Brussels, April 2008

The support of the creation of businesses by

disadvantaged peoplein the region of ANDALUSIA

STUDY CONTEXT (I)

The Regional Ministry of Employment, acting as the responsible body in the area of creation and encouragement of employment, collaborates in the establishment of programmes oriented to promote the participation of all persons in the world of business.

An example of this has been the participation since 2001 in the Community Initiative of Equal, which explores and experiments with new formulas to combat the unfairness and discrimination which take place in the labour market.

A tool has been built within the heart of the project CoPIE, which permits the analysis of the level of inclusiveness of the entrepreneurship policies.

Within the framework of the initiative, the government of Andalusia has wished to add to the project of Community of Practice on Inclusive Entrepreneurship (project CoPIE).

STUDY CONTEXT (II)

THE TOOL (Version 1.0) (I)

Is aimed at:

• Policy makers involved in business creation.• Advisors specialised in supporting business creation.• Entrepreneurs.

It consists of four scorecards on excel spreadsheets within four areas:

• Creating culture and conditions for entrepreneurship. • Start-up support and training.• Support for consolidation and growth.• Access to appropriate finance.

THE TOOL (Version 1.0) (II)

It enables the following:

• The visual format of the output from the matrix analysis easily identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the system.

•Give a quick analysis as a first step to search deeper into the real causes of the problems.

• The results for each statement from entrepreneurs across the different target groups can be compared to identify any differences in experiences.

• The average score from policy makers or advisers to a statement can be compared with the response from entrepreneurs.

• The evidence column is very important. The interviewees can explain why a specific score is given and formulate recommendations in areas where scores are weak.

THE TOOL (Version 1.0) (III)

It enables the following:

• The study includes the whole geographical area of Andalusia.

• Andalusia constitutes:•The second largest autonomous community in Spain (88.000 km²).• The first with respect to population, having at present around 8 million inhabitants.

• Due to the decision to encompass the whole territory, the study has been much wider and dispersed than in other regions.

GEOGRAPHICAL AREA

PROYECT DEVELOPMENT (I)

The questionnaire was sent to 128 contacts grouped in more than 80 different bodies and organisations in the following way:

• 31 policy makers• 73 advisors or tutors• 24 entrepreneurs

The interviewees belong to different public and private as well as regional, provincial and local organizations. In this study the regional administration, business organizations and bodies which represents the disadvantaged people, are included.

In order to carry out a formal contact, one letter was written addressed to the policy makers and another one to the advisors where the project was presented and their participation was requested.

Given the size of the territory and the number of contacts, it was decided that the best way to implement the survey was by post and email.

PROYECT DEVELOPMENT (II)

The questionnaire was revised and translated into Spanish. Its completion was requested giving a punctuation of 1 to 4 (totally disagree to totally agree) and special importance was given to the addition of comments on each one.

Finally, the rate of response of policy makers, advisors and entrepreneurs has been 70%, 71% and 80% respectively.

PROYECT DEVELOPMENT (III)

MAIN OUTCOMES OF THE APPLICATION OF THE TOOL

STREN

GTH

S

WEA

KNES

SE

S

STRATEGY

• There exists departmentalisati

on provoking mismanagement

and disinformation at operational level.

• There is an integrated public strategy to promote business creation.• The existing actions and programmes in this field are aimed at disadvantaged people as well those territories which need to be developed.

MAIN OUTCOMES OF THE APPLICATION OF THE TOOL

STR

ENG

THS

WEA

KNESSE

S

CULTURE AND

CONDITIONS• There still exists very

little liaison between school and workplace. • There is no specific training in business creation at school or at university.• The advisors’ specialization in economic areas is very low.

• There exist many possibilities and a high number of information points. • Trade fairs and similar events take place regularly in the region. • The access to start-up support to business creation is really easy.• A high number of raising awareness, training and support activities are done.

MAIN OUTCOMES OF THE APPLICATION OF THE TOOL

STR

ENG

THS

WEA

KNES

SES

START-UPSUPPORT

• Need of more specialization of advisors.• Prices of business premises are not always accessible and there exists a lack of information about the availability of them.

• The network of bodies giving advice and counselling in the creation of businesses is large and easy to access.• There are a lot of grants and financial support given by the Public Administration for the set-up phase of a business.• There are a large number of incubators or start-up centres.

MAIN OUTCOMES OF THE APPLICATION OF THE TOOL

STREN

GTH

SWEA

KNES

SE

S

SUPPORT FOR CONSOLIDATION

• Counselling in the consolidation phase of a business is an aspect which has been very poorly developed up until now.• There are few business premises available.

• The network of bodies giving advice and counselling in the creation of businesses is large and easy to access.

MAIN OUTCOMES OF THE APPLICATION OF THE TOOL

STR

ENG

THS

WEA

KN

ESSES

• Grants are characterized by the long period of time it takes to be received.• The training that advisors receive is general. There is a lack of specialization and knowledge of financial management.• It is difficult to get support for managing the financial aspects of the business.

• There is a lot of grants and financial support conceded by the Public Administration for the set-up phase of a business.

MAIN OUTCOMES OF THE APPLICATION OF THE TOOL

ACCESS TO FINANCE

CONCLUSIONS (I)

One of the most valued actions has been the one concerning the multiple possibilities, points of information and activities of support offered by different organizations. A network which provides counselling services for the creation of new businesses exists in the whole territory of Andalusia, both in the private and public sector.

As regard to the grant aids and measures supporting the creation of new businesses, all those interviewed, praised the wide selection of measures and grants that entrepreneurs can apply for.

CONCLUSIONS (II)

In regards to the relationship with the business-education system, the business culture is a subject which should be introduced in the curriculum of all educational centres. A better liaison between school and businesses in all fields is fundamental for students to have a basic knowledge of how to undertake a new business venture themselves.

And the quality of advice and counselling available needs to improve. The advisors claim that the training they receive is limited: they acquire knowledge on the creation of a new business but the majority lacks the business experience and qualifications in certain economic areas.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Provide a guidance in the questionnaire to stakeholders in order to explain how to fill in the tool as well as to include a reference to Data Protection Law.

• Give special importance to the addition of comments on each statement, to know what the interviewees think and have additional information in the punctuation.

• Ask the same questions in the three questionnaires to compare the results.

• Unify the terminology used in the tool to assure that all the studies of the different countries and regions are based on the same concept.

FUTURE

• The Regional Ministry of Employment wants to continue working within this network.

• This study will be available in the “Portal EQUAL” website: www.juntadeandalucia.es/empleo/equal.

• A copy of this study will be sent to people that have participated in it.

• The results will be presented to the main General Managers of the Regional Ministry of Employment.