- Project Name
- EUROPE’s EYEs ARE OPEN…successor of CYRPUS’ EYEs Are Open
- Abbreviation
- EUEYES
- Project Description
-
Through this project, young entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to learn how to manage a small or medium enterprise and to get familiar with the business environment in another EU member state by working with experienced entrepreneurs. Young entrepreneurs have the opportunity to work with an experienced entrepreneur for the period of 1-6 months. During this period, they will gain knowledge on how to set up and management an SME in sectors such as financial and operational management, development of innovative products and services, successful selling practises and trade promotion, European trade law and European Single Market.
- Impact
- The creation of 60 successful relationships will provide the opportunity to young entrepreneurs to learn from an experienced entrepreneur. It will also allow the young and experienced entrepreneurs to exchange practises, facilitate the access into new markets and the search for potential partners, and contribute in networking activities of actors in enterprises and SMEs and give the opportunity to experienced entrepreneurs to develop new trade relations and learn more about new opportunities in other EU countries.
- Coordinator
- European Office Cyprus – Dr. Gregory Makrides
- Partners
-
- 2 partners from Cyprus
- Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI)
- Cyprus Federation of Business and Professional Women (KOGEE)
- 2 partners from EU countries.
- SCHOLTEN Consultancy – Netherlands
- Foundation for Research and Technology - Greece
- Programme
- ENT/ERA/11/311 - Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs
- Duration
- 21 months
- Budget
- 192,396 €
- Website
- www.erasmus-entrepreneurs.eu
ΕUROPE’s EYEs Are Open: Mobility and capacity building for young entrepreneurs
EOC was the intermediary organisation for the “Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs” programme in Cyprus, under the framework of the project “EUROPE’s EYEs are Open”, which is the successor of the successful project “Cyprus’ EYEs are Open”.
“Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs” helps European entrepreneurs to obtain the necessary skills in order to start up and/or manage successfully a small enterprise. Young entrepreneurs meet and exchange knowledge and ideas with an experienced entrepreneur from another country. The young entrepreneur works in the enterprise of the experienced entrepreneur for a period of 1-6 months, which is funded by the European Commission.
Young entrepreneurs are those who plan to create their own enterprise or they already have started their business in the last 3 years. Experienced entrepreneurs should own or manage a SME in EU. Young entrepreneurs and experienced entrepreneurs could belong to any financial sector.
The goal of “EUROPE’s EYEs are Open”, which runs until January 2014, was to create 60 successful relationships between new and experienced entrepreneurs. By the end of 2013, 59 successful relationships were completed (21 young entrepreneurs and 38 experienced entrepreneurs), while 5 more relationships are in progress that will conclude in the first month of 2014. The project will exceed the aim of 60 successful relationships, by providing support aiming to:
- Offer to new entrepreneurs the opportunity to receive training from an experienced entrepreneur who runs a SME in another EU country;
- Allow the exchange of experiences between young and experienced entrepreneurs;
- Facilitate the access to new markets and the search for potential business partners;
- Contributes to the networking between business people and SMEs;
- Allows experienced entrepreneurs to develop new business relationships and learn more about opportunities in another EU country.
EOC has created a recommendation document that summarises the main issues and needs that have been collected during the two circles of the programme and suggests approaches that could have positive impact both in the successful continuation of the programme and in fostering entrepreneurship. The main recommendations are:
- Offer more incentives for the creation of new businesses in time of crisis
- Enhance women participation in the programme
- Major awareness raising and promotional information actions are needed
- Apply more innovative ways to reach the target groups
- Improve efficiency in collecting market information
- Creation of an “alumni club” as ambassador of the programme