In a previous article, you’ve managed to learn about what Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs is, what kind of benefits it has and why it’s a great possibility to grab if you want to take actions in your life.
Now let’s learn about the practicalities: HOW TO TAKE PART IN THE EYE PROGRAM?
It seems handy to first get familiar with each participant of the program:
- NE: the new entrepreneur – so basically You, who wants to implement a business idea
- HE: the host entrepreneur – the organization who will host you & teach you how to implement your idea
- IO 1: the intermediary organization in the NE’s country
- IO 2: the intermediary organization in the HE’s country
- European Commission: the institution who gives financial support for the program
Good news: there is no age-limit as for the participants – one excuse less to not to give it a try! So here you go the process:
- You come up with a brilliant idea. Or a less brilliant one. Since you’re planning to go to learn more, you’ll, either way, improve your plan.
- You sell your idea. How? By writing a business plan. Which may sound terrifying if you’re not experienced yet, but good news again: you can get much help online and we’ll also help you by giving a brief summary of ideas in another article.
- You prove you fit the program. Easy: you update your CV and fill in the online application form.
So far, so good. What’s next?
- Waiting for your IO’s approval. Since they have to check & evaluate your application, you have to be a bit patient here.
- Once you get approved, the fun begins. Your IO will give you access to a database of all the HE’s of all the 4 countries you selected in your application form as possible (& desired) destination of your stay.
- Either you’ll pick an HE in the database, or an HE will pick you. One thing is for sure: you’ll proceed only if you have a match and both the NE & the HE will accept each other’s offer. Nice, isn’t it?
- Once you find each other, you can start the cooperation: you’ll have to a write a short activity plan representing your specific plans for the upcoming period. Of course, the IOs will give you more info on it.
- Your activity plan will have to be accepted by both IOs in the system – this will be the final step to make sure that you can now sign the long-awaited contract!
- Your contract will be written & presented by your IO since they are the one sending you your monthly financial support.
Uhm, what else? Ah yeah, the best part:
- Once your contract is signed, and you’ve celebrated enough your next adventure, you can start arranging your travel & stay in the host country in cooperation with your HE.
Some (supposedly) supporting ideas:
- Good news again: no deadline for applying! You can apply anytime you want.
- As already mentioned: no age-limit.
- No topic restrictions: be as creative as you can!
- Although the name of the program includes the word entrepreneur, it is misleading a bit. You don’t have to strictly think only of traditional business ideas. You can let your creativity fly and submit an application for example for a non-profit activity. It is all up to you. And no worries, the IO will give you a feedback if improvement is necessary for your application and you’ll surely have the possibility to resubmit it easily!
Some (supposedly) useful links:
- Info about the program https://www.erasmus-entrepreneurs.eu/index.php?lan=en or http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/promoting-entrepreneurship/support/erasmus-young-entrepreneurs_es
- The application https://www.erasmus-entrepreneurs.eu/page.php?cid=19
- The system https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/erasmusentrepreneurs/index.cfm?fuseaction=app.welcome
- Q&A https://www.erasmus-entrepreneurs.eu/page.php?cid=6
So are you ready to conquer the world? Good luck with your EYE project! And don’t forget, feel free to contact us if you need any help! 🙂
