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business planet

business planet

Small and medium sized companies are the engine of Europe's economy, accounting for 80% of European jobs created in the last five years. In Business Planet, we talk to those entrepreneurs who have succeeded and find out how they did it.

    Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs

  • businessplanet: Erasmus: a win-win deal
    14/06 10:46 CET

    Erasmus: a win-win deal

    Business Planet this week is in the ancient city of Klaipeda in Lithuania, looking at an EU program to help entrepreneurs. Today it is the dream of many people to set up their own business. And there is an exchange program dedicated to helping you get started ……

  • - Erasmus is an EU exchange program which provides aspiring or new entrepreneurs the chance to swap knowledge, ideas and skills with experienced business people from other countries.
  • - Participants live and work with their hosts for a period of 1 to 6 months.
  • - The program operates across 37 nations, and is managed within each country by 'local contact points' that match new and host entrepreneurs.
  • - The trips are partly financed by the European Commission.
  • - More than 3200 business people have already participated in an exchange and more than 6000 are registered on the database.
  • - 94% of the new entrepreneurs state that the programme helped them develop their business idea.

Usefull links

    Social Entrepreneurship in Europe

  • businessplanet: Giving and receiving: social enterprise in Europe
    31/05 10:58 CET

    Giving and receiving: social enterprise in Europe

    One in four new businesses in Europe is what is known as a social entreprise. They provide opportunities for the most destitute and vulnerable in society to get a job or some training. But as…

  • - Social entrepreneurship represents one out of four new enterprises set-up every year in the European Union, and up to one out of three in Finland, France and Belgium.
  • - The social economy in the European Union represents 10 percent of the European economy (GDP), and more than 11 millions of workers - that is six percent of total employment.
  • - The European Social Fund (ESF) supports the development of social enterprises. The Fund's key objective is to help people get jobs, acquire new skills and find better jobs.
  • - The European Social Business Initiative (SBI) aims to create a favourable environment for social enterprises, including cooperatives.

Usefull links

    Intellectual Property Rights in China

  • businessplanet: How to protect your IPR in China
    17/05 10:51 CET

    How to protect your IPR in China

    One of the biggest challenges for European small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) is preserving their intellectual property. i.e. their products, their brand or their customers. To better…

  • - One of the biggest challenges for starting up business in China is IPR protection.
  • - A business needs to be prepared on IPR before it addresses the Chinese market. The China IPR SME Helpdesk has developed the appropriate free tools to support European SMEs in the protection and enforcement of their Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
  • - Individual EU SMEs and SME intermediaries can submit China IPR enquiries directly to the Helpdesk via phone, email or in person, getting access to a panel of experts to receive free and confidential first-line advice. The can also obtain a wider advice on all relevant business activities in Chinese market through the help of EU SME Center, which is closely cooperation with IPR China Helpdesk.
  • - In 2011, EU Customs seized more than 114 million products, with a value of over €1 billion, suspected of violating intellectual property rights at the EU’s external borders.

Usefull links

    Setting up a European SME in China

  • businessplanet: The Great Call of China
    03/05 11:01 CET

    The Great Call of China

    What are the keys to success for a European SME opening up a business in China? Who do you turn to for help if you want to set up a business in Shanghai, China's economic hub? Find out in this edition of Business Planet. China is Europe's second largest trade…

  • - Developing and emerging markets are expected to account for 60% of global GDP by 2030.
  • - Europe is now China's largest trading partner and China is Europe's second largest. Many European SMEs are already present in China and there are opportunities for European businesses to reach new niche markets.
  • - Some of the main barriers for European Union SMEs in China include: poor language skills, a lack of information about the market, difficult bureaucratic procedures, a different business culture, legislation and regulations.
  • - If you need help to set up a business in China, you can turn to a number of organisations, either from your home country or backed by the EU.

Usefull links

Previous editions

  1. Angel dust magic for SMEs
  2. Moving on smoothly as companies change hands
  3. Eco-labels: a smart strategy
  4. Promoting female entrepreneurs
  5. Rising to new challenges
  6. Green light for green clusters
  7. Financing for the future
  8. Helping minorities into the EU job market
  9. Protecting the environment can be profitable
  10. Business Planet battles bankruptcies
  11. Setting up business in Latvia
  12. New 'business hotel' scheme revives French region
  13. Inheriting a business: how to make it a success
  14. Taking business into Welsh schools
  15. Women entrepreneurs could be answer to crisis
  16. Greek business clusters together to find strength in numbers
  17. Business parties in Swedish countryside
  18. Meeting targets
  19. Boosting Women Entrepreneurs
  20. Incubating Spanish business
  21. Cooperative and competitive
  22. Go green, get growing
  23. Venture capital, a risky business?
  24. Wired to the world
  25. EU grants for eco-innovation
  26. Micro-credit brings organic growth in Ireland
  27. Two's Company in Belgium
  28. Meet the EU's female ambassadors for business

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