What we do

Helping individuals

Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs

   

Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs is a programme that helps aspiring and new entrepreneurs gain skills on establishing and managing a company by working with an experienced entrepreneur in another European country. New entrepeneurs stay from 1 to 6 months with an experienced entrepreneur, with whom they exchange business ideas and experiences. The stay is partly funded by the European Commusuon.

For more information: https://www.erasmus-entrepreneurs.eu/ 

   
     

QEAS

 

3QM

Qualities, Experiences, Attitudes and Skills   3 Question Model

 

Academic qualifications and technical skills are fundamental to economic independence – however if economic independence is to be sustainable and deep rooted these need to be set in a context of practicality, adaptability and application. This is why we have developed and delivered QEAS. QEAS is about enabling – evolving the confidence, decision making, communication, problem solving, team work, resilience and business awareness of employees, entrepreneurs, leaders, young people, communities, civic structures and organisations.

 

 

 

In helping an individual or group with building start-up businesses, we demystify the conventional business model into three very simple questions. By doing this, we focus on the realities of business rather than the theory and drill down on the key point – as a business, will you provide what people will buy?

Active Incubation

 

BYOB

Based on our own experience and methodology of starting and growing businesses, we provide micro-investment, coaching, network support and office services to over 40 companies, nearly half of which are working in mainland Europe. Giving a pro-active, business-wise approach, we actively support new entrepreneurs, the self-employed, and businesses who wish to thrive and sustain the local community, meet local need and deploy local talent.

  Be Your Own Boss
 

 

BYOB is a methodology which embeds QEAS into self-employment, new businesses and spin-off businesses. QEAS can only be obtained through practical experience and BYOB is a direct engagement programme of five pathways which enables economic independence. BYOB begins with an Initial Individual Audit, moves through to bespoke coaching of a business or entrepreneur and offers support into the sustainability stage of a business.

 

English for Entrepreneurs and Business

 

QualiTools

 

Over the years we have listened to so many talented people – from Chile to Slovakia, from Lithuania to Iraq and many countries in between. A constant question and request has been for a practical English language course, written and verbal, which focuses on employment, enterprise and business. So in response we have developed a programme of scenario based English language development, to provide the core aspects of vocabulary, pronunciation and etiquette for conducting business, entrepreneurship and leadership in the English language. This is then followed by individually designed modules to meet individual and collective needs  of the entrepreneurs, business people and students.

 

 

Qualitools is an Erasmus+ project that will seek to enhance the professional development of VET teachers and trainers by strengthening their skills in:

- adapting training to learners needs;

- reflecting on the quality of training processes;

- evaluating outcomes & transfer; and

- improving their own practice accordingly.

A handbook is being produced to provide 60 quality assurance tools for trainers so that the training quality itself will be better in the future. The quality tools that are being developed will be assessed and adapted for the ICT sector but they will be easily transferable to other training sectors.

 

 


Helping communities


SLAM!

 

Real Enterprise Hubs

 

SLAM! is an enterprise leadership programme for schools, colleges, universities and communities which uses cycles of peer to peer coaching to develop leadership, community projects and social businesses. We have delivered SLAM! in 12 UK schools, 5 community groups, and in Lithuania, Greece and Spain. SLAM! projects are run with the goal of becoming self-sustaining, without the need for regular cash funding.

 

 

 

With a similar mandate to Active Incubation, Real Enterprise Hubs instead employ new entrepreneurs and/or students in a functioning business so that they are exposed to running a real business and have a stable income. Then, while growing their QEAS, they are offered enough freedom to able to use the business as a spring-board and base for commercial activities with substantially more financial security.

 

SESAME

 

SELFY

Social Enterprise by Synergy And the added value of youth Mentoring in Europe   Sustainable Enterprise and Leadership For Youth

 

The aims of SESAME are to create new social businesses that trade ethically and morally. With supported learning through trained mentors, we develop the employability of students and young people to directly address local needs in countries including the Netherlands, Lithuania, Finland, the UK, Spain and Turkey. SESAME aims to tackle groups such as school underachievers, NEETs, marginalised individuals and groups and peripheral regions.

 

 

SELFY is a robust and practical methodology for developing social leadership and social entrepreneurial QEAS amongst a wide section of communities, individuals, regions and organisations. SELFY is adaptable to multiple socio-economic contexts.

 


 

Helping businesses

 

The Bridge Model and Bridging the Gap

 

SLAM! Productivity

 

The Bridge Model was designed at Bridging to the Future to develop businesses, from young start-ups to fully fledged companies. The model uses four Bridges to explain the process of Starting a Business, jumping to Growing and Strengthening the business and finishing with tailored consulting. Each Bridge has multiple stepping stones and is a well-researched model, cracking the methodology of starting self-employment.

The Bridge Model has been adapted to a European context via the Bridging the Gap programme. Bridging the Gap saw 5 European countries adopt our approach to developing entrepreneurs, adapt it, and pilot it in their own countries. So far this has seen the creation of 17 businesses in Europe varying from an educational app designer in the Netherlands, to a fashion boutique in Spain, and a microbrewer in Greece.

 

 

 

SLAM! Productivity is a programme designed to improve productivity of individuals and teams within organisations. There is a focus on intrapreneurship and applying business/entrepreneurial QEAS to existing workplaces to develop embedded and sustainable coaching, leadership, productivity and efficiency within the workplace. This includes a focus on customer demand and need as a priority, i.e. the process is subverted to ensure the meeting of need and demand. With flexibility we tailor a bespoke programme to embed and cascade professional development within the company.

 

MicroInvestment

   

 

Bridging to the Future origins lie in investing in new businesses and new entrepreneurs – we started with a commitment to support and coach talented leaders and community action and this is the basis of our belief in the strength of economic independence.