Empreender 45-60: A National Ecosystem Strategy and Action Plan to Support Senior Entrepreneurship, Portugal
SENIORS
Empreender 45-60 is a national strategy which aims to improve opportunities for older people to work as entrepreneurs and freelance workers as well as encourage older entrepreneurs to mentor entrepreneurs with less experience. The strategy is part of the SIAC – Collective Actions Support System – and is co-funded by COMPETE 2020 and NORTE 2020 Operational Programmes. The primary aim of the action plan is to increase awareness and discussion of senior and highlight that fostering more senior entrepreneurs is one of the main priorities for national development. The plan also seeks to link national ecosystem stakeholders and align the level of development of the national entrepreneurial ecosystem with other European ecosystems in order to create more entrepreneurial opportunities for older adults.
The plan seeks to analyse the current situation of senior entrepreneurship in terms of policies, skills levels, entrepreneurial motivations, business opportunities and challenges faced by (potential) senior entrepreneurs. It also seeks to develop policy measures to address identified barriers to senior entrepreneurs with the overall aim of the National Strategy for the Development of the Senior Entrepreneurship Ecosystem being to position Portugal as a benchmark ecosystem for senior entrepreneurship at European level.
The strategy outlines 29 objectives for the development of the national senior entrepreneurship ecosystem with most being implemented between 2024 and 2030.These measures aim to maintain labour market attachment as well as (re)integrate seniors into the labour force, particularly through entrepreneurship, including activities related to the development of a national senior entrepreneurship ecosystem. The strategy calls for the identification of models to support senior entrepreneurship, including the collection of international good practices that could be adapted to the Portuguese context. The strategy also calls for the creation of the Empreender 4560 platform that would gather information, resources and tools for senior entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship training would also be offered through the Academia Empreender 4560 in partnership with universities and business associations. The Academia would also have dedicated outreach through awareness raising campaigns and role models to showcase success senior entrepreneurs. Additional activities include start-up support, networking opportunities and mentoring.
A special emphasis has been placed on the Northern Region, where there is a higher incidence of unemployment among older people. Actions include an evaluation of the state of unemployment among qualified older workers in the Northern Region and the implementation of the Pilot Programme to Support Entrepreneurship "Senior Match Business – Create Your Business".
Activities related to the implementation of the strategy include visits to international ecosystems that are well developed in senior entrepreneurship support as well as the preparation of a summary document outlining the core tenants of the senior entrepreneurship ecosystem for Portugal.
The Empreender 4560 platformhas been created, showcasing information, resources and tools for senior entrepreneurship, including public access to the National Ecosystem Strategy and Action Plan as well as support programmes. Training booklets have been available as ebooks on the platform, covering topics such as mentoring, investing and business creation.
There have been 3 cycles of training programmes with a total of 9 workshops delivered across three regions (North, Center and Alentejo). Workshops covered three primary topics: 1) business ideation and business model development, 2) implementing a business model and 3) challenges and opportunities in senior entrepreneurship.
Other support programmes have also been created, such as the Idea Business Pool which is an “idea laboratory” that supports business ideation and facilitates networking opportunities. The programme was offered in three regions (North, Center, Évora) with 9 sessions delivered. Participants competed in a business idea competition with the best 12 business ideas be selected and advancing to the next phase of the programme. Thematic webinars are also available on the platform covering a range of topics in entrepreneurship (e.g. marketing, financial analysis, customer relations, etc.).
There are several mentoring schemes that are offered to participants depending on which programme they participated in. Startpoint Senior Business programme supports participants as well as non-paritipcants in developing their business idea and preparing their business plan. The Preparation of Business Plans programme is available to participants who have completed the Ideal Business Pool and have been selected to move to the next phase. There is also a specialised mentoring “consulting” programme that is available to all entrepreneurs who need additional support.
Fundação AEP (2024), EMPREENDER 45-60: Estratégia Nacional de Apoio ao Empreendedorismo Sénior, https://empreender4560.pt/