costs, how to record transactions and how to inform the relevant authorities.
You can then share your knowledge and run a workshop yourself: In the attachment to the handbook you will find a schedule for a 3-hour workshop and practical exercises on the financing topic.
You can download our handbook “How to finance my own volunteer project?” for free. It is available in 5 languages: English, German, Italian, Romanian and Spanish. You can download it here for free.