Examples - German Entrepreneurship Week 2012 (GEW)

Real life examples

Download the report on Entrepreneurship Week 2010 as a PDF document for a rich source of ideas.

Additional suggestions

There are plenty of ways to engage with the topic of business start-ups. Here are a few suggestions:

Organise panel discussions and knowledge exchange groups
Produce videos
Organise exhibitions and fairs
Host competitions
Develop business ideas
Suggestions for companies
Suggestions for schools and universities

Organise panel discussions and knowledge exchange groups

Gather a range of industry opinions

Invite entrepreneurs from different industries. These entrepreneurs can report on the particular challenges faced when starting up a business, for example in the craft sector, retail industry, technology sector or in the liberal professions.

International company forum

Set up an international platform of entrepreneurs who can facilitate discussion among young business start-ups with an international focus. Exchanging knowledge and experience helps reconcile diverse mindsets and cultures, while giving an insight into national laws and regulations that must be observed by a company operating internationally.

Think big – Get the community to engage with entrepreneurship

Host panel discussions that include representatives from politics, economics and science. The audience should be given the opportunity to discuss ideas with these panellists and understand their point of view.

Business successors

Invite businesses from different industries to a panel discussion to explore the opportunities and risks associated with business succession.

A day in the life of an entrepreneur

Starting up a business can be risky, particularly in the early stages. However, business owners must be able to cope with periods of instability to achieve long-term success in the market. Invite entrepreneurs to give detailed accounts of the early days of their start-ups and offer advice on how to face the challenges.

Business and family

Set up a panel discussion that allows entrepreneurs to describe the relationship between self-employment and family. Various points of view can be introduced and new approaches discussed.

Franchising

Franchises offer products or services that already are successful. Invite experts to a panel discussion to introduce how franchising works and to give examples of franchising.

Non-profit and for-profit organizations

Organise a workshop that illustrates how profit-oriented companies can also bear social responsibility within the community.

Art and entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship isn’t just about businesspeople and stock brokering. Some entrepreneurs are artists, for example. Organise an art event that merges entrepreneurship with creativity.

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Produce videos

Create a documentary on a successful business start-up

Identify a successful enterprise in your area and document how it was set up. The different approaches used and factors contributing to its success can then be discussed within a film festival format.

Marketing with a twist – Run your own show

Set up a video booth at your event in which participants can record their views on self-employment. Once the event is over, you can create a short film from these videos.

Lights, camera, action – Interview an entrepreneur

Produce a video on the topic of entrepreneurial spirit/entrepreneurship in which event participants interview entrepreneurs. You can present the video at a film festival.

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Organise exhibitions and fairs

Innovation exhibition

Organise an exhibition or a fair where business start-ups in your area can present themselves and network with each other. Invite investors, franchises, service providers and others to highlight the multifaceted nature of entrepreneurship to the public.

Introduce networks

Successful entrepreneurs build up a network of partners. Organise an event where these networks can introduce themselves and welcome newcomers. Partners who have not yet been introduced can swap experiences within an allocated period.

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Host competitions

Host a marketing competition

Organise a business plan competition that requires participants to present a marketing strategy promoting their product or their service to the audience and the jury. The most compelling marketing concept wins.

Create a virtual challenge

Organise a competition that focuses on developing a game themed around business start-ups. The game should zone in on business and marketing factors.

The next top entrepreneur

Hold a competition in which a jury assigns various tasks to participants asking them to present their business vision. The jury judges the presentations made by the aspiring entrepreneurs based on criteria such as originality, creativity, ability to promote themselves and their product. Possible prizes could include an educational visit to a company or financial support for setting up a business.

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Develop business ideas

Identify business ideas

Innovations are said to be based on 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent hard work. Take advice from professional experts on how to develop business ideas using creative techniques.

Turn ideas into concrete plans

Organise a workshop that gives aspiring entrepreneurs the opportunity to present their business idea. Have various business start-up experts on hand to discuss the possibility of further developing the business ideas presented into initial business plans.

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Suggestions for companies

Thinking green – ecological enterprises

Do you and your company have a special interest in the environment? If so, then host an event and demonstrate the benefits of running a company with an ecological ethos. Use the opportunity to showcase innovations that will benefit our environment.

Mentoring programmes

Committed and experienced business owners can act as mentors on a project and provide guidance to business start-ups. Start-ups can be guided along a successful path with support and mentoring advice from these business owners.

A look behind the scenes

Business owners give schoolchildren and students a behind-the-scenes insight into an enterprise. University students get to experience the daily life of an entrepreneur or manager for a day and learn about their duties and responsibilities.

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Suggestions for schools and universities

Business owners pass on lessons learnt to students

Organise discussion panels that allow young business owners to tell university students about the successes and failures they experienced when establishing their business.

Lecture series on entrepreneurship

Organise a lecture series on entrepreneurship. The lectures should emphasize the importance of integrating entrepreneurship in all areas of study.

Future trends

Invite an employee or employees from one of the many institutes that research future trends. The researcher can describe how the needs and wishes of consumers are developing and point to promising business ideas that could result from these trends.

Brainstorming Friday

Organise a session for students to brainstorm about business ventures in a relaxed atmosphere. By the end of the session, students should have come up with the seeds of ideas that can be summarised in a list. Encourage the students to put their ideas into action.

Entrepreneurship night

Organise an entrepreneurship night on campus. Offer young entrepreneurs the opportunity to present their business and draw attention to entrepreneurial spirit by means of a panel discussion with representatives from politics, academia and business.

Starting your business before graduating

Launch a workshop series to discuss the various options open to students for creating a business while still at university. The series should focus on test projects such as student-run enterprises and virtual business start-ups.

What an entrepreneur wants

Hold a workshop during which entrepreneurs from the area discuss their views on developing entrepreneurial knowledge and skills. Which skills should be taught at university? Are companies in the area satisfied with graduates of regional universities?

Changing roles

Entrepreneurs from the area present their company philosophy, products and personnel planning to a team of schoolchildren or students. The team tries its hand at developing the optimum strategy for marketing each product and company.

Hall of fame for regional entrepreneurs

As part of a project, schoolchildren or students research the local region's most successful companies in the last 60-70 years. They then introduce these companies with a creatively designed presentation.

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