Small business, big ideas

Next May, entrepreneurs from across the EU and further afield will take part in a series of events marking the first ever European SME Week. The week, which will run from 6-14 May, is being coordinated by the European commission’s enterprise and industry directorate-general under the slogan, “Small business, big ideas”.

SME week will include fairs and conferences, online events, art and performance, networking events, company open days and competitions, all aimed at supporting Europe’s small businesses.

“SME week is all about putting entrepreneurship in the spotlight,” says Françoise Le Bail, the commission’s enterprise and industry deputy director-general, who also holds the position of commission special SME envoy.

“Essentially the week’s purpose is to promote entrepreneurship, while at the same time, informing new and existing entrepreneurs about the wide variety of business support mechanisms available at European, national and local level”.

Small businesses are the key drivers of Europe’s competitiveness. SMEs account for 99 per cent of all businesses, they provide two-thirds of all jobs in the EU and they create around 80 per cent of all new employment.

“Here in the commission, we are committed to promoting their activities and making the business environment more SME-friendly,” says Le Bail. She explains that recent Eurobarometer figures, focussing on entrepreneurship, show that 50 per cent of Europe’s citizens prefer to be employees rather than being self-employed and that almost half have never even thought about starting up a business.

“The biggest obstacles to becoming an entrepreneur are the perceived lack of available financial support and complex administrative procedures,” says Le Bail, adding, “That’s why SME Week is targeted at entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs. Events at both national and local level will be an opportunity to learn more about the rewards and challenges of entrepreneurship and about the available support.”

After the launch event in Brussels on 6 May, which will see the “SME experience” exhibition, housing a one-stop shop providing information for both existing and budding entrepreneurs, there will be an array of events organised across the EU and within the EU district in Brussels.

SME week will also work as a key platform to advance the objectives of the commission’s Small Business Act, Europe’s comprehensive SME policy framework designed to make Europe more entrepreneurial and improve the business environment for SMEs.

“The Small Business Act for Europe is the commission’s ambitious plan to address the needs of Europe’s small and medium-sized businesses. It takes into account the diversity of Europe’s entrepreneurial spirit and includes guidance on how to develop SME policy at EU and national level.”

For Le Bail, however, SME week is about more than the commission just laying out its SME wares to a receptive audience. To make the week a real success she is looking for national and regional authorities, business organisations, business support providers and education institutions to buy into the concept, get involved and brand their events under the SME week logo.

“I invite business organisations, support providers, public authorities, educational institutions, and others to join in and organise their own events under the SME week umbrella to bring, as I mentioned before, entrepreneurship into the spotlight. To help organisations put on their own events we have arranged two national coordinators for SME week in each participating country and those wishing to organise events can contact them directly.”

The closing conference on SMEs on 13 and 14 May 2009 in Prague will be co-organised by the commission and the Czech EU presidency. The conference will also include the presentation of the European enterprise awards, which recognises and rewards entrepreneurial excellence and initiatives at regional level.