Having your own successful business abroad is the dream of many. It is not surprising, because entrepreneurial activity and opening one's own business allows a person not only to prove himself and satisfy his ambitions, but also to earn big money.
However, in the conditions of modern globalization and high competition, doing business requires not only start-up capital and a business plan, but also high-quality relevant knowledge and skills that will make it possible to properly distribute this capital and develop your business idea into a functioning enterprise that generates income. In other words, it is difficult for a modern entrepreneur to do without specialized training and knowledge of a number of business disciplines - from accounting to marketing.
This explains the popularity around the world of entrepreneurial business education, which gives students all the skills to start and develop their business.
Entrepreneurship is the key driver of the economy
Small business, created by entrepreneurs, is a key driver of the economy and provides the majority of jobs. Being the most important property market economy, entrepreneurship, as a field of activity, brings together enterprising and ambitious people, many of whom go to big business, politics, economics and develop their own business at the local, national and global level.
Comprehensive business education
University business schools around the world offer students a variety of general and narrowly focused programs of study, while it is courses in the field of entrepreneurship that can be called the most holistic and comprehensive. Aimed at the individual personal, leadership and entrepreneurial development of each student, these courses span disciplines ranging from economics and finance to people and management.
Practical preparation for starting your own business
Another advantageous difference curricula in the field of entrepreneurship, it is the practical training they provide. Graduates of these courses note that most other business school programs prepare employees for existing companies that are not familiar with the realities of the process of starting their own business. In contrast, programs for future entrepreneurs not only combine all kinds of disciplines, but also provide excellent preparation for opening, running and developing their own business in the current conditions.
An entrepreneur learns and develops throughout his life
The sphere of entrepreneurship and business innovation does not stand still, but is in the process of constant dynamic development. In order to “stay afloat”, successful entrepreneurs must also constantly develop, acquire new knowledge and skills. Getting a quality initial entrepreneurial education will give you a great life and professional start, inspire you to further development and improvement.
You will learn to “understand” money
No matter how your future career develops, the experience of studying entrepreneurship will give you knowledge that will be useful in life in any case. First of all, you will learn to “understand” money, which will give you the most valuable skills in correctly calculating personal finances, organizing accounts, understanding financial processes and much more. At the same time, an in-depth acquaintance with various business disciplines will allow you, if you wish, not to open your own business, but to get a job in one of the existing companies.
By studying entrepreneurship at foreign universities, you can get one of the following general and narrow popular specializations:
Usually programs in the field of entrepreneurship and business abroad are offered on the basis of university business schools or faculties of management and finance.
Initial knowledge in the field of entrepreneurship and business can be obtained through secondary specialized education or Foundation preparatory programs by choosing the appropriate specialization.
Students study general business disciplines for 3-4 years at the bachelor's level, after which they can continue their studies in academic or research master's programs (1-2 years) and doctoral studies (from 2 years).
Courses in the field of entrepreneurship involve the study of a wide range of disciplines, the knowledge of which is necessary for starting, running and growing your business. Among them are management and work with people, finance and accounting, business innovation and entrepreneurship, economics, foreign languages etc.
In some undergraduate and graduate programs, students also work individually or in groups to create their own start-up and business plan, and research courses involve research in the field of business and entrepreneurship.
Affordable Associate in Entrepreneurship programs are offered by American ($6,800 per year), affordable Bachelor's programs are offered by Irish ($7,622 per year), and Master's programs are offered ($5,417 per year).
More expensive education in entrepreneurship, business and management can be obtained in British ($26,650 per year), Australian ($27,840 per year) and American ($44,400 per year).
Many students receive higher entrepreneurial education with the aim of creating their own start-up and opening their own business abroad. It is worth considering that for different countries characterized by different business conditions for foreign entrepreneurs. Consider a few examples of countries with a favorable climate for entrepreneurs…
New Zealand
New Zealand is a country with favorable conditions for business, as well as one of the most non-corrupt countries in the world. Here you can get an Entrepreneur Work Visa, which is valid for 3 years and allows you to open your own business.
To obtain a visa, you need to submit a certificate of good conduct and demonstrate a willingness to invest in your business. In addition to low taxes, it is also worth noting the presence in New Zealand of a large number of investors supporting promising start-ups. The best prospects for development in New Zealand are expected by businesses in the field of IT, ecology and recycling, tourism, Agriculture and education.
United Kingdom
Foreigners make up about 20% of the total number of entrepreneurs in the UK. Every year, the conditions for doing business in the country are improving, in the future the country plans to partially exempt companies from state duties and reduce corporate income tax from 20% to 18%.
Foreigners can obtain a UK Tier 1 Business Visa by having £50,000 to invest in their business or by securing the support of private or government organizations. Promising areas for developing your business in the UK are the areas of technology, ecology, culinary, etc. At the same time, London, Bristol and Oxford were recognized as the three best British cities for the development of start-ups.
Hong Kong
As one of the leaders in trade in Asia, Hong Kong also has one of the most open and international economies in the world. One of the main advantages of doing business in the country is a low income tax, which is 16.5%.
Opening a business in Hong Kong takes about a month, and every foreigner over 18 years old can become an entrepreneur in the country, provided that there is a secretary who is a resident of the country. To obtain an entrepreneurial visa to Hong Kong, you must submit your business plan, demonstrate the availability of finances for the maintenance of the business and prove the economic benefits of your startup.
1The development of youth entrepreneurship is one of the priority tasks of modernizing the country's economy. However, young people face enormous challenges in establishing youth enterprises. The authors analyzed the domestic and foreign experience forms and ways of supporting and developing youth entrepreneurship, the main formats are identified: charitable foundations, university-based student business clubs, national and international business clubs, business campuses, business incubators for students and/or young entrepreneurs, youth discussion clubs, student advisory organizations. To create a comprehensive platform for supporting and stimulating entrepreneurship among the youth in Russia, the authors propose to form an all-Russian network of interuniversity business clubs. The article develops the main conceptual provisions for the creation of such a network, the structure and mechanisms of its formation, formulates the main results and expected effects.
interaction between youth and business communities.
student business club
youth entrepreneurship
1. Akhiyarova N.V. Socio-administrative problems of state support of youth entrepreneurship in the Republic of Bashkortostan: dis. cand. e. Sciences. -Ufa. 2009. -38 p.
2. Verkhovskaya O.R., Dorohina M.V. National Report "Global Entrepreneurship Monitor", Russia, 2012.
3. Competing for the future today: A new innovation policy for Russia / OPORA Russia. - 2010. - 132 p.
4. The program "Involvement of youth in entrepreneurial activity in the subject Russian Federation» - [Electronic resource] - URL: www.fadm.gov.ru/projects/mp/prog%20vmpd%202011.doc (date of access: 18.02.2014).
5. Yablonsky S.S., Terent'eva I.N. Problems of development of youth entrepreneurship in the Belgorod region - [Electronic resource] - URL: http://cs-alternativa.ru/text/2393, URL: http://www.gemconsortium.org/docs/download/3185.
Introduction
Today, one of the popular theses in the statements and reports of the Government of the Russian Federation is the statement about the need to modernize the country, build an innovative economy and create an entrepreneurial infrastructure.
Entrepreneurship is the main driving force of the economy according to the experience of foreign countries. However, if we turn to the statistics, we can see that Russia is far from being a leader, including in the rating of the Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Index compiled by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Consortium in 2012.
According to the results of the study in 2012, Russia ranks 67th among the 69 countries participating in the project in terms of the number of people involved in the creation and management of new companies. In Russia, 93% of the population is not only not involved in entrepreneurial activity, but also does not consider the possibility of creating a business for themselves. Only every 23rd Russian (4.3%) of working age is an early-stage entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship still plays a smaller role in the economy, not only compared to the BRICS countries, where one in 8 is involved in early-stage entrepreneurship, but also compared to Eastern Europe, where one in 11 is. In Russia, not only is the level of early entrepreneurial activity low, but most of the established companies fail to overcome the initial stage of development. In 2012, the activity index of established entrepreneurs was 2.1%. Their share was 33% of the total number of entrepreneurs.
Among the reasons for the unpopularity of entrepreneurship, experts point out not only the lack of favorable, stable economic conditions for doing business, but also the lack of necessary knowledge and lack of competence in the field of entrepreneurship. In addition, an entrepreneurial culture has not yet formed in Russia.
It should be noted that in most regions of Russia there are no platforms where young people could receive relevant knowledge and skills, exchange information, develop their own ideas, and receive expert advice. As a result, innovative ideas either do not appear or do not enter the market, remaining within the walls of universities and scientific laboratories.
At the same time, youth business plays a major role in solving social and economic problems, such as creating new jobs and reducing unemployment, and training qualified personnel. The expansion of opportunities and the strengthening of the influence of youth entrepreneurship necessitates the use of its potential. Youth business is an essential segment of small business. Youth is the most significant link in the business environment. After all, it is today's youth, youth entrepreneurship that will determine the face of our country in 10 years, the pace of economic growth and development of our country tomorrow will depend on the development of today's youth business.
Young people are the most active part of society, which quickly reacts to any changes in life and which effectively perceives their beneficial aspects. Therefore, we can say that young people have a much greater potential and ability for entrepreneurial activity than other age groups. Youth entrepreneurship is a very complex sector that requires particularly serious attention from government agencies. Its properly built, purposeful support will ensure the development of small business in the region, which, in turn, will lead to economic growth and increase the investment attractiveness of the region. However, young people face enormous challenges in establishing youth enterprises. These problems are connected both with financial difficulties in starting enterprises and with insufficient education of young people. These include high rates of taxes and interest on loans, lack of initial capital in the hands of young people, limited or no economic and industrial ties due to the short duration of their activities and lack of experience. These and other problems require their mandatory solution through state support for youth entrepreneurship. In view of the lack of awareness of young people about the existing methods of supporting youth entrepreneurship, there is a need to hold various actions, competitions, and create information bases in educational institutions. All these measures will contribute to the fact that young people will no longer perceive entrepreneurship, business as a field of activity inaccessible to them.
Thus, today youth entrepreneurship is one of the priority areas for the development of small businesses in Russia. The creation of favorable conditions that encourage young people to engage in entrepreneurial activities is considered in various programs at the national and regional levels. The authors of the article propose one of the tools for the development of youth entrepreneurship.
Features of youth entrepreneurship
According to statistics, approximately 300 million young people aged 18 to 30 worldwide either do not have permanent place jobs or are unemployed. About 20% of them have excellent abilities to start their own business and, for various reasons, only 5% decide to do so.
The allocation of youth entrepreneurship as a special segment of entrepreneurship occurs because, unlike other types of entrepreneurship, it has its own specific features, strengths and weaknesses (Table 1) .
Table 1. Strengths and weaknesses of youth entrepreneurship
|
Strengths youth entrepreneurship |
High innovative activity, innovative thinking |
|
High mobility, flexibility of approaches, quick reaction to the development of new markets |
|
|
High level of opportunity to systematically update their entrepreneurial knowledge and skills in accordance with changing production and market requirements |
|
|
The potential ability of young people to withstand the increased labor and nervous stress that accompanies entrepreneurial activity, especially at its initial stage |
|
|
Young people's risk appetite |
|
|
Weak sides youth entrepreneurship |
Minor social experience |
|
Lack of business reputation |
|
|
Weak practical skills in applying economic laws and mechanisms |
|
|
The problem of formation of start-up capital |
|
|
Lack of personal contacts in business and government structures |
|
|
Exposure to bureaucratic structures |
|
|
The most active temptation of "shadow" entrepreneurship and exposure to the impact of criminal structures |
These signs, highlighting youth entrepreneurship in a special category, determine the main tasks for its support: the development of strengths and overcoming weaknesses.
According to the Program “Involving Youth in Entrepreneurship in a Subject of the Russian Federation”, today a number of specific problems remain unresolved that affect the willingness of young people to create independent business projects. These should include:
1. Social moods. The entrepreneurial spirit, which implies a willingness to take risks and create something new, remains weakly expressed among the youth. Young people today are more willing to give preference to the prospects of self-realization in the field of big business or public service.
2. Perception of entrepreneurs by mass consciousness. Entrepreneurs as a social group are not among the leading professional preferences young people. In the youth environment, entrepreneurial activity is perceived in the context of overcoming difficulties rather than achieving success.
4. Starting conditions. Measures taken to support small businesses for young people as a social group have not yet yielded visible results. Administrative, legal and financial barriers to free entry to the market are still difficult to overcome.
5. Lack of information among young people about organizations providing state support for small business. According to the results of a survey conducted by ICSI, only 18% of respondents know about the existence of such organizations. The majority of respondents (69%) answered that they had no idea about the existence of such structures in their city. The survey results show that potential entrepreneurs (66% of respondents plan to start their own business in the future) do not have information about what kind of support they can receive at the local level.
Forms of support for youth entrepreneurship abroad
Let us turn to the experience of foreign countries and consider the mechanisms that stimulate the development of student entrepreneurship. To analyze the forms of support for student and youth entrepreneurship existing in the world practice, a desk study of Internet resources was carried out and non-profit and commercial organizations whose activities are related to financing, information support and training of young entrepreneurs were considered. Conventionally, these organizations can be divided into the following groups:
1) Charitable foundations
The primary function of such funds is partial or full financing of start-up projects.
A striking example of a youth entrepreneurship support fund is the international organization “The Prince’s Youth Business International” (YBI), founded by Prince Charles of Wales in England. According to the report of the organization, in 2009 the fund financed 8,530 start-up projects worldwide.
The board of directors of the fund decides on the financing of the project, and the participants in this project subsequently provide the board of directors with reports on the activities of the established organization. The Foundation consists mainly of charitable grants and grants, a detailed report on the income and expenses of the Foundation can be found in the appendix (YBI Annual Report 2009). The same document contains a brief description of the national divisions of this organization.
2) Student business clubs based on the university
Kinds of activity: organization of discussion clubs; conducting training courses, trainings; consultations in various areas of management and business.
Business clubs of this format often act as an information platform for investors. This distinguishes them from student advisory organizations, which will be discussed later. Competitions of business plans developed by students - members of the club are periodically organized. The most successful authors can count on financing of their projects by venture investors. It also collects and provides information about student projects for entrepreneurs and investors (commercial structures, charitable foundations, etc.). Examples of such organizations are:
3) National and international business clubs
The activities are the same as the previous ones. The main difference is that not only students of one specific university, but any young entrepreneurs without reference to an educational institution (even if the club itself was created on the basis of a university) get access to information. Examples of such organizations are:
4) Business campuses
These are academic courses with an extended practical part dedicated to the development and implementation of business projects. Examples of business campuses:
5) Business incubators for students and/or young entrepreneurs (Student Business Incubators, SBI)
Created to facilitate the implementation of business projects by entrepreneurs who have little experience. They are provided with office (as well as commercial and industrial) space at reduced prices, as well as other benefits. It is typical for such organizations to provide advice in various business-related areas. Financial support for start-ups is less common.
As a rule, student business incubators (SBIs) are based at universities (or other educational institutions), but there are also many commercial structures independent of universities. Such organizations may offer space and other services to students of a particular university, or to young entrepreneurs without reference to the place of study. It is rather difficult to clearly separate student business incubators and business incubators for young people, since in practice the line between them is blurred. It is worth noting that commercial business incubators also cooperate with universities in one way or another. For example, they order research from universities and exchange information about promising student projects that may qualify for placement in a business incubator. Examples of such business incubators in modern world many, for example, some of them:
6) Youth discussion clubs
Such organizations are not intended to support the implementation of participants' business projects, but are created to educate entrepreneurial culture, to educate young people in business. Traditionally, they organize student conferences, business schools, seminars with the participation of experienced businessmen. However, they do not aim to provide financial or informational support for youth start-up projects, so we will not consider organizations of this type in detail in this study. An example is the Australian Business Student Club based at the University of Southern Queensland and the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization, USA.
7) Student Advisory Organizations
These are student communities, which, on the contrary, are created specifically to support students starting their business projects. They help young entrepreneurs in drawing up business plans, advise on financial, accounting, and marketing issues. It is worth noting that such organizations and communities provide information support without financing start-ups. Since support for start-up projects is not the goal of such clubs, they are not the object of this study, and we will not dwell on them in detail. An example is Student Business Services, created on the basis of the University of Oakland (Oakland University), USA, Michigan.
An analysis of various forms of stimulating youth entrepreneurship shows that support is provided in different directions: financial, consulting, informational, infrastructural, and educational. Among the most common formats, there are various clubs that unite the youth audience according to their interests.
All-Russian network of youth business clubs as a means of developing youth entrepreneurship
AT Russian practice there are separate initiatives aimed at supporting and developing youth entrepreneurship. These are mainly clubs of student initiative, for example, the Nizhny Novgorod Business Club "Entrepreneur", the Kazan Business Club "Navigator", the Novgorod "Youth Business Club", the Izhevsk Club of Entrepreneurs "Stimulus", the Chelyabinsk "School of Youth Entrepreneurship", the Center for Corporate Entrepreneurship of Vladivostok , Investment Club CCU, Tomsk Club of Young Entrepreneurs, etc.
In such clubs, students jointly develop business plans, share experiences, solve business cases, etc. The disadvantages of this format include the lack of a system organizational work and partnerships with successful regional entrepreneurs.
In our opinion, the mechanism for the formation of an innovative ecosystem at the level of the youth community can be a comprehensive program, which is based on the creation of a network of all-Russian interuniversity business clubs that unite young energetic entrepreneurs of a “new type” with up-to-date knowledge and new progressive thinking. The activities of the club should be aimed at forming a new worldview, supporting young people with an active lifestyle, creating conditions for the development of their entrepreneurial initiative. In fact, a mechanism will be created that integrates elements of the ecosystem and promotes interaction between the state, business, science and education, as well as ensuring effective communications between young people and all stakeholders.
The All-Russian network of interuniversity business clubs should consist mainly of representatives of two interested communities - business and youth.
The first group - young people aged 17 to 30 years:
According to the results of a study conducted by the National Research University Higher School of Economics - Nizhny Novgorod, the share of active and initiative students does not exceed 10% of the total number. These are mainly students interested in entrepreneurial training, managerial and personal development programs. The search for and attraction of such youth will be carried out mainly through already existing city and university youth organizations.
The second group is socially responsible entrepreneurs (potential partners and members of the club):
The system for building interaction between youth and business communities is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Scheme of interaction between youth and business communities
The specifics of the All-Russian Network of Interuniversity Business Clubs and the technology of organizing its work lie in a systematic approach to solving the problem of finding and developing innovative and business projects at the seed and pre-seed stages. It can be seen from the diagram that youth innovation projects receive comprehensive assistance: financial, consulting, informational and organizational. Such an integrated approach will help increase the number of youth innovative projects and improve their viability in the market.
The system of the All-Russian Network of Interuniversity Business Clubs corresponds to the Wheelwright-Clark “Funnel” innovative idea screening model (Figure 2): at the initial stage, a large number of youth business ideas undergo a phased expert selection, development teams receive comprehensive support, which subsequently leads to the launch of market for viable innovative youth projects. Thus, the system of work of the all-Russian network is aimed at the formation and constant replenishment of the flow of youth business projects.
Figure 2. Wheelwright-Clark's Funnel Idea Screening Model for Innovative Ideas
As part of the educational direction, club members receive information in the field of innovative entrepreneurship. The educational component covers the key topics of innovation and business project management: methods of generating ideas, business success stories, organizing a business from scratch, legal aspects of organizing an enterprise, work and recruitment, team building, marketing strategies, the choice of a taxation system, risk assessment in business, organization of a sales system for innovative products, etc. Knowledge providers are businessmen, top managers, leading teachers of regional universities. During the seminars, active teaching methods are used: business games, round tables, debates, case studies, brainstorming sessions. Mass involvement of active youth in the events of this direction, incl. performs the task of promoting the club.
As part of the practical direction, project teams have the opportunity to receive consulting assistance from business experts. In addition, participants are provided with information about specialized funds and ways to receive state support, they are introduced to the system of work of business incubators and technology parks.
The general logic of the meetings is such that at the initial stage, cross-functional teams are formed. The acquaintance procedure includes a number of team building activities, drawing up a resource map of club members and role play aimed at identifying personal competencies. Based on the analysis of the members of the club, criteria are determined for the formation of teams, including representatives of various professional fields and interests. Further, in the process of teamwork, business ideas are generated and their presentation is organized, as a result of which a rating of business ideas is formed. For best ideas"ideological inspirers" (innovators) are determined. After that, club members are given the opportunity to "regroup" into teams according to their own interests and preferences to implement projects.
The subsequent stages of the club's activities are aimed at the development and implementation of projects. Intermediate results of the work of cross-functional teams are presented at special seminars, during which participants can exchange views and experiences, ask questions and receive the necessary information support.
The All-Russian Network of Interuniversity Business Clubs is a system of regional business clubs (Figure 3) integrated into the international innovative youth environment.
Figure 3. The structure of the All-Russian network of interuniversity business clubs "Entrepreneur"
The following criteria can be proposed as parameters of the attractiveness of cities in which regional business clubs can be created:
The All-Russian network of business clubs should consist of typified interconnected elements (regional clubs), which are managed through the Coordinating Center. At the initial stages of network formation, the main functions of the Coordinating Center will be the development and optimization of work mechanisms (key processes, procedures, regulations), as well as managing the process of creating new network clubs. At subsequent stages, the Coordinating Center must ensure the effective functioning of the network, its continuous development and improvement.
Network formation can be carried out in several stages:
The first stage is the launch of a pilot project of 5 clubs. This stage should be decisive for building the entire network of interuniversity clubs, since within its framework the key processes of interaction between the elements of the system will be debugged, the management technology will be optimized and the rules of the network will be adjusted.
The second stage is aimed at creating "points of growth" in each district of the Russian Federation. As part of this stage, up to 10 clubs can be organized in the most major centers Russia. Despite the fact that the work of the created clubs will be carried out according to a well-established technology, the experience of their functioning should be accumulated and analyzed. Best management practices should be implemented both to improve the efficiency of the existing network and taken into account when creating clubs at subsequent stages.
The third stage is the launch of the next 10 clubs. By the end of this stage, the network should be a youth community that unites more than 4,000 active representatives actively participating in club events and more than 100,000 remote members throughout Russia, actively interacting not only within network and local events, but also through global information portal, integrating knowledge, contacts and entrepreneurial experience of clubs in 25 cities of the Russian Federation.
The fourth stage - the final stage of the project implementation is aimed at integrating the All-Russian Community of Young Entrepreneurs into the international network of youth entrepreneurial communities. To do this, the main task of the club should be to organize interaction and create opportunities for the implementation of joint activities to integrate into the community of entrepreneurs in Europe and other countries.
The process of creating one regional club, which is part of the network, is shown in Figure 4. Consistent implementation of the developed algorithm will allow launching operating club sites in the designated regions in a short time.
Figure 4. Algorithm for creating a regional club
At the first stage, an initiative group is formed from among the youth, whose members will become organizers and active participants in the regional club. The search and selection of applicants for this group is supposed to be carried out primarily at the All-Russian Youth Educational Forum "Seliger" and by establishing business contacts with active youth of the regions in the framework of other events and through city student organizations. The choice of the Seliger forum is due to the presence of a widely represented potential target audience (age of participants 18-30 years old), as well as the coverage and diversity of participating regions. To identify potential applicants for the regional group of organizers, representatives of the coordinating center travel to the forum, carry out explanatory and promotional work, form a base of participants, and agree on the possibility of further cooperation.
At the second stage, there is a search for a regional partner university, on the basis of which the activities of the business club will be implemented. A partner university can become a leading multidisciplinary higher education institution in the region, carrying out active research and educational activities. The partner university provides, free of charge, a room for holding club events, office equipment, telephone communications, and Internet access. In addition, the curator of the regional club is selected from among the teaching staff, who is responsible for the further interaction of the regional partner with the coordinating center and for the implementation of the educational component of the club's program. Cooperation with the All-Russian network of business clubs "Entrepreneur" allows the university to become a center for the development of youth innovative entrepreneurship in the region, helps to strengthen the image as an educational institution that introduces innovative educational technologies.
At the third stage, a non-profit partnership agreement is concluded with a regional university.
The fourth stage is associated with the opening of a branch of the Non-Commercial Partnership in the region. The head of the branch is appointed, an employment contract is concluded with him. Further, in accordance with the Federal Law "On non-profit organizations”, registration of a branch of a non-profit partnership is carried out with the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate by submitting a notice of the creation of a branch. Then they conclude employment contracts(or contractor agreements) with the rest of the branch employees: a PR specialist and a club manager. These employees are selected from among the youth initiative group formed at the first stage.
At the fifth stage, the regulations for the work of the regional club are coordinated with the coordinating center, the development of a program of events for the year and a campaign to attract active youth to the regional site.
The sixth stage is connected with the attraction of partners by the regional club at the city and regional levels: universities, business incubators, technology parks, business communities and other elements of the regional innovation system. This task is assigned to the employees of the branch. As a result of the implementation of this stage, employees develop business contacts, and a pool of partners is formed, with whom cooperation agreements (agreements) are concluded.
At the next stage, the official opening takes place and the functioning of the branch begins. The opening is preceded by the implementation of a previously developed campaign to attract active members of the club.
The implementation of the eighth stage involves the opening of a regional page on the network's virtual portal. Branch employees provide content containing information about involved partners, materials on current activities, a program of regional events for posting on the portal.
From the next stage, the implementation of the program of activities planned in the region begins, which can be adjusted as it is implemented. Branch employees provide monthly, quarterly and annual reports on the activities of the regional club to the director of the coordinating center. Also, at the end of each meeting, information department The coordinating center is provided with reporting videos and text materials.
Network events are organized at two levels (Figure 5) - local (regional) and network (All-Russian). The organization of events at the local level is the responsibility of the regional teams, while networking events are prepared and carried out centrally by the staff of the coordinating center (Table 2).
Figure 5. Classification of events of the All-Russian network of interuniversity business clubs
Table 2. Formats of regional events
|
Format name |
Short description format |
|
|
Thematic meetings |
Meetings with entrepreneurs and business experts, innovators and investors. Form of conduct: seminars, round tables, business games, brainstorming sessions, trainings, master classes, presentations and expert sessions best projects. Key events represent the implementation of the practical component of the club format and serve as a tool to increase the level of participants' competence in building and developing innovative business. |
|
|
Practical meetings - "Inforums" |
Meetings of project team members and experts. Form of holding: "round table", presentation in a group, discussion. Project team members receive consulting support from invited experts. This tool for working with a team makes it possible to stimulate the development of an innovative project implemented by club members, perform periodic assessment of the quality of work performed, support team development processes, and prepare a project for consideration by investors. |
|
|
Case Club |
Meetings to solve business cases and analyze business situations offered by the current representatives of the business environment - regional companies. It is possible to hold regional championships to solve business cases. Winners of regional championships have the opportunity to participate in all-Russian ones. |
|
|
Native Speakers Club |
Meetings-discussions that bring together students of foreign countries (native speakers) and Russian students who want to improve their knowledge of foreign languages. |
|
|
Additional meeting formats |
Members of the club offer their own options for meeting formats as an area of activity for the regional club. For example, excursions to enterprises, thematic discussion clubs, and so on, which stimulate the activity of club members. |
Conclusion
A significant part of young people are highly active in entrepreneurial activities, but due to the lack of a real mechanism for supporting youth entrepreneurship, most of the undertakings are either closed during the first few months of work, or go towards illegal, and often criminal business. Young entrepreneurs are in dire need of express training in the basics of entrepreneurial activity, consulting services, premises equipped with modern means communications and office equipment, accounting and many other services on preferential terms. Society needs the development of youth entrepreneurship, encouragement and dissemination of its civilized forms. Youth small enterprises can contribute to the creation of additional jobs at a much lower cost than large enterprises, which can partially solve the problem of unemployment in the region. Despite the fact that there is a sub-program "Support for Youth Entrepreneurship" in the region, in most cases it remains only on paper.
The analysis of domestic and foreign experience of forms and methods of supporting and developing youth entrepreneurship has shown that currently in Russia there is no complete system that contributes to the formation of a stream of youth innovative projects and a single communicative space among active youth.
One of such tools can be the All-Russian network of interuniversity business clubs "Entrepreneur". In this article, the main conceptual provisions of the creation of this network, the structure and mechanisms of the network formation are developed, the main results and expected effects are formulated.
The implementation of the developed concept of the All-Russian network of interuniversity business clubs "Entrepreneur" will contribute to:
Reviewers:
Weisblat B.I., Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Professor of the Department of Venture Management, National Research University Higher School of Economics - Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod.
Mkrtychyan G.A., Doctor of Psychology, Professor, Professor of the Department of Organizational Psychology, National Research University Higher School of Economics - Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod.
The research center of the portal for young professionals Career.ru conducted a survey and found that three-quarters of students are thinking about creating their own business, while 6% have already put these ideas into practice, and 1% have their own business at the moment. We decided to analyze this data and compare it with what is happening in the West.
Students can no longer be treated as an unproductive force, more and more of them are thinking about their own and business, and sometimes such initiatives can become an extremely successful business - remember Zuckerberg, Gates, Durov, etc. In fact, there are many positive aspects in working on your own projects as a student - you are completely free and have nothing to lose, at least.
So, back to research. Who do you think is most interested in entrepreneurship? If your answer is managers, then you are wrong. Entrepreneurial activity mainly involves students of 3-4 courses of engineering and technical specialties, as well as marketers. Perhaps future managers do not want to run their own business, but prefer to go to work in large companies.
WHAT DO ENTREPRENEURSHIP STUDENTS DO?
Most often, students during their studies do not try to reinvent the wheel and start by selling certain goods - 46% of respondents turned out to be such. 31% are trying to make money through their own website (here they are, startups), and 8% provide courier services. Less often, such sources of income are chosen as repair of equipment, software development, private lessons or master classes, own production goods. Respondents also work as private hairdressers, provide cleaning services, and even organize their own travel agencies.
Business profitability, you ask? Not so high, but still, even compared to a scholarship, this is enough - a third of the respondents admit that it brought or brings them an average of 5,000 rubles per month.
It should be noted that about half of the respondents answered that their own business does not interfere with their studies. The main obstacle on the way to the project for students is the lack of start-up capital (74% of them turned out to be such).
And here is why students decide to close their business:
The first experience of doing business is not always successful, which is confirmed by statistics.
WHAT'S IN THE WEST?
Unlike Russia, in the West, however, the culture of entrepreneurship is more developed and is brought up in people from colleges. Entrepreneurship courses are available in 1,500 educational institutions, plus some universities have special educational programs. True, there students often drop out of school for the sake of their own startup, even interesting statistics are given - every 9 seconds a student is expelled from the university, which leads to the fact that about 1.2 million potential entrepreneurs (or criminals) appear on the market a year.
But in order to assess the scale of entrepreneurship among students in America, here is a table with the main characters:
Research company Gallup cites the same data on students' interest in starting their own business. Note that perhaps the proportion of people who dream of a startup is less, but as many as 42% of respondents want to invent something that will change the world:
FINDINGS
In general, let's note the quite positive attitude of students towards their own business. In fact, this is good news: students are the most active part of the population, and if most of them begin to implement their business ideas, we will hear more and more about the new Zuckerbergs.
To support student entrepreneurship, ITMO University holds master classes, acceleration programs, and project competitions. Many Russian universities are also aware that a new generation university should be entrepreneurial. But how do colleagues from abroad promote student startups? We asked foreign experts from universities in Denmark and Finland to talk about how the innovation infrastructure works in their universities.
Jan Uwe Wolf, director of the scientific and educational center in the field of construction, VIA University college (Denmark)
More than twenty thousand students study at VIA University college, I represent only one of the five thousand student campuses, which has the largest number of international programs and activities. Here we teach, for example, information technology, engineering sciences, business disciplines. Two out of five thousand students came to study in Denmark from 52 countries. We design educational programs in such a way that entrepreneurship and innovation become not just a subject of study - students use these skills in the rest of the courses.
The fact is that any university, whether Danish, Finnish or Russian, faces one problem: we are preparing people to work in professions that may not yet exist. A few years ago, a study was conducted in the Netherlands, according to which the top 10 professions of 2010 did not yet exist in 2002, and this statistic will only be reinforced. Therefore, we try to give students competencies that will help solve a wide range of problems, most of which are not yet defined. Teach them skills that may not have anything to do with engineering or IT.
At VIA University College, we have an incubation center with a total area of 8,000 square meters, this year there are more than 50 companies at an early stage of development. Here students can try their hand, work in these companies, they consider them as potential employees, and in combination this helps to teach students to think diversified.
I am impressed with the innovative infrastructure of ITMO University, but it seems to me that you are trying to instill an innovative type of thinking in students only within the framework of master's and PhD programs. We do this already at the stage of basic educational programs, in the second semester of the fourth year. It seems to me that this should be done as early as possible, and first of all it is important for those who are not going to build a career in science. And the university environment should support this process.
Lauri Tenhunen, Research Center for Smart Services, HAMK University of Applied Sciences (Finland)
At our university, we try to use modern methods of education, instill more responsibility in students: the more active they are, the more opportunities they will be able to realize, and the more likely they will build their own successful business. We run a lot of projects funded by external sources, such as the European Union, and students can also take part in them. There are various international programs dedicated to project activities. Our the main objective- not only to give students the mechanisms to create high-tech production, but also to build a full-fledged infrastructure with the involvement of representatives of small and medium-sized businesses, which, in turn, can also hire students to participate in their projects.
Our university has seven campuses, and each has its own business incubator. In addition, there is a cooperative - they can apply there if they are not yet ready to build their own company, but want to sell their services or learn entrepreneurship in practice. Some of these services are used for learning, but students can access them on their own.
The key to the successful development of student entrepreneurship is information. Unfortunately, big business, as a rule, rarely turns to universities. For example, we have dozens of partners among universities and institutions in Europe, including in Russia, and I believe that entrepreneurs need to turn to this network - each of them has contact persons who are ready to help.
Kabardino-Balkarian State University them. HM. Berbekova
student entrepreneurship, innovative development, a higher educational institution (high school), spinoff companies, fostering
The need to develop student entrepreneurship is becoming an increasingly important area of innovative development of universities. Attention is focused on those students who create new companies to commercialize their knowledge, which they have acquired throughout the entire process of studying at the university. This article addresses, first, the importance of student spin-off companies. Secondly, the various and main aspects of student entrepreneurship are identified. Thirdly, a model is being introduced to increase the level of student entrepreneurship at the university. Fourthly, a number of principles for constructing this model are defined. Fifth, recommendations have been developed to encourage the university administration to use results-based management aimed at increasing the level of student entrepreneurship.
The need to develop student entrepreneurship is becoming an increasingly important area of innovative development of universities. However, there is a risk that policies that encourage university entrepreneurship may miss key scientific insights. In recent years, a fairly large amount of literature on student entrepreneurship of various kinds has appeared, which complicates the process of developing effective policies for universities. Therefore, student spin-off companies are of interest to all progressive-minded universities, and especially those that support research and educational programs in the field of entrepreneurship. The companies that are created are indisputable evidence that students acquire real entrepreneurial skills while studying at the university. In addition, student spin-off companies promote regional economic development, knowledge commercialization, help universities achieve their core mission, and increase the return on investment in R&D. Spin-off companies are offspring companies that are separated from the parent company with the aim of independently developing, mastering and introducing a new product or technology to the market. Firms of this kind are most often created by converting a division of the company into an independent firm. Due to the benefits provided by spin-off and spin-out companies, universities and research organizations will receive a positive economic, social, innovative effect from the activities of such companies. Spin companies are based on a technology or development created by a parent company with the sole purpose of bringing the R&D object to market. There are a number of reasons why it is important to develop student entrepreneurship: 1. Student spin-off companies are concrete evidence that the university is relevant, modern and competitive. And this, in turn, helps to attract talented students, teachers, partners and donors; creation of private and public investments; and strengthening regional and international ties. 2. Contributes to the economic development of the region where the university is located. Jobs are being created (including jobs for students and knowledge-intensive jobs), the local economy is diversifying, and investment is being attracted. 3. Assists universities in fulfilling their key tasks of research, teaching and development. Student spin-off companies help the faculty analyze what is useful for student learning and raise awareness of the practical value of the university's research. 4. Increases the return on public investment in university R&D. Quality education, coupled with student entrepreneurship, contributes to an increase in the level of entrepreneurial activity at the university, which in turn increases the effectiveness and profitability of R&D. It should be noted that spin-off companies can be created by students of any faculty at the university. These companies operate independently of the university; they have their own legal, technical, and commercial structure. Student spin-off companies can earn income from: - new products, services, technologies, tools and solutions; - new quality of goods; - creation of new methods of production; - opening of new markets; - finding new sources of supply of raw materials and materials; and - new organizational forms. Six patterns can be identified that affect the number of student entrepreneurs at a university at a given point in time (dependent variable). A and B: Students use university knowledge to develop their opportunities within the university. The amount of knowledge available to students is expressed as the product of two factors: the total stock of knowledge available at the university and that part of the knowledge that the university allows students to commercialize. If a university's entrepreneurial policy gives full rights to the university's stock of knowledge to students, then the number of student entrepreneurs and student companies is likely to increase. Q: Comparing projected earnings from entrepreneurship and expected wages from employment within or outside the university, if returns are higher wages , there will be a higher number of students ready to open their own companies. G: Students need to develop three basic entrepreneurial capabilities: identify and recognize their capabilities, acquire resources, and promote their enterprise. The stronger the entrepreneurial potential of university students, the faster the number of students starting their own business increases. D&F: The main barriers to entrepreneurship can be identified, which can be grouped into two categories: barriers created by the university and regional barriers. Among the university barriers are the lack of social support for student entrepreneurship, the contradiction between academic and commercial results, the lack of people with business experience and commercial skills. Among the regional barriers to entrepreneurship, one can note regulatory, legal, administrative, labor, financial and partnership burdens. For example, in some regions, student entrepreneurs need one day to register a company; other regions need 20 weeks. Some regions require qualifications or a business plan, certified by a business expert, confirming the viability of the company. In some regions, students do not have access to bank and trade loans. The number of entrepreneurs among students at the university is positively influenced by: - educational base at the university; - share of knowledge that students can commercialize; - expected profit; - individual entrepreneurial abilities of the student. The figure also shows that the more university and regional barriers to entrepreneurship are created, the fewer student entrepreneurs there are. There are also a number of principles that can be used in the development of university policy to increase the number of spin-off companies created by university students. These principles are grouped into six factors (Table 1). Table 1 Principles for Encouraging Student Entrepreneurship at the University Direction Principles A. Increasing the educational base - Attract and retain productive faculty researchers with business experience who can increase the educational base that can be exploited for commercial purposes. - Provide mentors for students to help identify and strengthen abilities. - Distinguish between knowledge that enhances existing practice versus that that destroys it. B. Increasing the portion of knowledge that students can commercialize - Give students the opportunity to commercialize more of the knowledge. - Separate the process of creating spin-off companies from research and teaching. C. Increasing Entrepreneurial Income Exceeding Possible Wages - Provide scholarships to entrepreneurial students using the same level of support used for teaching and research scholarships. - Provide financial support to students for the realization of real opportunities. - Analyze existing opportunities and provide students with constructive feedback when promoting their opportunities. - Provide access for potential clients, partners and investors. - Provide tools to identify and strengthen opportunities. - Assistance in obtaining external resources. D. Increasing individual abilities - Provide practical training and mentors to develop capacity to identify and refine opportunities, attract resources, and promote businesses. - Help to build relationships between students and entrepreneurs. E. Reducing University Barriers - Raise awareness of student entrepreneurship benefits in the region, university and faculty. - Provide space for student collaboration. - Establish a clear and conducive process for setting up spin-off companies. - Determine the nature and duration of spin-off companies created on the basis of the university. - More emphasis on results from investments than on tracking investments in activities. - Eliminate inequalities based on gender, age, race, health and religion. E. Reducing Regional Barriers - Encourage faculties to promote the regional economic development of organizations. - Involve students in the activities of economic development organizations, clusters, business incubators, service providers, etc. - Provide access to conferences where technologies and market trends are discussed with potential clients. But principles alone are not enough. University administrators can use a results-oriented management approach that promotes student entrepreneurship. With this approach, the use of three tools to manage initiatives in facilitating the creation of student spin-off companies can be very useful. These tools include: - logical model; - the structure of performance measurement; - investment risk management. The logical model shows the logical links between inputs, activities, outputs, immediate results, intermediate results, and outcomes of the university's initiative to increase the number of student entrepreneurs. The university can use the performance measurement framework, prepare and implement a plan to systematically collect relevant data from the life of student entrepreneurship, and demonstrate progress towards achieving the intended results. Investment risk involves taking into account operational risk, financial risk, the risk associated with the reputation of the university in encouraging the initiative to increase the number of student entrepreneurs, and determine appropriate strategies for responding to these risks. The obvious advantage of spin companies is that university research groups have a better understanding of the inventions, technologies, scientific developments that need to be brought to market. Because of this, spin companies often consist of technology inventors and newly graduated students. To advance to the market, it is necessary to study the prospects of products based on inventions or technologies, and only then build a business around them. After passing this stage, the university spin company will become an operating company, and not just a form of research group. A competent business team as part of a start-up company is able to transform a university spin company into a working and producing company. The problem of organizing effective teams in the emerging university spin companies can be solved by creating mixed teams consisting of developers, lawyers, financiers and managers who are able to manage the process of commercialization of developments. It is possible to provide financing for university spin-companies partially at the expense of university funds for supporting small innovative enterprises, at the expense of budget financing, in particular, at the expense of grants provided to young scientists (START, UMNIK), by attracting venture capital financing. The experience of using such models of organization of innovative companies in Russian practice already exists. And there are possible prospects for the development of spin companies, subject to the implementation of measures to stimulate and support the process of creating innovative companies. Adopted in 2009 the federal law No. 217-FZ “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation on the Creation of Budget Scientific and educational institutions business companies in order to practical application(implementation) of the results of intellectual activity "allowed the highest educational institutions and research institutes to independently create small businesses for the practical implementation of the results of their intellectual activity. The purpose of this law is not just the creation of enterprises at universities and research institutes, but the creation of enterprises that would produce competitive products and make a profit. To do this, it is necessary to create working, universal and effective schemes for organizing innovative companies. In conclusion, it should be noted that today the stimulation of student entrepreneurship for commercial and public purposes is becoming an increasingly important direction in the development of universities around the world. And I would like to believe that the measures listed above contribute to stimulating students to create their own enterprises.
