 Download PDF version
|
New entrepreneur:
Ulrike Aigner (Austria)
Company name: Connect Competence (Start-up)
Sector of activity:
Spending time abroad for a small period of time with an experienced entrepreneur is a worthwhile experience as it enables you to see how you can improve your business.
Host entrepreneur:
Janet Snowball (United Kingdom)
Company name: Business and Innovation Centre Sunderland (6 years of experience)
Sector of activity:
Ulrike helped us understand the Austrian/German culture (important for uswhen doing business there) and the translation of some of the commercial materialswas extremely useful to us.
Period of exchange: 07/2009 until 08/2009
Duration of exchange: one month and a half
The dream of expanding her business internationally seemed a long step away for Ulrike Aigner, newly established owner of Connect Competence, a company responsible for human resource management and development. Ulrike was deeply impressed by the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme, which, she hoped, would improve her entrepreneurial know-how and end her apprehensions about setting-up a business. On the other side of the channel, Janet Snowball, head of Business and Innovation Centre Sunderland, a education and training enterprise, accepted the exchange proposal. Ulrike was lookihg to learn about international business opportunities while gaining essential business management tips. Janet wanted some fresh ideas to support the development of the company’s new projects.
During the exchange, Janet taught Ulrike new ways of managing human resources, for example, the use of the investing in-people concept. In addition, Ulrike and Janet visited several customers, and participated in workshops for Internal Champion Training and international communication techniques. Ulrike worked with Janet intensively. With Janet’s help, she participated in assessment and interview sessions with different customers, prepared assessments with advisers and wrote retrospective reviews of the interviews she conducted.
Janet strengthened her intercultural competencies, deepened her knowledge of British SMEs, and collected valuable information about business tools. Due to a large number of meetings with marketing managers, sales persons, advisers, and consultants, Ulrike was able to get a good overview of the instruments, tools and problems related to human resources management. Thanks to Janet, she learnt how to organise a developing business and create new marketing strategies and financial planning, crucial for cross-border business opportunities.Both entrepreneurs benefited immensely from the exchange. While Janet has remodelled her business to accommodate new young ideas, Ulrike has become confident about enlarging her client base internationally.
For more information, please contact the local contact points involved in the exchange:
New entrepreneur's contact point:
Wirtschaftskammer Österreich ( Austrian Federal Economic Chamber) Junge Wirtschaft (Junior Chamber Austria) (Wien)
Host entrepreneur's contact point:
The University Wolverhampton (Telford)
« Back to the overview
|
