GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

EAZYPRENEURSHIPENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMER SCHOOL 2013 PRESENTS

2013

ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEARESOURCING YOUR IDEAMARKETING AND MEDIA

NETWORKING

-02-

“”- BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

For more information of the Entrepreneurship Summer Schoolwww.entrepreneurshipsummerschool.com

ESS PROJECT MANAGERS

Celine Wiertz

Atanaska Varbanova

Gor Melikdjanjan

ESS LEARNING DIRECTOR

Steven Price

DESIGNER

criStina Frauca

PHOTOGRAPHER

criStina Frauca

EDITOR

Gabriella boSSman

THERE WILL BE ENOUGHTIME TO SLEEP IN THE GRAVE

-03-

contentS

FOREWORDS............................................................................................... 04 SPEAKERS................................................................................................... 05 PARTICIPANTS............................................................................................. 06 ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEA.............................................................................. 08 RESOURCING YOUR IDEA............................................................................. 09 MARKETING AND MEDIA.............................................................................. 10

NETWORKING.............................................................................................. 11

FAILURE...................................................................................................... 12

PARTNERS................................................................................................... 13

ForewordSThinkYoung 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 thin-king 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 vi-tal information to making their entrepreneurial idea a success from experien-ced 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 gerosathinkyoung

ChiefThinker

-04-

SPeakerSpierre buffetCoached a number of start-up enter-prises having his own consulting firm in financial management for SME.

philippe de backerFlemish member of the European Par-liament and graduate from the Uni-versity of Ghent in Biotechnology.

andrea gerosaWorking with young people since 2002. Co-founder of Think Young and creator of summer schools for young budding entrepreneurs

david ghyselsCo-founder of Events in the Sky in 2006 organising events in the sky ex-panding to 40 countries in just 5 years.

geet khoslaAlumni of the Summer School and in-terim CEO of Press-Doc. He created GVK Internships, specialising in short term employment projects.

alexandros koronakisChief of New Europe, he spearheads the digital development, heading up the different development projects for various media outlets of the company.

tin hang liuThe founder of SEOLAB, an Italian company with top clients, focussing on reviewing local businesses and is in part-nership with the media group in Italy.

harley lovegroveForming 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.

jean-baptiste nyssenFounder and owner of Keep on Toas-ting, quality food on the go. Highly connected to social media, found in different places across Belgium.

steven priceEngineer by profession, he has worked in a variety of international operations; currently owner of consulting business providing services to develop project management skills.

isabelle rabierFounder of Dermance budding beauty brand. One of the first dedicated to skin-care for women over 45, the company produces a range of skincare products.

wytze russchenAfter years in politics, founded his con-sultancy firm which continues to advise various large multinationals and federa-tions in the field of EU public affairs.

madi sharmaFounder of Madi Group which com-bines both private sector and not for profit companies with a philosophy to create ideas tailored to local action.

neil rafferty25 years of experience in the Telecoms and Technology sectors before setting up Potent Business Services.

-05-

marco kuravicHead of the Unit ‘Entrepreneurship’ in DG Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission, engaging in the deregulation of start up procedures.

andrada calugaruStarting her business whilst in studies, it provides an opportunity for every per-son who wants to create an extra reve-nue for themselves through direct sales.

-06-

1.ATHENS 2.BERLIN

Valentin Calomme

elisabetta RonCalli

mohamed alRefaie

Katarzyna WrześniaK

PatRiCk buhagiaR

malColm bolton

daniel fRitz

fabio fedeRiCi

nisa akin

andReas PaRtz

samantha ball

andRea boRg

renata Magdić

JüRgen VleminCkx

lodoViCo gaVotti

3.PRAGUE

maRCo CalliaRi

gioRgia Chille

matthew moRley

manuela Codo

sebastian mihai staiCu

aleVtyna Pabst

JoRis swinnen

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

ParticiPantS

-07-

8.ROME

andReas PflegeR

Mairead O’ COnnOr

Jiabo wu

nensi liCi

PhiliPPe tRemboVelski gitte de bloCk

filiPPo CaRaCCiolo

loRy Catinel

10.MADRID

LOrenzO deLL’eLCe

anna Voitika

lauRent Van eesbeeCk mihaela boteVa

daVid haRRis-buRland

noRa suRanyi

JiRi VlCek

ChRistoPh sChulz

abhiRam muddu

6.ASTANA

alessandRo PRoVaggi

maRie ozanne

flaCk Pimentel RibeiRo

elena manoVa

mitJa Pasutto

luis floRit

Justin knaVen

ChRis foRRest

12.DOHA

andRea CalliaRi

CaRmen muley moRales

geoRge iaVoRenCiuC

sinead maya

maRtin diatta

albeRta Catena

gRegoRy Ruessmann

ahmet buRak nalbantCilaR

9.HONG KONG

RobeRto mossetto

Violet PalmeR

seRgei kRauze

Rosalien de saeR

fabio lanzalonga

alona sakhnenko

hazem abdelaal

fRank hamm

11.TOKYO

ValeRio buRlizzi

eVa gReCo

simon benaRd

VeRonika iVanoVa thiJs buiRma

sanna bengtsson

dominiC steVens

osman ali CiftCi

nathanael waltheR

7.JAKARTA

Jamie maCleman

floRenCe Cosse

PaVol toth

sofia-danai doVletoglou

dmitRy kozyRin

gigliola maRiella Cielo

niColò de benetti ruben d’HauWers

4.SEOUL

nikolaJ hass

moniCa dellePiane

alexandeR Polunin

nataliya VoytoVyCh

semen shChaVeleV

gabRiella bossman

CRistiano ReCChia

VladimiR VRoonen

5.LONDON

keRem alanli

Jingnan zhang

Jean-René lebon

natalia gomankoVa

baRtlomieJ baRwiCz

saRa monReal holgado

etnik blakaJ

MOHaMMed sHana’a

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”Geet khoSla

The desire to make something everyone will enjoy and appre-ciate, whilst making you money, is no longer enough to crea-te 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 mo-tivation. 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 engi-ne 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 peo-ple around you and experts in the desired area, you allow the seed to grow and develop. By gathering informa-tion, researching the market and collecting feedback at this stage, you avoid mistakes that could be made, reducing the

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 num-ber 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 im-portant to stand out from the crowd and for your pro-duct or service to shout louder than the others in the noise that is the global marketplace. It is becoming increasin-gly 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 fee-dback 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 sta-tus 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 particu-lar area, you allow for direct comparison and if justified, the merits of your product to stand out from competi-tors. 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.

-08-

“Having a niche is very important in busi-ness. You have to be different “

wytze ruSSchen

-09-

reSourcinG your idea Resources are more than just the fi-nances 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 ambi-tion as well as drive is the key to resour-cing 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 obser-vation 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 culti-vate talents efficiently and effectively.

II. THE QUESTION OF WHY?

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 in-vestment of time, energies and in some cases, finances. By effectively using your own personal resources, there is no need to outsource and increase costs, especia-lly 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 recog-nizing your own resources, you will need less than you anticipated. Furthermore you can get the resources needed from those around you as opposed to finan-ces 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.

“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

“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

-10-

marketinG and media

Marketing is paramount to making potential customers aware of your idea and kept informed about your develop-ments. With this new technological age there are a plethora of ways to promote your idea and many platforms for mar-keting; some less expensive than others. With the costs of obvious forms of ad-vertisement 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 ne-cessary 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 oppor-tunities 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 choo-sing 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.

II. TRACK ENGAGEMENT

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 marke-ting 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 be-tter suited to your goals. By tracking your progress through methods such as unique visits to your page, online sur-veys and presence on industry websites and other key performance indicators, you are able to have an insight into the effectiveness of your marketing strate-gies. 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 influen-ce the consumer, strategic tracking of consumer awareness, perceptions, and behaviour gives marketing intelligen-ce to help guide marketers within the confusion of the wide ranging marke-ting channels. If you track consistently, it is possible to monitor the effects of specific marketing programs as they are introduced.

III. SOCIAL MEDIA AND ONLI-NE PLATFORMS

It would be negligible to deny the im-portance 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 cons-tant 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. Statisti-cally 89% of marketers say that social

media generates more business exposu-re. 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 pro-duct, 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 LIPSWhat’s your name? Who are you? What is your story? Success comes from self-packaging. You are your most va-luable asset in many senses and promo-tion of your product is a benefit of your individuality. Bill Gates, Richard Bran-son, 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 pro-duct will be remembered. Remembe-ring 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 adver-tising. When we are uncertain about what to buy, it’s common for us to de-pend on the influence of friends. Word of mouth can also be digitalized if nee-ded to be tracked for its effectiveness; integrating elements such as rating and recommendation systems and social sharing buttons are effective ways of fo-llowing through with word of mouth.

“Sometimes you meet people who are useful. You will be useful to them, and they will be

useful to you”tin hanG liu

-11-

networkinG

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 lar-ger and higher quality network; for it is not the num-ber 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 genui-ne interest in the welfare of your connection means a dee-per 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 per-sonal 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.

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,

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 bene-fit 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.

III.UNDERSTAND DIFFERENCES

Cultural and individual differences are inevitable within a vast network and increasingly globalized world. By being in-formed 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 con-versations 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.

“It’s a peoples sport; it’s not about the products or the material...it’s all about the people”

wytze ruSSchen

“Don’t burn bridges! If you do then they have a tendency to come back and burn you!”

neil raFFerty

Failure

-12-

Popular opinion is that failure is negati-ve 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. Fai-lure 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 en-trepreneurs failing in a business ventu-re; 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.

“In the end you need to jump in the water and swim, just make sure someone pulls you

out if you drown”harley loveGrove

The Fail2Succeed campaign aims at re-ducing the stigma of entrepreneurial failure in Europe and wants to encou-rage young Europeans to go ahead with their start up, ultimately making a pro-posal for an improvement in bankrupt-cy 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 Euro-peans are socially and financially concer-ned with the risks of starting up a busi-ness, and the pit falls of failure that come along the way. This is in complete con-trast to the US, where failure is positively associated with the learning and develo-

pment process, and appreciated by len-ders, future employers and in the public.ThinkYoung will conduct research in all EU member states on young peo-ple’s perception on failure. A quanta-tive 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 ac-cessible output for viewers to connect with the project and the topic, increa-sing engagement and understanding.These studies will be developed along-side 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 inclu-de the promotion of famous people, such as entrepreneurs, sportsmen and politicians who have all used failing experiences to develop their life goals.

Finally the results will then be presented in a series of conferences across Europe, before being submitted at a final Think-Young conference in December 2014.To conclude ThinkYoung will pre-sent a policy paper with the findings of the research to the European Com-mission with a proposal for an im-provement in bankruptcy laws in Europe for starts-ups and SMEs.Due to the niche topic of the project and the increased talk of the importan-ce of youth in Europe, the pre-launch of the campaign has already gained media attention, with articles in New Europe and European Business Review.

PartnerSFounding Partners

Knowledge Partners

Corporate Partners

Location Partners

Media Partners

-13-

© 2013 THINKYOUNG

Place du Luxembourg 6 - Box 2

1050 - Bruxelles

Belgium

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.

-14-