As Kurt has a clear idea of what he wants to do in the future and has the relevant background, he has put together a business plan and applied for the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs exchange program. Kurt got in touch with the company “L’Éclair de Génie” and convinced host entrepreneur Jabert to participate in the program. L’Éclair de Génie is a small but growing company founded in 2012 and situated in the city center of Paris. Why Paris? Paris is THE pastry‐city of the world. L’Éclair de Génie offers handmade éclairs produced with the best ingredients.
Last October he went to Paris and spent one month to broaden his knowledge as well as he has given advice to Jabert. The experience in France helped Kurt to acquire both theoretical and practical knowledge the establishment of such a business requires. As Kurt has worked before in bigger companies, he has now a clearer view of how a smaller organization works. How they manage growth and which issue’s they come up against.
There is much more to entrepreneurship then Kurt originally thought. During the stay‐abroad he learned how to convert his business ideas into a reality, how to deal with other ways of working, how the products are made and about people management.
Erasmus for young entrepreneurs was a perfect mutual cooperation between new and host entrepreneur. During the program, also Kurt has tried to exchange and transfer his knowledge to Jabert. He has given advice on how people passing by look at their store, on their sales‐ and marketing approach.
For Kurt, the benefits of the program is that a new entrepreneur gets better insights in practice. After
the program, the new entrepreneur will also be better prepared. The new entrepreneur gets to know the day‐to‐day business.
Thanks to this program, Kurt is convinced that he is now better prepared for the start of his business.
He has improved his original concept to reality. Kurt is now fully engaged in starting his business as
he is looking for a building in Ghent. The chance of expending his business in the future abroad is real on condition that gets the necessary financial support.
For more information, please contact the local contact points involved in the exchange:
New entrepreneur’s contact point:
Voka ‐ Chamber of Commerce of East‐Flanders (Ghent)
Host entrepreneur’s contact point:
MOUVES (Paris)
New and experienced entrepreneurs shall apply for the programme via the web page
For further information about the programme:
Ms. A. Sarateanu, CSCS
This article was funded by the European Union’s COSME Programme (2014-2020).
The content of this article represents the views of the author only and it is her sole responsibility; it cannot be considered to reflect the views of the European Commission and/or the Executive Agency of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) or any other body of the European Union. The European Commission and the Agency do not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.
