Young Entrepreneurs Succeed!, Greece, Italy, Poland, and Spain

YES! was based on the scaling trust-based partnership model and co-ordinated through the eight partner organisations across the four countries. The project was centred on training courses but also included coaching and mentoring opportunities offered by partner organisations, which often supported the identification of start-up finance. Implementation varied across countries to reflect diverse local contexts and needs. 

For example, ANKA (Greece) focused on developing capacity and empowering disadvantaged groups, such as NEETs in Roma communities, through courses covering 9 different topics (e.g. digital skills, social entrepreneurship, sector specific training, etc.) and ranging from 3-6 weeks. Microfinanza (Italy) delivered support to young people from groups that are under-represented in entrepreneurship, notably (young) women, migrants and refugees. These supports included training courses on financial and digital skills and a digital marketing training course that varied between 1-6 weeks. Autoocupació (Spain) delivered training courses on entrepreneurship, management and employability skills, ranging from 1-8 weeks. These courses were offered in-person, online and in a hybrid format. Online training courses focused on basic business skills and management strategies, ranging from 5-7 weeks, were delivered in Poland. 

Additionally, several implementing organisations, such as Microfinanza, offered free coaching and mentoring to participants and help them identify sources of start-up finance. Across all countries, YES! included an online peer-learning platform - Thinking Space - that offered resources for young entrepreneurs covering a range of themes such as NEETs and the future of work.