Entrepreneurship
Theme: Entrepreneurship
Cross-cutting themes covered: Tailored business support, Tailored financial solutions, Networking opportunities
Name of project: House of Entrepreneurship
City: Amsterdam
What is it? The House of Entrepreneurship offers business support and access to finance opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises in Amsterdam. Its flexible menu of support ensures that services can be adapted to the varying needs of entrepreneurs. Networking opportunities for entrepreneurs have also been provided.
Who is it? Since 2004, the service has been delivered by the Stichting Ondernemershuis Foundation, which was created specifically for this purpose.
Where is it? The House of Entrepreneurship operates in the south east of Amsterdam (Zuidoost), an area that has undergone substantial physical regeneration in recent years. Over 70% of the population are migrants, from Surinam, the Dutch Antilles, Ghana and various other countries. At around 10%, Amsterdam Zuidoost has a somewhat higher level of unemployment than the rest of Amsterdam, although in recent years the gap has narrowed.
Who funds it? The total budget of the project (from 2004 to 2006) is €2.3 million. The local administration contributes 25%; the Central Municipality of Amsterdam pays 25%; and 50% of project costs are covered by the European Regional Development Fund.
How does it work? Tailored business support: The initiative targets its services at the entire population of Amsterdam Zuidoost, but aims to make its services as accessible as possible to vulnerable groups. The large majority of clients are migrants, who, for various reasons, tend to have a relatively high interest in setting up a business for themselves. In fact, many of them have already done so on a small scale, with many running informal enterprises from their homes.
Overcoming barriers to starting-up: Migrants face many barriers to entrepreneurship. For example, they can lack market research expertise and business planning skills, and may only have limited knowledge of the banking system and the legal and regulatory environment. For some, language problems make it difficult to seek relevant information. The House of Entrepreneurship offers a range of training options to help overcome these barriers, including help with:
Supporting access to finance: While the House of Entrepreneurship does not have its own SME fund, it does assist clients in the following ways:
Anything else? Networking opportunities: The House of Entrepreneurship also facilitates networking between entrepreneurs, organising regular meetings for its clients and informing start-up entrepreneurs in Zuidoost about networking opportunities. The House of Entrepreneurship collaborates with other local agencies to organise events such as the annual Start-ups Day at the Chamber of Commerce, and a Women Entrepreneurs Market (Women@Work). It is currently supporting a recently established membership organisation of entrepreneurs from the Antilles.
Role models, such as the Black Business Woman of 2005/06, are invited to networking events in order to inspire local entrepreneurs.
What are the results? Great effort is taken to ensure that business support is accessible to vulnerable groups, for example:
Is the model transferable? The House of Entrepreneurship – a specialised and autonomous institution offering practical services to entrepreneurs – is largely transferable to other areas. For example, innovative elements of the project, such as the offering of business support in the native languages of the target communities, could be integrated into existing business support models in other regions.
Building on local competitive advantages? Political and financial support from the local administration has been vital for ensuring success of the project. Lack of political support could be a barrier to transferability elsewhere. The House of Entrepreneurship now liaises regularly with the local authorities to discuss problems for small business owners in the area. Establishing other partnerships with for example, banks, is also vital, but can be challenging.
What are the barriers to transferability? The initiative was piloted extensively in the area before it was implemented. This ensured that services were well tailored to the practical demands of the target group. If the initiative were to be replicated elsewhere, a similar piloting approach would be recommended.
