The goal of this activity was to provide youth trainees with the knowledge of the principles of setting up and running a business with the ultimate goal of applying these principles to their own ideas of social enterprises. The youth trainees improved their knowledge and understanding of fundamental business functions, understood how value is created, how an idea can be turned into a start-up, gained an understanding of strategy implementation and are ready to apply that knowledge in Virtual Enterprises examples. The youth workers attended the same course and provided guidance to the youth groups formed and helped the trainees to better understand the content of the courses.

The non-formal training methods used in this activity included a visit from a professional from the business sector that presented real-life examples of business functions and operations to the participants, case studies of businesses focusing on business functions that are relevant to the training and workshops so that participants will better understand the functions of business. In addition to that, the participants also visited successful social businesses in the country of venue and further discussed their social business ideas with their peers and trainers.

The participants gained a good understanding of business functions and operations. By having a better understanding of business development, participants are now able to produce more realistic ideas of potential social enterprises with the help of their trainers that may have real-life applicability.

Day 1 – 25 October 2021

• Basics of starting up a new business
• How to turn an idea into a business start-up
• Financial management
• People management
• Operations management

Day 2 – 26 October 2021

• Development of skills and competences in entrepreneurship
• Management skills
• Decision making
• Development of skills and competences in entrepreneurship
• Communication skills
• Business networking
• Digital Marketing
• Set-Up a Business Online

Day 3 – 27 October 2021

• Marketing and Branding
• Start your own Company
• Create a Business Name
• Logo Design

Day 4 – 28 October 2021

• Presentation of successful examples of social businesses in Cyprus
• Sales strategies and Business viability
• Presentation of ideas for social Enterprises
• Meeting evaluation

Day 5 – 29 October 2021

• Awarding
• Certificates of Participation