The UBDC project will be divided into four different phases:
Phase I - "Lay the foundation for an entrepreneurial mind-set"
The main objective of phase one is to create an interest in entrepreneurship within the target group. This will mainly be achieved through inspirational activities and communication, educating the target group in the meaning of entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial life style. In addition, the project infrastructure, such as organization, time plan, routines and templates, will be defined and detailed during phase one.
Phase one will contain five main building blocks:
Entrepreneurship Awareness Survey
As one of the first activities in the UBDC project, a survey will be conducted at the two universities with the purpose of investigating the current mind-set and understanding about entrepreneurship among the target group. The survey will give the BDC project an indication on what activities need to be covered, and at what level to communicate this on. Thus, the survey will be an important input to the UBDC project plan for the remainder of phase one. In addition, an additional survey at the end of phase one, can be used to measure the success of the conducted activities.
UBDC project Ambassadors
The UBDC project will focus on identifying a number of university representatives that can be appointed to UBDC project ambassadors. The ambition is that these persons will represent different hierarchical levels and institutions at the universities, and their commitment will be important.
The ambassadors will be used actively in the UBDC project for communication and to build trust in the students, and it will lead to increased local ownership and credibility among the students. The UBDC project ambassadors will be tied to the project and constitute a network working for the UBDC project objective, to strengthen and integrate, overtime, entrepreneurial activities on the academic agenda.
Reference visits to Sweden
The identified UBDC project ambassador's understanding of the UBDC project, and its objectives, will be important to realize full value of their involvement. Thus, the UBDC project will invite a few of them over to Sweden for "real life" experiences in entrepreneurial environments. During these reference visits, that will take place during the Autumn 2005, entrepreneurial workshops and meetings will be held; visits will be made to incubators and entrepreneurial companies, all with the purpose to give the target group a picture of what the UBDC project wants to create in Ukraine.
In addition, the UBDC project will also conduct training of the UBDC project ambassadors in Ukraine. This training will be centred on these visits, the Ukrainian people will meet with successful Swedish entrepreneurs.
Setting up the UBDC project organization and routines
During the beginning of phase one the UBDC project organization needs to be finalized. The critical component in this work will be to identify local representatives at the Ukrainian universities that will be able to work actively with the project. The local representation should be both on a sponsor level, supporting and "opening doors", and on a local project manager level, executing the plans and the "foot work". In addition, the UBDC project plan will also need to be detailed and confirmed, preferably in collaboration with the Ukrainian project representatives.
Marketing and Communication
When the UBDC project organization and plan has been detailed, and UBDC project ambassadors appointed, the marketing and communication activities for the UBDC project will start taking place. A web site will be developed presenting the overall UBDC project and the objectives, and standard communication messages will also be developed and distributed at the universities. In addition, events, articles in newspapers, flyers, posters and t-shirts to individuals involved are potential activities to create a buzz. The marketing and communication activities will continue through-out the UBDC project.
Phase II - "Stimulate and support entrepreneurial initiatives"
The main objective of phase two will be to leverage on the interest for entrepreneurship created during phase one. This will be done by supporting and stimulating entrepreneurial activities and ideas initiated by the students. During phase two the focus will be to make the students "take the next step" by formalizing or discussing a concrete idea or in any other way to realize the entrepreneurial drivers. Depending on students maturity or ideas, the support can differ from individual discussions to inspire the student, to business development workshops to formalize a business plan.Phase two will contain the following four main components:
Business Coaching
It is important that the idea owners will get expert support and coaching when they are developing their business ideas. The local project manager at each university should have the knowledge to be able to help the students develop their business ideas.
Business Training
The UBDC project will provide the students with different training modules relevant for entrepreneurs in the start-up phase. These training modules will be both general modules like sales, marketing, business plan writing etc, and also customized Ukrainian modules in commercial law, accounting etc. The training will be developed by experts, and delivered either in classrooms or online. In addition, some students at each university will be offered a study visit to Sweden.
Mentorship Programme
A mentor programme is planned to be developed within the UBDC project. Ukrainian students inspired to develop or realize a business idea will be offered the opportunity to have a mentor from the Ukrainian business society with relevant experience. The mentor will share their knowledge and experience in how to run a business in Ukraine, including management and personal network etc. Mentors (both from the local and international community) will be invited to participate in the Mentorship Programme and will be committed to work with the idea owner, student, during at least 6 months, having at least one interaction a month. The mentors will not be compensated for their involvement, but will need to invest time and effort. Setting up the Mentorship Programme with locally established companies, in a structured way together with university management representatives, will result in an important link between local industry and the university for knowledge exchange beneficial to both parties.
Idea competition
Competition´s are something that triggers many individuals. Thus, a business idea competition can inspire entrepreneurs to show case their idea, and other people to be pushed over the edge, to actually become entrepreneurs, or to give entrepreneurship a chance, by participating in the competition. The Idea competition will be managed by the UBDC project, and by a nominated jury consisting of highly respected and competent individuals, both Ukrainian and international. The competition should be regarded as a business development process, during which the participating idea owners receive feedback and development tips on their ideas from the jury. The most promising students will be appointed "UBDC ambassadors", and be rewarded with a trip to Sweden or Lithuania, for more hands-on training and coaching, and also a number of inspirational study visits at Swedish entrepreneurial companies.
Phase III - "Develop and secure long term infrastructure"
The main objective of phase three will be to further nurture and support the students that are continuing in the entrepreneurial development process, and to re-inforce the entrepreneurial culture growth by establishing Entrepreneurship as a topic on the academic agenda. The three main components of phase three are:Develop incubator infrastructure at universities
An incubator will be set-up at the universities during phase three. The incubator will be a temporary office space for the students when working on their business ideas, providing them with the basic support they need. In addition, it will be the UBDC project manager's office, and a meeting place for inspiration and entrepreneurial activities at the university.
Develop surrounding "eco-system" / network
To enable the idea owners to grow their ideas, and to start building their companies, networking with potential suppliers, customers and/or partners from the Ukrainian business society will be important. The UBDC project will work actively to set-up fairs and sessions for interaction to which the business society will be invited to discuss increased collaboration with, both the universities and entrepreneurial students.
Entrepreneurship on the academic agenda
The initial ambition with getting Entrepreneurship on the academic agenda will be to get it incorporated into a few selected and prioritized faculty's existing programmes. This ambition should be reached by phase two. During phase three, the ambition is to launch a specific course in Entrepreneurship. The actual form for the course depends on how the Ukrainian academia is structured. The course should be designed in collaboration with Malardalens Hogskola, to leverage upon the skills and experiences within the UBDC project.
Phase IV - "Re-enforce new behaviours"
Phase four will be planned in detail in the future, and will be dependent on the status of the UBDC project during phase three. The main activities will however be centred on re-enforcing the change and new behaviours achieved, and continue establishing the infrastructure in the universities.
 |
 |
 |