JA-YE START-UP PROGRAMME
FRAMEWORK
2014
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Contents
1
2
3
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
Overview on the objectives of the programme ..................................................................................... 6
Learning goals and assessment ................................................................................................................... 7
3.1
Summary .................................................................................................................................................... 7
3.2
Learning goals of entrepreneurship education ........................................................................... 7
3.3
From competence to skill – detailed view ..................................................................................... 7
3.4
Evaluation ................................................................................................................................................ 10
3.5
Evaluating criteria for the submitted work ................................................................................ 10
4 JA Start-Up year - Welcome aboard ......................................................................................................... 12
5 Discovery of opportunities ......................................................................................................................... 12
5.1
What is discovery .................................................................................................................................. 12
5.2
Put your knowledge on the table or think what will you like to learn? ........................... 12
5.3
Look around (for waste, pain points or own needs) ............................................................... 12
5.4
Be the super early adopter – Life in the future?........................................................................ 13
6 Ideation Brainstorming ................................................................................................................................ 13
6.1
Overview .................................................................................................................................................. 13
6.2
What is innovation?.............................................................................................................................. 13
6.3
Process and tips for brainstorming session................................................................................ 14
6.4
Selecting or developing the idea ..................................................................................................... 15
6.5
Check-list for completion ................................................................................................................... 16
7 Set up the company team ............................................................................................................................ 16
7.1
Overview .................................................................................................................................................. 16
7.2
Goal ............................................................................................................................................................. 16
7.3
Tips for team creation ......................................................................................................................... 16
7.4
Organizing a team ................................................................................................................................. 17
7.5
Check-list for completion ................................................................................................................... 17
8 Business Model Generation/conception/idea validation ............................................................... 17
8.1
Overview .................................................................................................................................................. 17
8.2
Goal ............................................................................................................................................................. 18
8.3
Process and tips ..................................................................................................................................... 18
8.4
Check-list for completion ................................................................................................................... 22
9 Customers analysis and contacts: ............................................................................................................ 23
9.1
Overview .................................................................................................................................................. 23
9.1.1 Customer segmentation ................................................................................................................. 23
9.1.2 Jobs to be done and desired outcomes .................................................................................... 24
9.2
Goal ............................................................................................................................................................. 25
9.3
Process and tips ..................................................................................................................................... 25
10 Prototyping – Key studies ........................................................................................................................... 27
10.1 Overview .................................................................................................................................................. 27
10.2 Reason for the prototype ................................................................................................................... 27
10.2.1 Can it be done? Proof of concept .......................................................................................... 27
10.2.2 Mock up –proto (Visual or Wireframe prototype) ......................................................... 28
10.2.3 Testing of the on functional prototype................................................................................ 28
10.3 Goal ............................................................................................................................................................. 29
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10.4 Check-list for completion ................................................................................................................... 29
11 Introduction to Finance, Cost accounting and Strategic Thinking .............................................. 30
11.1 Overview .................................................................................................................................................. 30
11.2 Goal ............................................................................................................................................................. 30
11.3 Financial indicators for start-up ..................................................................................................... 30
11.3.1 Established company indicators ............................................................................................ 30
11.3.2 Start-up Indicators i.e. innovation accounting ................................................................. 30
11.4 Calculating the production costs ..................................................................................................... 31
11.4.1 Physical product .......................................................................................................................... 31
11.4.2 Service product ............................................................................................................................ 32
11.4.3 Break-even point ......................................................................................................................... 34
11.5 Pricing models ........................................................................................................................................ 34
11.6 Check-list for completion ................................................................................................................... 36
12 Introduction to Financial accounting, VAT and taxation ................................................................ 37
12.1 Overview .................................................................................................................................................. 37
12.1.1 Financial accounting and bookkeeping............................................................................... 37
12.1.2 Value Added Tax (VAT) ............................................................................................................. 38
12.1.3 Taxation........................................................................................................................................... 39
12.2 Goals ........................................................................................................................................................... 40
12.3 Check-list for completion ................................................................................................................... 40
13 Transform the Business Models into Business Plans ....................................................................... 40
13.1 Overview .................................................................................................................................................. 40
13.2 Creating a business plan ..................................................................................................................... 41
13.3 Goal ............................................................................................................................................................. 41
14 Pitch and presentations ............................................................................................................................... 42
14.1 Overview .................................................................................................................................................. 42
14.2 Goal ............................................................................................................................................................. 42
14.3 Contents of the pitch ............................................................................................................................ 42
14.4 From pitch to presentations ............................................................................................................. 42
15 Practical Steps to Set up the start-ups .................................................................................................... 44
15.1 Overview .................................................................................................................................................. 44
15.2 Check-list for completion ................................................................................................................... 44
Agreement ......................................................................................................................................................... 44
16 Understanding Intellectual Property ...................................................................................................... 46
16.1 What is Intellectual Property (IP) .................................................................................................. 46
16.2 When to consider IP in a Start-Up? ................................................................................................ 46
16.3 Different types of Intellectual property ....................................................................................... 47
16.3.1 Copyright ........................................................................................................................................ 47
16.3.2 Trademarks.................................................................................................................................... 47
16.3.3 Patents ............................................................................................................................................. 48
16.3.4 Industrial design rights ............................................................................................................. 49
16.4 Signing a contract.................................................................................................................................. 49
16.4.1 Trade secrets and Non-disclosure agreement ................................................................. 50
16.5 Goal ............................................................................................................................................................. 50
16.6 Check-list for completion ................................................................................................................... 50
17 Assessment/feedback? and evaluation phase ..................................................................................... 52
17.1 Overview .................................................................................................................................................. 52
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17.2 Goal ............................................................................................................................................................. 52
17.3 Process and tips ..................................................................................................................................... 52
17.4 Check-list for completion ................................................................................................................... 52
18 A follow-up—what’s next? phase for those who want to continue ............................................ 53
18.1 Overview .................................................................................................................................................. 53
18.2 Public advisor bodies/organizations ............................................................................................ 53
18.2.1 Incubators ...................................................................................................................................... 53
18.2.2 Finding investment money ...................................................................................................... 54
18.2.3 Business-Angel investors ......................................................................................................... 54
18.2.4 Venture capital – companies ................................................................................................... 54
18.2.5 Crowd funding .............................................................................................................................. 54
18.3 Goal ............................................................................................................................................................. 55
18.4 Check-list for completion ................................................................................................................... 55
19 Extra opportunities........................................................................................................................................ 56
19.1 Opportunities worth looking for ..................................................................................................... 56
19.2 Intel Business Challenge..................................................................................................................... 56
19.3 Mentorship activities for Brilliant Young Entrepreneurs and other Awards Funding.
57
19.3.1 Objectives and Vision ................................................................................................................. 57
19.3.2 How does the competition work? ......................................................................................... 58
19.3.3 Who can participate?.................................................................................................................. 58
19.3.4 Award details ................................................................................................................................ 58
19.3.5 Judging criteria ............................................................................................................................. 58
19.3.6 Judging process ............................................................................................................................ 59
19.3.7 How to enter .................................................................................................................................. 59
20 Toolkit for JA entrepreneur ........................................................................................................................ 61
20.1 Online presence for the Start-Up -companies ............................................................................ 61
20.1.1 Basic requirements ..................................................................................................................... 61
20.1.2 Process of building the online presence ............................................................................. 61
20.1.3 Web shop ........................................................................................................................................ 64
20.1.4 Online brand and social media ............................................................................................... 65
20.2 Online office tools ................................................................................................................................. 65
20.2.1 Online collaboration and back-up ......................................................................................... 65
20.2.2 Invoices............................................................................................................................................ 65
20.3 international ........................................................................................................................................... 66
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1 Introduction
Welcome to the JA-YE Europe JA Start-Up –programme guide.
This guide is designed to help to start the JA Start-Up Entrepreneurship education programme,
where students in higher education can gain real life experience in entrepreneurship and practise
related skills.
This guide has information about the programme, presents learning goals and evaluation
framework and describes a programme flow during the whole programme.
This guide is created by JA-YE Europe, which is Europe’s largest provider of entrepreneurship
education programmes, reaching 3.2 million students in 39 countries in 2013.
Read more about JA-YE Europe (ja-ye.org)
Or continue reading the next part.
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2 Overview on the objectives of the programme
(Including the role of the mentors)
The Start-Up Programme gives post-secondary students (aged 19 to 30) the opportunity to
experience running their own company, giving them an insight into how their talents could be
used to set up in business for themselves.
The Start-Up Programme students gain real experience working with ideas. The idea can be a
product, a service, or an idea how to change and improve a practice within a specific field. This will
be done by creating and researching a business model, taking responsibility and ensuring an
economically sustainable idea where economic, cultural or social value is being created. They also
develop attitudes and skills necessary for personal success and employability, plus an
understanding of how business works. They gain an insight into self-employment, business
creation, risk taking and coping with adversity, all with advice and support from volunteer business
consultants. Participants also gain exposure to mentoring during the programme and external
business mentor is essential part of the self-development process.
The programme is for a “first time” entrepreneurship education experience at the university level;
to move students from idea to action using their current knowledge and skills. After the
programme the students have multiple options such as:
1. Participating / Entering different entrepreneurship competitions;
2. Starting their own company;
3. Entering in a more closely mentored business development process with a clear and
possibly proven business idea.
4. Continue their studies with more awareness of entrepreneurship as a career choice
Enter
University
JA Start-Up
Programme
+
competitions
and events
Incubator
Real
business or
Intrepreneur
Change mind set and improve workforce readiness
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3 Learning goals and assessment
3.1 Summary
This chapter explains the learning framework and assessment of the learning. We also explain
how we have reached this decision and present assessment models for different learning goals.
The framework that can be used “as is” or it can be modified to align with the University specific
learning goals, participant knowledge level and even with individual student skills and
requirements. We are open to constructive feedback and input from you through our national
organisations.
3.2 Learning goals of entrepreneurship education
Learning the entrepreneurial skills, attitudes and values are the purpose of the Start-Up
programme. Running the programme successfully depends on intensive interaction between the
schools and the business world, and business people in various ways can provide teachers with
access to entrepreneurial competence and expertise that many of them feel they do not have. In
addition to setting goals, we propose a framework to validate how much students have learned
and increase the value of the experience.
The intention behind the Start-Up Programme is to encourage students to give entrepreneurship a
try by doing it themselves (action). Secondly, we want them to learn and practice the business
skills they need in start-ups (business competence). Thirdly, we want them to associate the
experience with “cool” and “having fun” (motivation & attitude) as well as provide an opportunity
to be visionary using their own unique skills (creativity). Finally we want them to understand the
surroundings of their local and global community (environment) and seek (local) business
volunteers to support them. The combination of these major competences (words in parenthesis)
increases the likelihood that someone will be better prepared for the future work-life and will
actually go on to start a business later on.
3.3 From competence to skill – detailed view
Competence can be seen as a set of different skills applied to a certain task. Skills can be defined
as a single ability to perform a certain task. Competence means that you can apply multiple skills
in order to solve a complex problem or task at hand.
Example: In orientation (competence), you need running skill, ability a read the map and be able
to move in a forest. Each of the skills can be learned/trained separately and when they are applied
together, they can be called orientation (competence.) The Traditional school system has been
teaching the skills, like math, biology and physical education, -Without applying them in cross
curriculum practice, where multiple skills can be used together.
Individual skills are also easier to train and evaluate than competences as a whole. By breaking
the competences in different skill-sets, we can form a narrative from individual acts to
entrepreneurial capabilities.
Below you will find an entrepreneurial competences and skill set framework.
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Competence: Action
”Dare to do it”
Skills below reflect the students learning by direct action between different stakeholders.
Skill
Initiation
Value-creation
Definition and required level
Students can initiate and run long-term activities on their own, maintain
interest in it and continuously develop the project further during the whole
time.
Students can use their professional competence in value-creating initiatives,
either through their own businesses, existing organisations or as a project
team.
Communication
Students can vary their written, verbal and oral and digital communication /
presentation in a strategic manner depending on the target group and
situation.
Cooperation
Students can cooperate in different social contexts and reflect on these.
Students can build and be part of a team. They can professionally use and
extend networks.
Competence: Business Competence
”You have the necessary skills and training to utilise them in entrepreneurial ventures”
In order to succeed in entrepreneurial life, you need to have core entrepreneurial competences
that will enable you to start your own venture. You also need to know how to look for more
information on any particular topic. Skills below are not a complete list of skills needed by an
entrepreneur, but rather a minimum knowledge that allows you to try out your own idea.
Skill
Financial
management
Valuation and
funding
Productization
Marketing / Sales
Definition and required level
Students have the ability to do financial planning (budget & forecasting) and
cost accounting. They also have an ability to read financial reports of a startup company (profit and loss statement + balance sheet).
Students can create valuation estimates, seek financing and participate in
strategic meetings with investors and other stakeholders. They are also
familiar with potential revenue streams and can apply this skill to their
specific venture.
The process of modifying, testing and improving a draft idea/demo product
to be suitable for testing with pilot customers (Creating a sellable entity,
with promise, contents, pricing etc.). This can also mean modifying a
product in a way that it can be automatically produced. Note: This is
different from product development, where you already have a product to
sell and you develop it further.
Students can create a series of assumptions that they believe their target
market, which they have defined, will appreciate (market fit). They are then
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Human resources
management
IPR-knowledge
able to test those assumptions. They also identify the learning points of the
pilot/test marketing and use the knowledge to develop the product to be a
better fit for the customers.
Students can organise the team, manage tasks and divide responsibilities
effectively. They utilise team building techniques to keep everyone focused
on the common goal.
Students understand the concept of Intellectual Property, copy protection
and can use this information when either researching if their idea is already
protected or assessing if their idea needs intellectual property protection.
Competence: Motivation and attitude
”You can and are willing to create new things (innovate) by utilising your knowledge. You find it
interesting and fun to start something new. ”
Skill
Belief in your own
abilities
Definition and required level
Because of high self- efficacy, students can handle complex situations and
create visions that can be transformed to value-creating scenarios in the
real world.
Handle ambiguity
Students can act in situations characterised by ambiguity and handle risk.
They can reflect on risks and on activities in relation with these.
Accept Failure
Ethical beliefs
Students are able to acknowledge and learn from their own failures and
reflect on others’ failures and successes.
Students consider factors like responsibility, honesty, sustainable
development, and shareholder value (profitability) when planning the
business.
Competence: Understanding Environment
”You are aware of the opportunities and surroundings around you”.
You understand the (local, regional, national or global) surroundings, opportunities and actors that
are relevant to you and whose knowledge and needs you can use to cooperate, improve your
ideas and find possible customers.
You also acknowledge the social, environmental and sustainability issues that are relevant for your
work or entrepreneurial venture.
Skill
Contexts
Definition and required level
Students understand their local/regional/global environment where they
operate and the opportunities and rules it imposes.
Market
Students can evaluate the market and niche in which their idea is
competing. Using this they can define where are their main opportunities
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and competition.
Culture
Students can analyse and reflect on cultural conditions that mean
something to individuals, groups and decisions. They can use this
information while developing their idea further.
3.4 Evaluation
As the course is a long duration exercise with real world activities in it, it cannot be evaluated only
in the 4-minute presentation at the end or the business proposal submitted (which can be
completed without leaving the room). Evaluation needs to be a longitudinal process from ideation
to end and it has to appreciate the work and learning students have gained while inside the
process and the final result the team present and submit (either to evaluation or present in events
and competitions.)
We have prepared an excel template where we have mapped the competences and skills in
relation to JA Start-Up –programme phases. Template is filled with sample evaluation questions
for each skill and they are meant to help you create the student assessment criteria for the course.
Below you will find additional ideas for evaluatin the work students submit.
3.5
Evaluating criteria for the submitted work
This is a short summary on evaluation of the work the students submit during the course.
1. Business model
a. Main idea is clear for the reader;
b. Presentation is focused on the reader;
c. Claims are supported by evidence (research findings, empirical evidence)
d. Details are important to the model;
e. Students use their own knowledge and ideas and create a unique proposal.
f. Business model can be related to real life scenario (connecting the need).
2. Business plan / Investment proposal
a. All the points in the business model +
b. Readers’ possible questions (doubts) are answered in the proposal;
c. Significant details are revealed in order to convince the reader for the feasibility of
the proposal;
d. Proposal contains a logical order and makes sure the reader understands the key
messages;
e. Layout, fonts and white space are used for appearance and understanding the
message;
f. Graphical illustrations and other visuals enrich the reading experience, are relevant
to key message and increase the value of the written communication.
3. Presentations at pitch & Start-Up –The presenter understands the audience and is aware
of the purpose of the presentation.
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a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
Visuals (if used) are clear and enrich the presentation;
Presentation has a clear order the audience can follow;
Message is presented in a clear manner for audience to understand;
Presentation contains ”call to action” that is suitable for the audience/purpose of
the presentation;
Use of voice is strong enough for everyone in the room to hear;
Articulation is clear and understandable;
Content of the presentation is presented, not read from the paper;
Presenter is talking to audience not to papers, walls or PowerPoint slides.
4. Website, Social Media and other digital communication
Digital content can be evaluated on 4 sections, where the importance of each section can
be emphasised. As this is a learning project for the students, we propose to take a look at
all sections, BUT place more emphasis on Identity, Navigation and Content.
a. Accessibility
(these are fairly technical points on digital communication skills and they should
only be emphasised in more technologically advanced projects)
i. Site speed;
ii. Visual design and layout;
iii. Mobile and tablet friendliness.
b. Identity
Answered the question ”who are you”
i. Logo and tagline ”purpose of the idea/service” are clearly visible and tagline
is understandable by persons not familiar with the company;
ii. Home page main information is understandable in 5 seconds;
iii. Media contains a clear path to follow;
iv. Contact information is easily available.
c. Navigation
i. Main navigation is easily identified;
ii. Labels in the navigation are clear and descriptive;
iii. Number of pages and links on the page are reasonable;
iv. Site contains a search function that is easily located;
v. Possible language selectors are prominently displayed on the site (right
corner).
d. Content
i. Site uses heading and titles in the pages and they are descriptive;
ii. Most important content can be seen without requiring user to scroll the
page (in one-pagers there is a clear scroll signal at the bottom);
iii. Written text is clear, targeted to potential users and level of the language is
generally good. Text written in paragraphs and sections in order to facilitate
reading.
iv. Images, info graphics etc. are used to enrich the text and improve the
reading experience.
http://www.usereffect.com/topic/25-point-website-usability-checklist
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4 JA Start-Up year - Welcome aboard
Welcome to the journey of Start-Up –programme. When you are about to start your exploration
of the world of entrepreneurship. This guide will help you during the way and give your ideas,
resources and tools to make the journey more fruitful, interesting and fun.
Next phases contain the suggested flow of the trip, but remember side-trips can also offer
unknown learning experiences, so treat this guideline as a recommendation, not as stated facts
how things go.
So when you are ready to start your engines you can head to the discovering opportunities part.
5 Discovery of opportunities
5.1 What is discovery
Before you head to brainstorm new ideas it’s a
good idea to get to know your own environment,
knowledge and general fields of interest. This is like
getting to know the playing field you are in and
what its limitations are. If you find out what you (or
your team) know, want and are interested in, you
have better chances of finding a solid idea. In case
of a team effort you can also align everyone’s
interest to pursue your idea.
5.2 Put your knowledge on the table or think what will you like to learn?
Starting an entrepreneurial venture around things you know or would like to learn will greatly
improve your motivation when the time comes to execute.
 Make a knowledge chart/list of you special skills and experiences.
 Write down things you would like to learn.
Those things give you some direction where you would like to head your company.
5.3 Look around (for waste, pain points or own needs)
Put on your “discovery mode” and try to look to the outside world to suggest business
opportunities. If you look at the world through the eyes of an entrepreneur, you will notice that
there are multiple opportunities around.
Constantly think if certain action or service was badly done, wasting a lot of resources or giving
bad experience to customer
 Can I do it better?
 Can I charge customers for it?
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5.4 Be the super early adopter – Life in the future?
Most things have been available before there is a service or company to bring them to masses. Try
out new things before they are widely used. Use your own area of expertise to look for
opportunities to apply them.
Think the sentence ”In the future everyone is doing/using X?”,
 What I need to do to make it happen?
 How can I be part of this growing market?
Think these parts before starting your brainstorming and you will have a solid foundation for a
great idea-hunt.
6 Ideation Brainstorming
6.1 Overview
Brainstorming " is a form of collaborative discussion aimed at generating ideas, solutions and
perspectives on an issue or problem. Brainstorming is a means by which to find the best solution
or the best idea!
At the beginning all ideas are accepted and after that team works and reduces the number of
options to one/a few that they think are the best for the current situation
Goal of the ideation phase is to find the best possible idea for the team (more than one person
must be willing to test the idea) and make sure the idea is feasible for the Start-Up programme
timeframe.
6.2 What is innovation?
Contrary to some beliefs, innovation is not always a totally new product or service. Innovation can
take many different forms and a good definition of the economic innovation is written by Joseph
Schumpeter.
Innovation is:
 The introduction of a new good — that is one with which consumers are not yet familiar —
or of a new quality of a good.
 The introduction of an improved or better method of production, which need by no means
be founded upon a discovery scientifically new, and can also exist in a better way of
handling a commodity commercially.
 The opening of a new market that is a market into which the particular branch of
manufacture of the country in question has not previously entered, whether or not this
market has existed before.
 The conquest of a new source of supply of raw materials or half-manufactured goods,
again irrespective of whether this source already exists or whether it has first to be
created.
 The carrying out of the better organization of any industry, like the creation of a monopoly
position or the breaking up of a monopoly position.
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6.3 Process and tips for brainstorming session
Below we guide you through the brainstorming session. There are many techniques to carry out
the process, so you can follow this or some other model.
Before you begin:
 Choose one person who will moderate the brainstorming session.
 The moderator should present the rules and the goal.
 Everyone must feel comfortable and needs to see the moderator.
 Ensure the materials you need – whiteboard, flipchart or just A4 paper.
Effective "brain attack " is an exercise with specific rules. Rules ensure freedom for each individual
to express his proposal, to be creative and help generate the most ideas.
We propose to following the rules for brainstorming session " :
Before you start the actual "brain attack ":
 Define a theme or focus for the brainstorming session. It’s advised to narrow down the
general topic, so you will get more focused ideas. Select appropriate criteria for narrowing
the focus. Below you can find few examples:
o Particular field (Sustainability, transport, computer tech.)
o Skill (something to do with painting, doctors, accountants, handcraft etc.),
o Device (Mobile service, bicycle, car)
o Local service (City, country, region)
o Target groups (kids, stamp-collectors, parents, senior citizens).
 Select who will lead brainstorming - this will be the person who will record all proposals
and makes sure rules are respected.
 Leading to familiarise everyone with the rules of the brainstorming and clarify the subject
and the purpose thereof.
 Sit in the room comfortable enough for everyone to participate effectively, to see what is
written, to hear suggestions and be seen and heard by the other participants.
 Provide the necessary materials - it is best to record on a white board or flip chart, but you
can use a plain sheet of A4. Provide also a marker / pen.

Recommended rules of " brainstorming " session (length about 10-15 minutes)
This is in an “all out” –session where you let your mind flow and create countless numbers of ideas
on the topic. Just follow the simple rules below:
1. No stupid ideas! Period! This is a brainstorming and its aim is to generate as many
suggestions as possible. The quantity is more important than the quality at this stage. After
you finish the initial ideation period, you comment on each of them and decide which ones
will be the best match for your team.
2. Encourage " crazy " ideas. Encourage creativity! The wildest ideas often help to make a
connection to innovative solutions.
3. Stay on topic. Innovate boldly, but try to be relevant to the topic of brainstorming
4. Record (by yourself or ask leader to do it) any proposal and do not comment on whether it
is good or not.
5. Do not criticise other people's ideas. You will discuss them after the brainstorming.
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6. Build on the ideas proposed by other participants. Be positive. Often the idea, said by one
participant, creates new associations for others - share your ideas and build on the
proposed ones.
7. All should participate and output several ideas. If you wish to ensure participation, you can
take turns, but this might slow down the idea generation, if you need to wait for your turn.
After the initial all-out session
8. Start grouping (and remove doubles) proposals by similar topic, theme, idea or
requirements.
9. Take a photo of the finished board with ideas once you are done with brainstorming and
grouping to make sure you don’t lose the results.
10. Review all groups more closely. Often there are large proposals and subtitles to a more
general proposal. Try to formulate sub-proposals around the main ones.
11. Discuss on the idea groups in the team and see if you can still combine ideas.
12. You should end up with a few idea groups to review more closely and start discussing a
selection process for the idea to go forward.
The rules are only recommendations, so you are free to modify or generate your own rules.
Additional techniques for idea generation:
 Random Input http://creativiteach.me/creative-thinking-strategies/random-input/
 Metaphorical Thinking (Using Comparisons to Express Ideas and Solve Problems)
 Reversal (Improving Products and Services)
 SCAMPER: Improving Products and Services
Brainstorming rules on video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjeJ60zQ8-E (illustrated story)
Scientific approach on brainstorming and good background information:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B69rnynnCA (Stanford University, 19 minutes).
6.4 Selecting or developing the idea
After you have completed brainstorming, it is important to consider and sort / prioritise the ideas.
Some ideas can easily be discarded but there might be few potential ideas you would like to
develop further.
There are several ways to evaluate ideas, read more in the attachments!




PMI : + and - and interesting
SWOT :Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
Thinking hats
Developing your idea
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6.5
Check-list for completion
 Multiple ideas are written down;
 Selected ideas are processed;
 Clear idea is written down and selected by the team;
o At least 1 person willing to develop it (to recruit others)
6.6 Narrow down your ideas
After you have completed a creative process, it is important to consider and sort / prioritize
the ideas. Some ideas can be discarded relatively instantly. You need to look into each of the
ideas and only keep the one you believe may have potential.
There are several ways to evaluate ideas. See here for idea evaluation techniques.
7 Set up the company team
7.1 Overview
Setting up the company team is a process where the idea meets the doers. Team must be willing
to work on the idea and make it happen. Team also needs to feel they have the ownership of the
idea and are fully behind it.
7.2 Goal
Team consisting from 2-7 people is formed and team is motivated and ready to rock.
7.3 Tips for team creation
Working as a team and sharing responsibilities is one of the fundamental learning points. Being
able to trust your team member gives you an opportunity to concentrate on the part you are
doing and makes the team stronger.








Discuss and elect the person who will be the president of the company. What kind of skills and
competences should this person have?
Motivate this person to involve other people and to establish a team.
Define what each team member is good at and where the weaknesses are.
It’s good to have people with different skills to divide tasks and a wider perspective on idea
development. You can even make a team of people from different universities.
It is more important to have a team with people who work well with each other than a team
with the perfect skills.
Define the business mentors you will need and find them.
Be careful of conflicts and try to settle issues as early as possible. There will be some conflicts,
but managing them well will make the team stronger.
Agree on common rules of communication and attendance (i.e. For team meetings etc.). Write
them into a contract of cooperation with the roles and responsibilities of the team members.
Be aware of these hurdles:
 Creating a business with a close friend can be great, but it will also carry high risks if things
don’t go as planned.
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7.4 Organizing a team
Organisational structures that are used in the business may not apply to your Start-Up, since the
challenge is to know what to learn, and where to find the customers. Form the team on the basis
of your skills and interests and contributions to the company’s plan.
Rather than established titles like marketing manager, try to organize on the basis on functions
and projects your company has to tackle. For example in the customer development phase you
can agree a responsible person for single goals.
Task
Due date
Person
1. Create promo material –
12.12
Mark
2. Create online survey
20.12
Julian
When there are well-defined tasks (such as paying the bills etc.) agree on the responsible person.
But most things in start-up are unique learning experiences and typical titles don’t apply that well.
7.5




Check-list for completion
Time management
Engagement
Personal motivation & goals are secured
Team strengths are mapped
8 Business Model Generation/conception/idea validation
8.1 Overview
What is a business model?
A business model describes the rationale of how an organisation creates, delivers, and captures
value.
Business models matter because whatever you do, you cannot escape having one. Any business –
successful or not – has a business model. However, the challenge is to organize your business
purposefully, strategically so that your business model helps you with:
 being more effective by focusing on the right customers and offering what?
 being more efficient by using the right resources and activities and working with the right
partners;
 being more likely to grow by finding a replicable, scalable recipe for your business rather than
scratching your head every day trying to answer the “what should I do next” question.
How will I formulate my business model?
A popular tool to work with business models is the business model canvas, which proposes 9
components to the way every business works.
Before you begin, you must understand business models a little better and understand the tools.
Access the resources below to prepare yourself:
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
A short introduction to the business model canvas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoAOzMTLP5s
Recommended further reading:
 Ostervalder Alexander; Pigneur, Yves; et al - Business Model Generation, Wiley (first 70
pages available as a free sample at http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/book)
Alternative business model canvas versions you can use:
http://leanstack.com/
http://vimeo.com/15395662
Business model – graphical samples:




8.2




Fifa: http://www.flickr.com/photos/businessmodelsinc/5655258082/
EasyJet: http://www.flickr.com/photos/businessmodelsinc/5570245737/in/photostream/
Facebook:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/businessmodelsinc/5570245727/in/photostream/
Skype: http://www.flickr.com/photos/businessmodelsinc/5898989366/in/photostream/
Goal
Students understand what business models are.
Students propose a business model canvas for their ideas.
Students identify and prioritise their hypotheses
Students plan their business pilot to test their hypotheses
8.3 Process and tips
To harness the power of the business model canvas for your start-up project, go through the steps
below:
1. Prepare by collecting some information about your idea. Fill in the preliminary SWOT
below before the working session on business modelling to guide you in collecting relevant
information, but do not spend too much time researching all the questions. As you will see,
the significant research work comes after formulating the actual business model proposal.
This SWOT can also help you assess if your idea is an also an opportunity.
Strengths
Weaknesses
 What proof of customer demand do
 What proof do we have that we
we have so far?
should doubt customer demand?
 What exclusive
 What skills do we lack in our team?
information/technology do we have?
 What key resources do we lack?
 What skills do we have in our team?
 Why haven’t we done something for
 What resources do we have?
this idea already?
 What competitive advantage can we
claim?
 What have we already done for this
idea so far?
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 Who is supporting us already?
Opportunities
 How big is the potential market for
this idea? How many people are
likely to consider this “problem”
serious enough to pay for it and how
obvious is it to them?
 Who is our competition and what
are their failing to do for the
customers? What (potentially
profitable) segments of the market
are they underserving?
 Which are the trends (positive or
negative) in this area of business
that can we use to our advantage?
 What elements of the macroenvironment (infrastructure,
technology, human resources, legal
requirements, etc.) are readily
available/favourable for us?
 Who is likely to support us?
Threats
 How big is the potential market for
this idea? How many people are
likely to consider this “problem”
serious enough to pay for it and how
obvious is it to them?
 Who is our competition and what
are they doing very well for their
customers? Why are they not doing
more (of what we think is a good
idea)?
 Which are the trends (positive or
negative) in this area of business
that can take substantial customers
away from us?
 What elements of the macroenvironment (infrastructure,
technology, human resources, legal
requirements, etc.) are not
available/unfavourable?
 What key partner is unlikely to
support us?
2. Generate your business model. Actually generate more business models.
Get a flipchart and post-its and generate as many business models for the same business
idea as possible. If you can only think of one, that is all right, but do not limit yourself to
the first version that comes to your mind. Think creatively and see if you can find nonobvious answers to the questions in the business model canvas - the competitors have
most likely already thought about the obvious ones
3. Choose one business model proposal
Do not discard the other ideas, you will likely change your mind and perhaps revisit some
of them. However, to begin work you will need to make your choice based on:
a) Your vision/intuition – choose what makes you most enthusiastic and energised about
the work you are about to start.
b) Several criteria, the most important being which version provides greater value to
customer; goes for a larger market (in terms of potential for income, not raw number
of clients); is more realistic, considering the your capacity to implement at this time.
4. Identify your hypothesis
Whenever you formulate a business model, you make a series of guesses. Sometimes these
can be educated, well-informed guesses, but most times you will be making unpredictable
claims – which is excellent, as this is the essence of entrepreneurship: if the answers were
already clear/obvious, everyone would be implementing your business idea by now.
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You can identify your business by following the protocol below. Simply pick up every idea
you have written in your business canvas and pass it through the assumption filter:
We propose that …. is a <key customer segment/strong value proposal/effective interaction
channel/key activity, resource/ etc.> for this business because we assume that …
Example:
We propose that people who are coffee lovers and like to entertain guests are the right
customer segment for our home delivery of specialty coffee products because we assume
that:
o they want to make their guests feel surprised/spoiled with good coffee;
o they enjoy drinking good coffee a lot more than brewing it (they like to be served);
o we can make excellent coffee, which even the most picky customers will like;
o they often entertain guests away from a coffee shop, so the delivery option would
be good;.
o they find it more practical to order for special occasions rather than do the work
themselves;
o they will not perceive ordering coffee online to be a “low quality solution”.
Write as many hypotheses you can identify at this stage.
5. Prioritise your hypotheses
After the initial hypothesis brainstorming, you might realize that some guesses are more
important than others. Prioritise (at least try) them based on the impact they can have on
your business if it turns out you were wrong in your assumption.
Obviously, the most important ones are those that will make your business model
completely impossible if they do not confirm. Choose the most important ones and move
on to the next step.
6. Chart your hypothesis
Use the Start-Up Programme hypothesis map to think about how you can test them in the
following steps of the program. See an example below.
<Note – this should be a separate chart, not a table in the document>
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Importance:
Hypothesis
Field test:
a)
most potential
customers tasting our coffee
appreciate it to be good
enough to order it for their
friends
b) participants at a test party
consider our coffee to be at
least “good” to “best they
have tasted”
Vital
We can make
excellent
coffee, which
even the
most picky
customers
will like
We will know that we were right when
Prove!
Build!
Test!
(interact with
(build a
(experiments)
customers to prove
prototype)
there is a need)
N/A
We have
Lab test:
successfully
a)
We received good
made our first
feedback from an expert. (e.g.
batch of
a barista) who considers our
specialty
coffee to be at least
coffee
commercial grade
Vital
They enjoy
drinking good
coffee more
than brewing
it themselves
More than half of
the potential
customers we talk
to/survey declare
that it is far more
important to
conveniently
provide guests
with good coffee
rather than
impress them with
their coffee
making skills
Shelf test:
a)
paying customers
order from us again or at least
indicate a concrete special
occasion in the future when
they would like to order from
us
Field test:
b)
Test customers we delivered
coffee to respond that ordering
coffee from us has made their
experience more enjoyable and
allowed them to focus on their
guests
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High
They want to
spoil/surprise
their guests
with good
coffee
c)
Most
coffee lovers we
talk to serve coffee
to their friends
and guests
d)
Most
coffee lovers we
talk to admit that
they consider good
coffee to be
important in
making their
guests feel
welcome/spoiled
Field test:
e)
deliver coffee to
several test customers and for
feedback after the
party/meeting they organized
Shelf test:
f) promote our mock website
and see how many people
click the “order coffee” button
(or what other actions they
take on the website)
g) actually sell coffee delivery
7. Make an action plan
Now that you have charted your main hypotheses, quickly make an action plan to begin
proving them. Remember this is an experiment in entrepreneurial action more than
anything else, so keep things simple by:
a) Focusing on your most important hypotheses.
Only when these have been proved should you consider incorporating secondary ones
in your business pilot project– otherwise you will be wasting time and resources.
a) Focusing on customer and value hypotheses.
These are the ones you can, at least partially, verify with very low costs: simply talk to
people. Do not launch into prototyping and experiments before you understand what
your customers are trying to get done first.
b) Keeping your action plan “lean”.
Don’t over-plan. Think things through so you are effective and don’t call the same
potential customers three times because you didn’t write down all the questions you
need from them or publish a survey without including all that you have to ask, but do
not spend days charting project plans, formulating objectives and so on.
REMEMBER: your goal is to learn if your guesses are good enough to make that first sell!
8.4
Check-list for completion
 Team has selected one business model they like to test.
 Team has found the most important hypothesis for testing.
 They have an action plan for testing the hypothesis..
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9 Customers analysis and contacts:
9.1 Overview
Understanding your customers and what they value is the most important part of launching a
business. Good management will get more and more important later, but, if you are not providing
something that the customers want, you do not have a business opportunity.
The first step to getting this part right is to move away from thinking that the customers want
features, products, services or specific improvements. Always remember this quote:
“In truth, you can start from the assumption that customers do not want to buy products and
services. Why would they? They cost money, time and sometimes a lot of stress. In fact, most
consumers tend not to buy a product if they can get the job done without it.”
Example: You have a computer that contains important information. Do you really like to buy a
backup hard disk (costs money) that you need to install (causes stress) and back up the
information (takes time)… if you can get the job done without it.
This means that you, as entrepreneurs, have the responsibility to find answers to these questions:
 Who are my customers?
 What jobs are they trying to get done?
 What are the outcomes that they value most and have the most difficult time reaching?
Remember that customers only buy your product if it gets the job done. To make your product
more desirable for customers you need to answer the following questions:




How can they do something that they can't do now (although they would like to)?
How can they do something better/quicker/cheaper than they can do now?
How to help them feel or look different or better than they do now?
How to fill the need the best way?
In the next chapter, we take a look at how to find the customers.
9.1.1 Customer segmentation
Segmentation means that you divide a large target market into smaller sets of potential
customers. One set will consist of people who have common needs, values or priorities and then
you design a strategy to reach the selected segment.
Usually we segment customers based on demographic criteria (age, income, location, sex, level of
education, occupation, etc.), but there are multiple ways to segment your target, for example:
 Behavioural segmentation divides consumers into groups according to their knowledge of,
attitude towards, usage rate or response to a product.
o Tennis players and movie fanatics (no matter their age or occupation),
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
Segmentation by occasions divides target market based on special needs and desires of
various occasions - for example preparing for a wedding or a funeral, occasions which only
occur a few times in a person's lifetime, but happen to large number of people.
Also a business can have multiple customer types at the same time, not all of them paying for the
product, but all important to get the sale done:
 Users
 Purchasers
 Influencers
A good example is the education market, where teachers may require course books to the course.
Students are users and purchasers (sometimes parents will help) but teachers have influence on
the items purchased.
9.1.2 Jobs to be done and desired outcomes
One of the keys to providing value to your customers is to understand what they are they trying to
get done. To get a better understanding of what ”jobs to be done” means, watch this short video
example where the professor Clayton Christensen gives an example why people really buy
milkshakes in hamburger restaurant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f84LymEs67Y
You can think of all products and services in this way, and not just the practical ones, as there are
several types of jobs:
- Functional
- Emotional
o Social
o Personal
As you might have seen in the clip, the job for the milkshake was to chase hunger away while
driving a car. Take a look at the table below the see what the commuting customers value.
Job (customer need)
Chase hunger away in a pleasurable way during
my long commute
Outcomes that customers value
Maximise the amount of time that passes
before I need to eat again
Minimise the amount of cleaning I need to do in
my car after eating
Maximise the feeling of comfort while I am
eating in my car
Minimise driving risks while I am eating in my
car
Etc.
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Another good example of a job very relevant to business people would be:
 I want to work productively while I am travelling.
This is a job which can be done by several products and services. We have become used to the
smart phone and the tablet, but remember that before these were invented, people used to rely
on other solutions to get the same job done, such as carrying a briefcase full of paper and
documents. This is why it is important to identify the important jobs and to always keep the
expected outcomes updated:
 alternative solutions may change in time and cater to different outcomes, but the basic job
will still be there for the long term – discovering and understanding it makes your business
more stable;
 even at the same time, there is no ”one size fits all” solution, there are numerous
opportunities to find market niches (for instance, business people who cannot rely on a
smart phone or tablet alone and need a car designed and fully equipped as a mobile
office).
For every job that a customer is trying to get done there are many outcomes that he values and
they are certainly NOT equal. Your job as an entrepreneur is to:
1. find out which are the most important ones;
2. then identify which of the important ones are least satisfied by existing solutions.
Identifying and measuring ”jobs to be done” and outcomes has become a very rigorous market
research process. You may not want to go through detailed research at this time, especially if you
want to act quickly to get your business out on the market, but it is useful to explore the resources
below, as getting a better understanding of the topic will help you ask the right questions from
the beginning when you are meeting with your customers.
Resources and information:
http://innovatorstoolkit.com/content/technique-1-jobs-be-done
http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/giving-customers-a-fair-hearing/
http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/finding-the-right-job-for-your-product/
Ulwick, A. What Customers Want: Using Outcome-Driven Innovation to Create Breakthrough
Products and Services. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005.
Ulwick, A., Turn Customer Input into Innovation, Harvard Business Review, January 2002
Alternative approaches:
Pains and gains:
9.2




9.3
Goal
Team has identified the most relevant customer segment;
Team has identified what are the main jobs that customers want to understand;
Team has identified what are the outcomes that customers value the most;
Team has identified which outcomes are the least satisfied by existing solutions.
Process and tips
1. Create a portrait of your customers
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Consider who your customers are and describe them from several points of view:
a) Demographic;
b) Traits (especially those that separate them from individuals with the same
demographic coordinates);
c) Likes/dislikes - what motivates them;
d) Relevant behaviours;
e) Average budget for the type of market/activity you are selling.
Additional statistics can be useful, where readily available, especially for documenting a
business plan.
2. Break down the customer experience
First, consider the context where you want to do the customer. What is he trying to get
done?
Second, consider what is he doing at this time and break it down into the steps he takes.
This is called analysing the customer experience.
3. Go talk to your customer
Make sure you meet at least some of your customers face to face. If that is not possible, at
least use a phone, but DO NOT rely on emailing. If you have the opportunity, get more of
your customers together – create an event/meeting where they would be interested in
participating, even if it is just to help in creating a new product/service.
Ask your customers what outcomes they are trying to achieve in each of the steps of the
customer experience. Aim to reach final answers that indicate what they are trying to
minimise or increase.
If they propose solutions (such as product features) or describe how the process should be
(easy, fun, interactive) do not stop here, probe deeper by asking why. Remember the
purpose is to find out what final result they want, not the means. You should be the expert
who proposes the solution, while the customer may have a very limited understanding of
what is possible or may ask for very small improvements of existing products/services.
4. Create a survey
After the initial interviews (aim to run at least 10 and reach for more for a business-toconsumer product), run a survey asking more potential customers to:
o indicate the importance of the various outcomes you have recorded;
o indicate to what extent those outcomes are satisfied by existing products/services.
This should give you a strong indication of which are the strongest market opportunities
and the jobs that your products/services should provide.
5. Keep communicating with your customers
Staying in touch with your potential or real customers never ends. As you have a better
picture of what you should provide you will need to confirm your other hypotheses, such
as the right price and value packages, interaction channels, etc.
More information on this will be available in the next chapter (prototyping.)
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10 Prototyping – Key studies
10.1 Overview
Prototyping is a development method in which a prototype (an early approximation or a “best
guess” of the final system or product) is built, tested, evaluated and then reworked as necessary
until an acceptable prototype is finally achieved from which the sellable system or product can be
developed. Prototyping is an important part of the Start-Up experience, since usually all the
customer/user requirements are not known. Letting potential users test the product will give you
valuable information about the characteristics and functions the customers need and use.
Prototyping is an iterative, trial-and-error process that takes place between the developers and
the users.
For JA Start-Up Companies the prototype can be part of customer development process as the
prototype is tested with real customers.
While doing a proto, keep in mind “how the functionality is seen by the user?”, not how it actually
functions. When a customer orders something, he usually doesn’t care how
difficult/hard/expensive/labour intensive etc. it is to deliver the final product. Try to build
something that looks real and works like the final end-product for the customer.
During the dot-com -boom there were plenty of examples of companies building the product
before asking the customers. You can find the biggest flops here.
10.2 Reason for the prototype
You need to have a clear goal on WHY you are creating a prototype and what you want to learn
from it . Design your prototype in a way that it answers those questions.
Possible reasons for building a proto can be:
 Testing the customer’s use on some functions;
 Testing the colour/shape/form of a product;
 Testing the customers perception of the concept.
There are also different types of protons that can be built. Some protos can also mix the types
below.
10.2.1 Can it be done? Proof of concept
The world is full of ”can’t be done” -innovations if
someone can figure out how to do it. With the proof
of concept you can give prove to a potential
customer (or funder) that the product or service can
actually be built and used. Also some functional
testing can be done. The product may not look pretty
or polished at this point in time. Service can be
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extremely laborious to perform but the point is to show that it will create value for customers.
Proof of concept product varies by the purpose, for example
 You can create a rudimentary demo product that performs certain functions.

You can test out the service concept for selected clients that request some limited
functionality. You can build a very selected list of contents for the service and then observe
how the customers react and interact during the service delivery.
For software services you can even build a paper interface prototype and let demo users
test it. See fascinating examples:
http://speckyboy.com/2010/06/24/10-effective-video-examples-of-paper-prototyping/
10.2.2 Mock up –proto (Visual or Wireframe prototype)
It can be useful to create a visual prototype of the product idea. This can be for example graphical
(3d) visualisation, series of images (in case of application
functionality) or a hand-made concrete product that allows users to
try it out in real life. Mock up clarifies the idea and allows test group
to visually evaluate the product.
Mock ups can be written on paper or you can use special software
for it.
Tip: For online mock Up’s you can use Mock flow free tool for basic
Mock Ups: http://mockflow.com
JA Finland - Plannithon JA
Mock Up
10.2.3 Testing of the on functional prototype
If your product is simple and you have a clear goal how it will be used
and what characteristics are needed you can test the demand on the
functional prototype amongst the customers. Examples can be simple
innovations like Tangle teezer (http://www.tangleteezer.com) or
service that can be performed manually in the back office. This allows
the customer to interact with the product and give a realistic opinion.
If you are allowed to sell your products you will gain even more
information, since a decision to purchase something is far more
powerful than a comment that ”I would buy that”. So always do the live testing if possible. In some
cases you can allow customers to pre-order a product or service, but then you have to be sure you
are able to deliver it.
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10.3 Goal
Your goal is to create a prototype that’s useful for validating your idea. A model can be a service
that customers can pilot or it can be a preliminary product customers and possible investors can
try out and real world testing can be organised.
10.4 Check-list for completion
 Written learning goals for prototype;
 Prototype is constructed on the selected level;
 Prototype is tested with customers (test type is defined by the prototype).
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11 Introduction to Finance, Cost accounting and Strategic Thinking
11.1 Overview
Finance in start-up is different from established companies and finance should serve the purpose
of estimating the value & opportunities created by the idea. Cost accounting also helps to gauge
the potential profitability. These measurements are essential for investors who decide whether to
invest money in the company and on what terms.
In the next chapter we will cover the following items on Finance
 Financial indicators for start-up (discovery phase);
 Calculating the production/service costs;
 Break even point for future planning;
 Price sensitivity analysis and customer willingness to pay;
 Customer and average sale analysis;
 Presenting the financial estimations.
11.2 Goal
Team understands:
a) The relevant financial indicators for the company;
b) How to do basic cost / management accounting;
c) Why investors will invest money in the idea;
d) Different pricing models available.
11.3 Financial indicators for start-up
11.3.1 Established company indicators
Established companies use turnover, budget, cost per-unit sold, profit margin etc. to measure
performance. But how do you measure a performance of a company that has not yet sold
anything , does not know for sure what the customers want or even who the customers are?
Remember, if we are building something nobody wants, it doesn’t much matter if we are doing it
on time and budget.
Erich Reich – The Lean Start-up
11.3.2 Start-up Indicators i.e. innovation accounting
To tackle this challenge, you need to set indicators that reveal if you are making progress and
inform you about the customer perception of the product. Indicators have to support your
learning about the product and they need to measure the right things according to your goals.
There is no template for it, but a few basic rules apply.
Example of the indicators in accounting/start-up indicators:
Goal: To know if customers are interested in the product
Sales day 1
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1. Traditional accounting: 4 products sold
2. Innovation accounting: 4/5 customers, or 80% of customers purchased the product.
Sales day 2
1. Traditional accounting: 5 products sold;
2. Innovation accounting: 5/100 customers or 5% purchased the products;


Which indicator will better express the potential and interest of the product?
Which is more relevant to test the demand of the product?
As you are building your own company you can decide what indicators you wish to measure and
set your own goals.
For profit making companies the sales, customer retention, value to customers and other financial
related indicators are common. If your company is a social venture you need a totally different set
of success indicators to measure your success. Then take a look at the principles of social audit.
http://www.socialauditnetwork.org.uk/getting-started/brief-history-social-accounting-and-audit/
Other relevant indicators can be:
 Customers coming back to use the service (retention, you know they liked it);
 Money the customers spent on one purchase (average purchase size IF they have options);
 Frequency the customers use the service / product (log-ins to system, time spent using the
service, amount of time same customer used etc.);
 User perception of the product/service.
Innovation accounting looks for reasons, behaviour and frequency of the customers and collects
relevant numerical information to support the product development and innovation hypothesis.
11.4 Calculating the production costs
One of the most important questions is how much it costs to create one product. This question
can be formulated differently depending on the automation level of your idea.
11.4.1 Physical product
If your product needs material, assembly, testing etc. you need to calculate two things:
1. Design and innovation cost of the final product;
Design and innovation costs are related to making you product suitable for resale, safe for
consumers (check the legal requirements if needed), manufacturable (design) what parts
to use, where to source them, finding a subcontractor, pilot testing etc. etc.
This process can be simple or extremely complicated depending on your product.
Examples:
 New office pen holder.
You can create the design in 3D software and use 3D-printer to make demos for testing
and send the 3D design and request price quote from a company.
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
Flotation vest for children.
You need to do at least the following: Legal safety vest requirements, approved testing
on dummies (no, you can’t test them on real users), approval by the safety inspection,
approved materials, design that will definitely work if the user falls in the water (quality
control), usage in different situation, manuals, guarantee of the product etc.
When you finish the estimation you will have a nice template on how much time & money you
need to make this a real product before starting the manufacturing.
11.4.2 Service product
If your product is pure service and all aspects can be fully automated then you need to estimate
the building costs of the product + service delivery platform.
There are many variables that can radically change the building costs and even take them away.
Small service products are usually also faster to pilot and try out than physical ones. Please take a
look at the important variables that impact on the service creation and delivery platforms
We advise you to start with “as light as possible” but with the solution that gives the customer a
feeling of the quality service. Remember: the customer doesn’t see or care how much time you
spend on delivering the service he ordered. Usually doing more manual work makes the system
easier (read cheaper) to build. Below are examples of the different stages of the service
development where testing is possible.

Mock-up service
Set up a website with ”contact forms as order”. The order gets to your inbox and you will
manually reply and send ”thank you for your order” -mail and invoice by PDF-file to every
customer. Then you deliver the ordered service (for example create a login for the
information site, manipulate photos, send tickets, write an answer, suggestion, analysis
etc.).
Read how the Groupon was started. http://www.nextbigwhat.com/groupon-story-297/
(Note: Currently they have quite a few disputes, but this is about how to begin)

Automated order confirmation
When you get tired of sending thank you notes, you can program an auto reply service that
takes the information from the order form and sends out a thank you note + invoice. Then
you manually set up/deliver the ordered service.
Customer gets the same service but you work a lot less.

Automated order fulfilment
You guessed it. When you are tired of doing same thing over and over again you can design
a system that fulfils the order automatically (customer can create login credentials online
and access the information automatically, material is automatically compiled or tickets
reserved)
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Customers get increased speed, you work even less per transaction and spend more time
developing the service delivery automation.
This was just a short example of a product development path. But keep in mind that not all
services can be automated. You need to estimate what level of automation is best for your
products and services.
Delivery platform made simple
Delivery platform is a place where the customers will buy or use your product (if web based).
There are various ready-made platforms for standard products and if they are available use them.
See the following examples:
 Books
If you create a book, you can sell it on Amazon, print on demand-service, iBook store and
national eBook stores, creativity, scribd etc. etc. You can also use one of the platforms to
publish your work. See for example:
o www.lulu.com
o www.creatavist.com
o www.amazon.com
o www.apple.com/apps/ibooks/

Apps for mobile or computer
If you create a computer/mobile app, you must deliver it through the app stores (Google
Play, App Store, Windows Store) or computer app stores (Windows 8 and OSX store).
o http://www.windowsstore.com/ ( Windows 8 computers and mobile apps)
o www.apple.com (used by ITunes in Apple Computers)
o https://play.google.com/store (Google Android phones & tablets)

Small computer script or website template
If you create a small computer script, website skin etc. you can sell them in the dedicated
marketplace that will give your work more visibility and handle all the payment options for
you. There are many different code-snippet stores around. See for example:
o http://codecanyon.net
There are literally thousands of marketplaces for products like photos, videos, handcraft and
more. Just search for the product line you are planning to create.
These platforms will give all the potential users easy access to your product, they will take care of
charging the customers (according the price you set) and they maintain the infrastructure for the
store. In return, the stores charge fees (annual fee + % of the sales). Terms and commission will
vary between the marketplaces. There might also be different commission or pricing options
depending on the software ecosystem (Android, IOS, Windows Phone). Look around for different
marketplaces and try to select the offer that best fulfils your needs. If possible, avoid signing
exclusive contracts.
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Special delivery platforms
In case your product needs a more customised delivery platform, you need to plan how to provide
it. Luckily, you can build your own platform in many stages and improve the automation when you
have an indication of the demand.
Think how you can create a platform to deliver your service and see if there are already good
platforms, you can leverage. Most likely they will be social networks OR websites selling similar
products.
Calculating the totals
When doing a budget or cost analysis, plan the steps of product development and estimate the
costs for moving to the next step. For example:
1. Mock up –service = 1000 € + 10€ month/running costs;
2. Automated order confirmation = 3000 € + 50€ months/running costs;
3. Automated order fulfilment = 20 000 € + 300€ month/running costs.
11.4.3 Break-even point
Break -even point is a point in sales where the sales exceed the costs. It tells you the minimum
needed sales volume where you can make profit.
Don’t calculate how much your first product costs, but rather make an estimation how much the
product will cost to manufacture when you have scaled up the production; for example
10/100/1000 <insert your target # here> units. Usually production price goes down when patch
size increases; this is called the ‘economics of scale’ principle.
Basic elements or the calculation
 Fixed/running costs (costs that occur even if nothing is sold);
 Selling price;
 Production costs (production costs can stay the same or change depending on the sales
amount. This can cause jump-effects on break-even point.
Additional resources:
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Break-even_(economics)
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZihWEVWCJYk
(5 min, Explanation from Goldman SWAGS)
 Finance templates for Break Even calculations.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/results.aspx?qu=Break-even+analysis
11.5 Pricing models
Historically pricing has been straightforward.
X € per product and if you buy a lot, you will get a discount. All you need to do is define the X.
Technology and the service economy have created numerous pricing models that are suitable for
service and immaterial products. We will take a brief look at them below.
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Cost based model / Market pricing
If you sell a product that requires resources and labour to manufacture, this is most likely your
best bet.
Calculate the production cost and add your mark-up to get the selling price for consumers OR
distributors.
 If your product is unique, there is no market price for and you need to test to see if
consumers are willing to pay that price.
 If there are similar products on the market, you can compare your outcome to market
pricing. Remember that a similar product is evaluated by customers, not you, and if your
product is unique and more expensive, you need to make sure your customers value that.
Give it away for free, and make money on advertising.
Most social apps, both web and mobile, including Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest follow this
model. It’s a very difficult model to follow successfully. You also need to remember that the user IS
your product, and you’re selling access to them to advertisers, who are your real customers.
Subscription pricing (previously called rental)
Subscription pricing has been around for centuries. Most magazines have been using this model to
sell their products. Most houses are rented, based on this model too. Over the last years
subscription pricing has become common in the software, music and TV-industry (even MS Office
has recently moved to this pricing model). The idea is simple. Customers pay a fixed (usually a
monthly) amount for the right to use the product or service. There can be different subscription
levels, so subscription pricing can be used together with value pricing. A larger monthly fee will
give you more. Subscription pricing will give a company a stable monthly income and a regular
customer base and may free time for product and service development instead of continuous
selling.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subscription_business_model
Free product, bundled with paid services.
This pricing model is common for open source software, such as Red Hat Linux, where the product
is available for free download, but customers pay subscription fees if they want support. Other
companies can also charge for installation, maintenance, training, customisation, and consulting
services. This pricing model is essentially a service business that uses free software as a marketing
tool. Note that most investors aren’t interested in service businesses; fortunately, service
businesses are good at generating cash flow on their own.
The “Freemium” model.
Many software companies like LinkedIn and Dropbox offer a free, limited-functionality version of
their product, hoping that some users will pay a premium for advanced features. The trick with
this model is to offer just enough value in the free version to attract (and hopefully lock in) regular
users, and incrementally more value in the premium version so that you entice conversion and
maximise cash flow. Your pricing must be a function of the incremental perceived value you offer:
Can you convert 1,000 users at $100 per year? Or 10,000 users at $10 per year?
Value model.
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If you can make a clear case for the value your product offers to the customer, then you can price
in proportion to the value. In some cases, the value could be monetary, as in savings: perhaps you
have a SaaS solution that takes the place of traditional desktop software, and the end user saves
on installation, on-going maintenance and upgrade costs, and local storage requirements. Or
perhaps the value is in terms of health benefits – maybe a new drug that can treat a disease faster,
with fewer side effects. The key to value-based pricing is to demonstrate that you deliver
considerably more value than available alternatives.
Tiered or volume pricing.
If your product is purchased in different quantities by different types of buyers, you can offer
tiered pricing. This is very common for B2B sales of printed matter or for apparel. Depending on
the industry, it might be something like a 10% price break for ordering 100+ units, and a 15% price
break for ordering 500+ units. This can also apply, directly or indirectly, to certain consumer
products and services: for example, the “buy 9 and get the 10th one free” punch card is volume
pricing in disguise.
Feature pricing.
If your product or service can be configured to have a “base” model with a variety of optional
upgrades, you can attract interested buyers with a low price on the bare-bones version and then
up-sell on the features.
Razor and blade model.
This pricing model involves a reusable “base” component that you sell cheaply (or even give away)
and a consumable component that must be replaced regularly. This is why ink jet printers are so
cheap: they make their money on the ink. This can also be used with medical devices where a
fresh, sterilized component must be used with each application. If you are selling the base unit at
below cost, you obviously need a deep balance sheet.
https://www.helpscout.net/blog/pricing-strategies/
11.6 Check-list for completion
 Understand the relevant indicators for success;
 Create your own indicators on how you account for success;
 Understanding how to calculate the product service costs;
 Know your product development steps;
 Know how you can distribute your product / service;
 Understand the concept of break even point.
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12 Introduction to Financial accounting, VAT and taxation
12.1 Overview
Financial accounting and taxation are important when you have spent money. In companies you
are accountable for all the money you use and in case the company turns a profit it is liable to pay
taxes.
In this chapter we present the basics of financial accounting (bookkeeping), value added tax and
taxation in general. These may not be the main concerns for you right now, but it’s important to
understand the basic concepts before starting to run the company.
VAT, Tax and accounting are also subject to the national laws and regulations, so keep in mind that
they differ between the countries. This might become an issue in case your company is doing
international business, since VAT (Value Added Tax) and accounting regulations may be different,
so always check the local legislation before starting import/export activities.
12.1.1 Financial accounting and bookkeeping
Bookkeeping often gets confused with accounting as the two encompass the same principles;
however, there is a difference.
Bookkeeping is recording, organising and managing all of the business transactions and receipts.
The main goal of bookkeeping is to keep the records up to date and accurate. This is vital, as the
books will show how a business is doing.
Accounting is about financial reporting, analysing data and filing tax papers. These reports are
generated on the basis of the bookkeeping.
Example on the difference.
Bookkeeping:
 Transaction 1 – material purchase 100 €
 Transaction 2 – sales 200 €
 Transaction 3 – sales 400 €
Accounting
 Sales total:
 Costs total:
 Profit
600 €
100€
500 €
Below you will find basic accounting reports.
Profit and loss statement (P &L)
Compilation of the accounting data that sum up all the financial activities during the selected time
(usually a quarter or full year). This means that you will have rows of information about sales and
expenses. This information can be presented in many different formats, but the basic idea is
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simple. You know how much money you have earned and spent and whether you have made a
profit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulpX3jX_UT0
http://www.smallbusiness.wa.gov.au/understanding-profit-loss-statements/
http://www.handsonbanking.org/biz/?p=212
What is the real value of profit and loss statement ( P&L) for the new start-up?
As a rule of thumb the more stable your business is the more P & L means.
Examples:
 An established company can compare previous sales and expenses and make estimates for
the future. Investors are eager to learn how the company performed and whether they
can expect a dividend or stock price increase.
 A fast growing start-up either has no previous records or these are obsolete, since the
business and earning models have changed. P & L does not contain information about
customer behaviour, satisfaction, retention etc. that are more important for a Start-Up company.
o Example: Twitter is estimated be worth billions and its profit and loss statement
shows a loss every year.
o http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/3/4792166/twitter-ipo-initial-public-offering
When you start to scale up your operations, it will be more meaningful and give also guidance on
how things are going.
Balance Sheet
A financial statement that summarizes a company's assets (what it owns), liabilities (debts) and
shareholders' equity at a specific point in time. These three balance sheet segments give investors
an idea as to what the company owns and owes, as well as the amount invested by the
shareholders.
The balance sheet must follow the following formula:
Assets = Liabilities + Shareholders' Equity
12.1.2 Value Added Tax (VAT)
Value added tax is a concept where companies are taxed only on the value they add to the
product or service by their own labour/effort/expertise etc.
For example:
 Company buys a product at 10€ and resells it ay 20€; it has only created 10€ of added
value.
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
Company sells a training package and buys 1€ worth of copies and sells the training for 20
€. It has created 19€ of additional value.
See the video for clarification: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmAbBu7VQjQ
VAT for individuals
VAT is a tax for individuals and not for companies!
1. When an individual buys a product it will pay the VAT in the purchase price (usually
between 20-25% in Europe), while certain products like food may have a lower VAT rate.
Usually the purchase price is displayed with VAT included in the price (Note: US stores
often display the price without the sales tax)
2. A company will collect the VAT and pass it to the tax services of the country of residence of
the company.
Example:
1. A service company will sell training for consumers.
2. Price of the training is 100€ (including VAT of 25%)
3. Price can de divided in two parts: Price 80€ + Vat 20€
4. The service company will pass the 20€ to the tax authorities and keep the 80€ to cover its
costs.
End consumers will always pay the VAT on the whole amount of purchase.
VAT for companies (how they calculate and pay it.)
For companies, the VAT has no direct effect, since it is only pass-through money for the company.
How the companies pay and deduct the VAT.
1. Company buys a widget for the price of 10€ (including VAT 25%);
2. Company calculates that it has paid 2€ of VAT on this purchase;
3. Company sells the widget for 20€ (including VAT 25%);
4. Company calculates that it charged 4€ of VAT to the end customer;
5. Company DEDUCTS the VAT it has already paid (2€) and passes the difference to the Tax
administration.
6. Company pays the 2€ to Tax authorities.
Companies can group al the purchases made in the VAT period (Usually between 1-12 months)
and calculate total VAT deductible and total VAT payable and then pay the difference. In case a
company has paid more VAT on purchases it can claim the paid part back.
12.1.3 Taxation
Basic taxation rules in are easy in the Limited liability company.
There is company tax that is payable when company makes profit.
Example:
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1. Company has 1000 € income and 500 € expenses.
2. Company declares a profit of 500€.
3. Company pays taxes on the 500€ profit (according the tax laws of the country)
In real life things get a bit more complicated since there are multiple ways to count expenses and
define income. Different countries have different laws that apply to taxation. Corporate tax rates
vary between the countries. In some countries the size of the company affects the taxation rates
and rules.
See more on tax & VAT rates for companies in Europe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_rates_of_Europe
12.2 Goals
Team understands:
e) How financial accounting (bookkeeping) works;
a. Turnover, expenses, investment and profit/loss statement;
f) How VAT works and affects the pricing;
g) How taxing system work for the companies in general in your country.
12.3 Check-list for completion
 You have organised your accounting in the Start-Up –company (in case needed).
 You know how you pay taxes on the Start-Up –company’s profit. (if money is used).
13 Transform the Business Models into Business Plans
13.1 Overview
The business plan provides the details of your business. It takes the focus of the business model
and builds upon it. It explains the equipment and staff needed to meet the details of the business
model. It also explains the marketing strategy of your Start-Up, or how your business will attract
and retain customers, and deal with the competition. Furthermore, the business plan presents
financial expectations for sales, costs and profit.
Overall, the business plan supports the business model and explains the steps needed to achieve
the goals of that model.
You can think of a business model and business plan like the process of building a house.
Blueprint is your business model you need to validate.
 Do I and my family like it?
 Can I afford it?
 Do I need to consult neighbours for acceptance?
 Do I get a building permit for the house?
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Only after the validation process is done can you create a “house business plan” with more
detailed information on building time, contract, financing etc.
The same applies to a Start-Up business plan. You do it after the initial idea validation.
13.2 Creating a business plan
Business plans usually have an Executive summary and detailed information that covers the
following topics.
Summary and main topics:





What is the business?
What is the market and our target?
Team skill summary;
Forecast profit figures and funding requirements;
Prospects for the investor/ lender.
In the Start-Up programme you create a short version of the real business plan. Try to create a
plan that will inspire you and potential investors and at the same time is realistic and doable.

Template for a business plan
Read more about how to create a business plan:
http://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/starting-managing-business/startingbusiness/writing-business-plan
Online business planning tool:
http://www.enloop.com/
13.3 Goal
 You have a clear business plan for your company that you can show to potential investors
or your local business incubator.
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14 Pitch and presentations
14.1 Overview
Pitch is the moment when you will convince somebody else about your product or idea. Pitch
contains the most important elements and is targeted to the audience (i.e. customers, partners,
investors etc.). Pitch can be delivered as a short oral presentation (usually without any warning) or
longer pitch on a prescheduled event, where you can use visual aids to support your message.
The pitch has different purposes in different situations, so you need to know how to prepare a
pitch for different target groups.
See the Pitch tutorial video from JA Denmark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyyPQmRBn0Q
14.2 Goal
Team has a great pitch for different target groups and presentation with visual aids.
14.3 Contents of the pitch
There is a great temptation trying to tell your entire history in 30 seconds. Don't! Concentrate on
the key messages that are relevant to the listener. These are the main elements of a good and
convincing pitch:
1. What you do
Define it in one or two sentences and use clear language that's understood;
2. What is the problem ;
Explain a problem from the customer’s point of view. Why are they frustrated, irritated, in
need of a better service?
3. Where is the money?
How does your company benefit from solving the problem and who is paying you?
4. Team & network;
Ideas can be turned into action by dedicated people who have the right skills, motivation
and time to make it happen. Having a large network of potential partners will increase the
changes of success. So present the skills, interest and commitment.
14.4 From pitch to presentations
Using visual aids like images, prototypes and so on can make your presentation, but they will add
more potential points of failure to the presentation.
Rule #1 & 2: Make sure it works
You can start your presentation by asking questions, but not the questions like
 Does anyone have a display adapter to connect my Banana -computer?
 Can I show a video from the website and do you have internet?
 Can you hear the audio of my laptop speakers?
We have all seen this, so don't try it again (unless you are selling a solution for this ).
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What to do: Make sure you have everything loaded up to your computer, bring your own speakers
(or test the set-up before) and purchase all the different adapters. Also buy your own remote.
Rule #3 - Make it clear and simple
The idea of the visual aids is to improve your message, not replace the speech with a written text.
 Use images, charts and product demos on the stage.
 Simplify the process. You don’t' need to show every step (unless you really have to).
 Don’t explain too much detail in the slides.
Take a look at the following articles:
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34274/7-Lessons-From-the-World-s-MostCaptivating-Presenters-SlideShare.aspx
and to balance the view you might also want to read a bit more feet’s on the ground approach:
http://www.brightcarbon.com/blog/the-presentation-style-of-steve-jobs-dont-try-this-at-home/
You can download presentation templates from:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/
Rule #4 – Look at the audience, not the presentation.
You are supposed to know what it says on your slides, so don’t turn the presentation into a mutual
reading exercise.
Create short speaker notes and use them to make sure you are on the right track and keep eye
contact with your audience.
Rule #5 Practise
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15 Practical Steps to Set up the start-ups
15.1 Overview
When starting a company you need to register with the national JA Office to gain official JA StartUp – Company status. Student companies’ legal status will vary between the countries, so you
need to consult your own country rules and regulations.
15.2 Check-list for completion
Cover at least the following topics:
 Legal status & differences between the legal company forms (personal company, limited
liability, cooperative etc.)
 Tax rules for students companies (or students in the company);
 Possible limits on turnover (VAT), share capital or profit;
 Max investment amount/student;
 Excluded business areas (optional).
Below is an example of the Finnish JA Start-Up –rules. These rules are for REFERENCE only and
cannot be applied to any other country. Please make sure you have your legal rules clearly in
place.
Legal framework of JA Start-Up –programme in Finland
Tax administration has given a ruling that JA-YE mini-companies don’t need to register as an
official entity as long as the JA Start-Up Program is inside the school curriculum and students get
academic credits for running the mini-companies.







Mini-companies have no legal status and they are instructed to use the school business
identity number if needed. (Some retailers cannot sell to individuals). In other countries
they register as a branch of the JA-YE organisation;
Legally, mini-companies’ income is considered as the students’ personal income and
students are required to report profit from the mini-companies on their tax declaration;
Mini-companies register on the JA-YE Office database;
Mini-companies have a maximum share capital of 1300 EUR;
Maximum investment per student is 100 EUR.);
Max turnover is 8500 EUR/company.
o If the turnover exceeds 8500 € the company will be subjected to VAT-tax 24%. This
tax is applied to the whole turnover, so 8500€ is a practical limit.
o Students are required to set up a real company if the turnover is likely to exceed
8500 EUR.
All mini-company profits are taxable as students’ personal income. Take note that there is
2000 Euro/year minimum income before tax is levied!
Agreements
Institutions must enrol in JA-YE as participating institution before students can set up minicompanies.
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Selling
Students can sell wherever and whenever they want, but institutions can impose restrictions on
particular items that students can produce or sell.
 This is usually the case where a programme is linked to professional studies (artisans,
education, design, forestry etc.) and students also receive credits based on the product
innovation, design etc.
Safety / Insurance
Mini-company students are normally school students and when performing the company tasks
they are considered as school students doing their regular work or homework.
In general schools assume the responsibility for minor accidents. JA-YE has a liability insurance to
cover non-company related accidents. Only the companies that have registered with JA-YE are
covered by the insurance. Registered companies can be found on the student portal.
Examples of the insurance cover in JA Finland (for reference only):
 Student goes to fix computer and trips over an expensive TV. This is a non-company related
accident and is covered. (he was not planning to fix the TV)
 Student is cleaning the house and breaks expensive TV while cleaning it. Insurance does
not cover that, since the company is actually cleaning the object it broke.
In most cases the insurance provided by the schools is sufficient, but please consult the JA-YE
official insurance company for more information. Contact details for insurance hotline are in the
teacher portal
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16 Understanding Intellectual Property
16.1 What is Intellectual Property (IP)
Intellectual property refers to the legal rights granted to creative works that are intangible in
nature. For example a painter owns the right to the images in his paintings, an engineer own the
rights to a new invention, and a designer to the design he has created. Commonly, businesses
create unique names and logos; this is also IP.
With IP rights, an owner/creator can manage this property, license or share with others, or
exclude others from using it. How IP is managed can be an important business model decision,
influencing the return on investment for the owner/creator:
 Example: A designer can create a unique chair design, then could make an agreement with
a manufacturer to receive compensation (money) for each chair sold, or he could sell
ownership of the rights to the design to a manufacturer for one lump sum.
Usually the creator seeks direct compensation for his work , but there are also ways to build
businesses with a more indirect return on investment in creative activity.

Example: In the information technology industry, some programmers sell licenses to use
the applications and games they create, while others contribute time and effort to
programmes that are distributed for free (such as the open source Linux operating system),
in order to make money indirectly on services or advertising.
In both these examples, the creator has the right to decide how to distribute and license his work.
Likewise, all companies need to be aware of the IP rights of others, and obtain permission to use
IP that others have created.
There is no single path for managing IP; each company can make different business model choices.
But an IP-based business can be rewarding: a study on the economic impact of IP intensive
industries in the EU found that IP-intensive industries pay higher remuneration than non-IP
intensive industries, with a wage premium of more than 40%
http://www.boostyouridea.org/ (JA Denmark’s excellent support site)
16.2 When to consider IP in a Start-Up?
When setting up a start-up company, you need to assess if your ideas (products, designs, images,
names, logos) are unique and whether you can claim ownership rights and protection (to preserve
their value and to prevent copying/reproducing that can undercut your business). Remember that
most ideas cannot be protected by IP rights, since similar ideas/innovation and products already
exist in the market. Depending on the level of time and investment it takes you to create your
product or service, it can also be a smart move to develop and market ideas faster than your
competition, rather than to spend time on protecting the idea from possible competition.
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Most likely you need to consider IP rights if you create something unique that would be easy to
copy and reproduce AND there are people who are willing to do it. Sometimes you could lose
rights if you do not take basic measures to protect them. Also, you also need to guard against any
improper use of the IP that belongs to others – even unintentional or inadvertent infringement of
IP can be costly to your business.
Read on about different types of intellectual properties and see in what category your idea will
belong.
16.3 Different types of Intellectual property
16.3.1 Copyright
Copyright applies to literary or artistic creations. It is commonly associated with books, music and
films, but can also apply to the unique written works or images created by any business – your
professional presentations or marketing materials, for example. Copyright gives the
creator exclusive rights to the creation, such as "the right to copy", but also gives the copyright
holder the right to be credited for the work, to determine who may adapt the work to other
forms, who may perform the work, who may financially benefit from it.
Copyright belongs automatically to the creator of the work, typically when the work exceeds the
threshold of originality. Creative works usually must contain some new elements and not be
obvious.

Example: If you take a photo of the public building, you will have the copyright of this
particular photo, but that does not prevent other people from taking similar photos.
Because copyright applies automatically, you should assume that others should seek your
permission before using your works. You can use the symbol © to signal that you reserve all your
rights, so anyone else must obtain your permission. An increasing common symbol like this :[CC]
signals that you will grant some permission without the need to ask. For example, Wikipedia uses
a Creative Commons license, permitting anyone to copy as long as you indicate that Wikipedia was
the source.
Citations:
Basics of copyright:
See more: Threshold of originality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threshold_of_originality
16.3.2 Trademarks
A trademark is a recognizable sign, design or expression which identifies products or services of a
particular source from those of others. The trademark owner can be an individual, business
organisation, or any legal entity. A trademark may be located on a package, a label, a voucher or
on the product itself. For the sake of corporate identity, trademarks are also displayed on
company buildings.
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Trademarks are usually recognizable and companies can spend a significant amount of money to
promote their trademarks like Coke (Trademark since 1944) or Apple. Trademark can also be the
name of a product like Excel or Word.
Usually trademark only applies in a specific sector or business line.
 For example you cannot start a computer company called Joe’s Apple Computers but you
can start a fruit company called Joe’s Apple Farm.
A recognisable brand can be a valuable asset in building a business and gaining more attention and
clients. Start-ups also seek to distinguish themselves with a trademark and logo, and do not want
to see their customers confused if competitors use the same marks.
To register a trademark in the European Union, or search to see if anyone else is already using a
name, you can obtain information from the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market
(OHIM):
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/CTM/index.en.do
See also this page for small businesses:
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/OHIM/multimedia/SME/SMEsinAction.en.do
16.3.3 Patents
A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or a company for a
limited period of time, in exchange for the public disclosure of the invention (i.e. when the
invention is published, others are not allowed to copy it). Invention is a solution to a specific
technological problem, and may be a product or a process.
Before the invention can be patented it needs to fulfil requirements a for patentable invention.
Most common requirements are novelty and a large enough inventive step (invention has to be
different from the current invention to a fairly large degree. Just making a small improvement to a
current product or invention is not enough).
Patents are usually fairly expensive for small companies and patent acceptance is not guaranteed,
so before applying for a patent you should make a good background check on the patentability
and benefits the patent can offer.
Keep in mind that if you plan to patent your idea, you have to apply for the patent before you
release the invention to the public. After the invention is released to the public, it is not
patentable anymore.
More information from the European Patent Office
http://www.epo.org/applying/basics.html
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16.3.4 Industrial design rights
An industrial design right is an intellectual property right that protects the visual design of objects
that are not purely utilitarian. An industrial design consists of the creation of a shape,
configuration or composition of pattern or colour, or combination of pattern and colour in three
dimensional form containing aesthetic value. An industrial design can be a two- or threedimensional pattern used to produce a product, industrial commodity or handicraft.
Trademarks in European Union can be applied for at the EU (Office for harmonization in the
Internal Market (OHIM)
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/RCD/index.en.do
16.4 Signing a contract
When you sign a contract with a company take into account what IP rights belong to the contract
and especially what rights are transferred to a client. Below you will find a few case examples of
different situations that include suggested transfer of the intellectual property right (you are free
to agree to any term of the transfer):

Training + support material
You train customers on skill X and include the training material to be used in and after the
training. You have used your time to create the training and the support material and client
can access this information on a fraction of the creation cost.
Suggested use of IP transfer: Customers can use the material in and after the training, but
cannot resell or publicly distribute the material.

Website creation
You will create a website for your client. You use an open source website engine, buy stock
images from the image bank and design a unique lay-out for the site.
Suggested use of IP transfer:
o You mention that the website engine is open source and public property (anyone
can use it).
o Clients owns the images in the website (since they paid for these) and can use the
same images in other projects (according the terms of the stock image site).
o Client scan use the web lay-out for an infinite period, but cannot resell it to other
customers. Clients have the right to modify the lay-out according to their needs (for
example to include a new logo, tweak it in-house etc.)

On- demand design/creation
You create a material especially for the client (for example write a company history book or
take photos of the company’s non public event). You get paid a fixed sum by the company.
Suggested use: Transfer all the usage and reproduction rights to the client. You can still be
credited as writer / creator of the works.
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o Events or history belong to the client and your work is to describe what happened.
You will get paid by the client, who takes the risk for the outcome.
You are free to agree anything, but usually the one that takes the financial risk is the beneficiary of
the end result. The same applies to a company whose workers receive a salary from the company.
If they invent something (while working for the company) it is the property of the company, not of
the person who invented it.
16.4.1 Trade secrets and Non-disclosure agreement
The most common type of Intellectual property for Start-up companies is access to non-public
information. In most cases the non-public information is related to specific company goals, future
products or marketing. Misuse of this information could cause harm to the company.
When you sign a contract with your Start-up company the contract may contain some confidential
information and requirements that are not public and you may not reveal this information to
others.
Examples of the trade secrets:
 Characteristics of a not yet released product.
 Client information (specially in the field of medicine and social sector).
 Starting date of a campaign.
 Price of a certain service (especially in a public tender for projects)
 Future events of TV productions/series .
Usually the amount of harm defines how much protection the company wants to have against the
possible information leak. Extreme protection is usually placed on new innovation and patentable
products with large development costs or information with major consequences. People who have
access to this information are usually required to sign an agreement where they promise not to
disclose this information in public. Depending on the agreement, sanctions can also occur in case
of breach of the contract.
Examples what can happen if trade secret is leaked:
 Innovation can be stolen by competitor.
 TV-series has to be cancelled. Would you like to watch <fill in your favourite series/reality
show/sports event> if you knew beforehand who will be murdered / eliminated / the
winner at the end?
16.5 Goal



Know where to find more information if needed;
Understand the different types of Intellectual property;
Understand the importance of trade secrets.
16.6 Check-list for completion
 Agree if the idea need IP protection.
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o If YES: contact the right body to move the protection forward.
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17 Assessment/feedback? and evaluation phase
17.1 Overview
Will be completed when the learning goals and skills are finished
17.2 Goal
17.3 Process and tips
17.4 Check-list for completion
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18 A follow-up—what’s next? phase for those who want to continue
18.1 Overview
In case your pilot and idea are well received you have the opportunity to Start-Up a real company.
Starting a new company is usually an unforgettable experience and you need to learn many
different skills. Many countries have different support systems for new companies and below you
will find the most common stakeholders that can help you when you have made the decision to
pursue your idea further.
18.2 Public advisor bodies/organizations
Many European countries have an extensive public support networks for new companies. Usually
they will offer the following services:
 Training and guidance business idea development;
 Advice on paperwork and legislation;
 Contacts to potential partners;
 Some countries offer public financial support for new companies (usually based on the
application process).
Example (with English content)
 Finland, Enterprise Helsinki - http://www.yrityshelsinki.fi/en
Regional organization helping start-ups in the capital region in Finland.
So take a look at your local enterprise guide service and use this as your first step.
18.2.1 Incubators
Business incubators are organisations geared toward speeding up the growth and success of startup and early-stage companies. They’re often a good path to capital from angel investors, state
governments, economic-development coalitions and other investors.
There are private and public incubators.
 Private incubators are for-profit firms that take equity or receive a fee for the business
services they provide to their clients. Basically they are a consulting company that is
specialized in new firm creation.
 Public incubators have a mission similar to private ones, but they usually don’t take equity
for their services. The idea of the public incubator is to foster economic growth in the
region and create more employment and entrepreneurship.
Most incubators are built around the Universities and similar educational institutions where they
have good connections with future entrepreneurs and can leverage the research made in the
university.
You can find your local business incubators from your university or take a look at the members list
in European Business & Innovation Centre Network
http://www.ebn.be/
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Global (US Centric) network of incubators:
http://www.nbia.org/links_to_member_incubators/index.php
Example of a business incubator:
http://ycombinator.com
Read more: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/52802#ixzz2idrlMptG
18.2.2 Finding investment money
There are many different types of bodies that can give funding for your companies. In addition to
private funding, some countries have public funding and support options for new start-up –
companies. Below you can find a brief introduction to external (private) funding opportunities.
18.2.3 Business-Angel investors
An investor who provides financial backing for small start-ups or entrepreneurs. Angel investors
can be among an entrepreneur's family and friends or they can be professional investors. The
capital they provide can be a one-time funding or longer-term support according the agreement.
Angel investors give more favourable terms than other lenders, as they are usually investing in the
person rather than the viability of the business. They are focused on helping the business succeed,
rather than reaping a huge profit from their investment. Angel investors are essentially the exact
opposite of a venture capitalist.
18.2.4 Venture capital – companies
Venture capital companies usually invest in companies that have passed the initial stage and have
some proven track records. They can usually invest larger amounts than Angel Investors and come
after you have received investment from the Angel investor and demonstrated some progress on
your business venture.
18.2.5 Crowd funding
Crowd funding is the collective effort to support efforts initiated by other people or organisations.
Crowd funding is used in support of a wide variety of activities, including disaster relief, citizen
journalism, support of artists by fans, political campaigns, start-up company funding, motion
picture promotion, free software development, inventions development, scientific research, and
civic projects.
Crowd funding can also refer to the funding of a company by selling small amounts of equity to
many investors.
One type of grow funding is to pre-sell a not yet developed product or service to customers.
Customers agree to purchase the service and either pay the cash or deposit the amount in a
locked-in account, until the product is done. Only after that the company gets paid and customers
don’t need to worry about losing their money. Below you will find examples of Grow funding
sites.

www.kickstarter.com/
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

www.invesdor.com
List of grow funding services:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_crowd_funding_services
18.3 Goal
Familiarise yourself with the opportunities for support structures and funding opportunities
around you.
18.4 Check-list for completion
 You know your local business advising organisation;
 You know how to seek the first round of funding or support for your company;
 You are aware or possible public support for new companies.
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19 Extra opportunities
19.1 Opportunities worth looking for
All students taking part in Start-Up programme are encouraged to continue their experience and
to identify opportunities to support their own businesses and turn them into reality, apply for
start-up funding and identify the right stakeholders in the start-up ecosystem.
The Start-up programme offers several opportunities to students who have successfully completed
their programmes and would like to start-up or grow their businesses. A few of these initiatives
are described in the next chapters.
19.2 Intel Business Challenge
Intel Business Challenge Europe is a competition for innovative products, smart technologies and
interactive web & mobile applications in the areas of:
 Healthcare & Medical devices;
 Energy and Cleantech;
 People & Society;
 ICT;
 Biotechnology;
 Nanotechnology.
The Competition showcases business opportunities with the greatest potential for a positive
impact on society through the commercialisation of new and truly innovative technologies.
It is an excellent opportunity for teams to learn how to develop an idea and turn it into a company
as well as a chance to promote their project to a valuable network of entrepreneurs, academics,
and investors.
IBC Europe participants will have the opportunity to receive advice and coaching from experts,
mentors, meet other entrepreneurs, and receive feedback from the jury. These opportunities are
available to the teams that advance to the second round.
Who can participate?
• Active students (bachelor, master, PhD) of all accredited universities and colleges from
eligible countries or graduates up to 4 years after bachelor’s or master’s graduation.
• Minimum 18 years old, up to 34, citizens or legal residents with a valid work or student
visa.
• Individuals or teams, may be accompanied by mentors.
Each participant (individual or team) may submit only one business idea.
How does IBC work and its integration with the Start-up Programme.
IBC works in 3 rounds as presented the scheme below.
1. The first round runs between January and June. In these 6 months interested students and
Start-up companies have the chance to submit their abstract for the Challenge and can
receive coaching and mentoring, take part in webinars and take online courses to improve
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their business ideas. All ideas will have to be presented through a Business Model and a
Video Elevation Pitch
2. The ideas will be selected for round 2 in June. The 24 selected ideas will receive mentoring
and tutoring during the summer to turn their abstract into real Business Plans and in
September will take part in the European Intel Business Challenge Final Event when they
will receive Face to Face Mentoring and Coaching. The winning 5 ideas will have the great
opportunity to take part in the Global IBC in Silicon Valley in October.
Why Take part in IBC?
Start-up Companies should consider taking part to IBC since they will have the opportunity to:




Win an executive program experience in the Silicon Valley with world class investors;
Intensive mentoring and training with business professionals;
Exceptional networking opportunities worldwide ;
International media visibility for your company.
19.3 Mentorship activities for Brilliant Young Entrepreneurs and other Awards Funding.
19.3.1 Objectives and Vision
The Brilliant Young Entrepreneurs (BYE) Initiative focuses on giving financial and mentoring
support to those participants developing business plans with strong potential in becoming real
businesses in the Start-Up Programme.
BYE is developed by JA-YE Europe in partnership with Hyundai. Through the “Brilliant Young
Entrepreneurs” initiative Hyundai provides financial support to those participants developing
business plans with strong potential to become ‘real’ businesses. Start-Ups from all participating
countries have the opportunity to benefit from the investment provided by Hyundai.
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In the first year of implementation 14 Start-up were supported through the BYE initiative across
Europe.
19.3.2 How does the competition work?
The Brilliant Young Entrepreneurs Initiative activities are divided in 3 main steps as described in
the following figure.
Activities
during the year
National
Competitions
Mentoring
Activities
Students in Start-Up
Programme in 15
countries across Europe
5 Finalists for each
National Competition
Investment given in 3
stages
Submit application for
BYE
National BYE Award
15,000 €
Hyundai and JA-YE
mentors will guide the
Start-Up in the 3 stages
September – April 2013
May – June
June – December
19.3.3 Who can participate?
University students from JA-YE Start-Up Programme from the following countries: Belgium,
Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, France, Lithuania, Macedonia, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal,
Romania, Slovakia, Spain and UK.
19.3.4 Award details
The 15 National Winners will receive 15,000€ worth of investment for their business development.
The investment is given in 3 stages; the package will include training/mentoring, funding for proof
of concept or IP, legal advice, market research and media opportunities at national level.
19.3.5 Judging criteria
The Hyundai Brilliant Young Entrepreneur Award recognizes the best start-up enterprise that has
demonstrated business potential, innovation in their sector and a clear plan for becoming a real
business.
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1. Business potential: demonstrate that the solution represents sufficient business potential to
justify the investment efforts and the risks to be taken. Show concrete steps and plan on how
it will become/is a real business.
2. Opportunities for growth: Demonstrate how well positioned the start-up is to grow, how
strong the marketing plan and scalable the business are.
3. Community impact: Demonstrate how the business benefits the local community.
4. Financial performance: Demonstrate how sustainable the solution will be beyond the initial
start-up period and forecast how the 15,000 Euros will be spent.
5. Innovation: Demonstrate that the solution is innovative and a culture of innovation was
created within the start-up plan and how it differentiates from competition.
19.3.6 Judging process
Stage 1:
 From February – May, the start-up teams apply for the Hyundai Brilliant Entrepreneur at
National Level.
Stage 2:
 In May a panel of judges reviews all entries and selects 5 finalists per country.
Panel of judges will consist of Hyundai representatives and JA-YE local Board members or
investors.
Stage 3:
 By June 15, the judges review the 5 finalists and award the national winner.
The prize will be given during the National Start-Up Programme Competition in each country
(dates may vary from country to country).
Stage
1
• February May
• Start-up teams
apply for the
competition at
National Level
Stage
2
• May
• Panel Judges
will identify the
5 finalists at
National Level
Stage
3
• May – June
• The judges will
award the
National
Winner at the
National
Competition of
the JA-YE StartUp programe
19.3.7 How to enter
1. Submit an Abstract/Business Concept of max 5 pages. The document should consist of:
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



An executive summary of max 1 page that should provide the essential information
to demonstrate the business potential, sustainability of the solution, and the
motivation and readiness of the team to make a real business.
A financial forecast (profit and loss forecast; cash flow forecast; and comments)
may not exceed one page and should provide sufficient information about growth
and investment potential.
Appendices that provide supporting information to the executive summary and
financial forecast.
The Abstracts/ Business Concepts should be presented in PDF format and the file
should not exceed 5 MB.
2. The 5 finalists will be invited to submit a 2 min Video Pitch in English.
 A short video presentation of your solution/company/people in a format of an elevator
pitch 2 min.
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20 Toolkit for JA entrepreneur
20.1 Online presence for the Start-Up -companies
20.1.1 Basic requirements
Online presence is necessary but the level of it totally depends on your business needs. Today all
companies are supposed to have a web page and business e-mail address. Some companies will
do fine with just that but most start-ups need a bit more.
When planning an online presence answer the following question:
 Is this good enough to serve the purpose?
 How much time I have to maintain and update?
 How much I am willing to spend on services?
How companies are using technology (In the Us)
http://www.nsba.biz/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Technology-Survey-2013.PDF
20.1.2 Process of building the online presence
When building on online presence you need to start from the bottom and work your way up.
This means that you need to stay focused and set up an order of importance and work with that.
Here is a proposition of how to start your with online presence:
1. Reserve/secure a domain –name;
2. Create e-mails and launch page (see next chapter);
3. Set up relevant social media pages (for example Facebook + Twitter) and start gathering
fans / followers for your development news;
4. Build a proper 1st website (basic company information, team, mission, service/product
description etc.);
5. Expand according to the company’s needs.
Buying a domain name
This means that you reserve your own domain for your company. You can do this by using virtually
any domain name selling / registration companies.
Then you pay about 10 €/year and this company will register the domain for you. There are two
kinds of domains
 Country domains are particular to that country and they end to the country suffix like be,
fi, hu, etc. Most companies have their national domain reserved. See the list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_top-level_domains#Country_code_toplevel_domains
Usually they are restricted by the local laws and certain regulations can apply when
reserving a country domain. Please check your local legislation for more information.

Generic Top Level Domains are commonly used domains (.com/.net./org etc.) that can be
reserved by anyone. So in case you plan to make your company international make sure
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you have your mycompanyname.com –reserved WITH your country domain. See for
example http://europeanunion.org/
You can buy Generic domains for example from www.godaddy.com but most likely it’s easier to
use a service provider in your country. Just search reserve domain in your country language.
How to get e-mails for my domain
Most businesses want to have business e-mails i.e. [email protected]
When you buy a domain you can usually have your business e-mails free of charge. If not, you can
use the following services to set-up your mails.


http://domains.live.com/ (50 free mailboxes for domains, courtesy of Microsoft Outlook)
www.zoho.com (5 Free mailboxes + additional mails if you recommend to a friend).
How to use the Microsoft outlook with your domain
http://betanews.com/2013/08/26/how-to-use-outlook-com-as-a-free-custom-domain-email-host/
What is a launch site/page?
Launch page is just one-page website with ”coming soon” information and possible ”sign up to
hear more” – form on it.
This will give you a head start before you open your actual site and you can run some viral
information in social media. Remember: and as a start-up you can use this as an excuse for not
yet having a website.
The most used launch page system is launch rock which has an excellent blog to give you ideas
how to reach customers before the site opens, so you will have visitors from the day one.
http://launchrock.com/
http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/how-to-launch-a-brand-new-website/
You can of course use any website tool to create a one page website with your logo on it.
How to build web pages
There are two very different aspects of creating a website
1. Content;
2. Technique;
And we will go them through briefly in this.
Content
This is why you create a website. You want to deliver information to your customers. Information
has to be targeted, easy to reach and as relevant as possible.
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There a millions of guides on creating killer websites, but if you use the following basic principles,
you will get your first website ”good enough” for the launch.
A good basic website contains:
 Clear message to the target group (i.e. Those visitors you want to reach);
 Information about the company and the team;
 Explain what you do and sell.
o Good style is to have little information on the front page and links to various
information pages depending on what the visitor is interested in.
 Contact information (not just a form – contact us and we will contact you);
The point of having a company e-mail is that people can reach you. If you don’t want to
place your personal phone # on the web, just buy prepaid or extra line and find an old cell
phone. Remember to set up a voicemail in case you don’t carry the phone with you.
Examples:
 https://www.izettle.com/ (Take card payments easily; you might even want to sign up)
Technology
There are multiple of ways of building a website. We will cover opportunities that are targeted to
non-experienced users.
There are two main formats to build a website.
1. Online website engine
2. Self hosted website content management system (Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal etc.)
1) Online website engine
If you don’t know where to start then an online website engine is for you. It’s a service that you
use to create your first website and publish that under your own domain. In most cases you can
even create a demo site before publishing your work.
There are dozens of different engines available and their differences are sometimes quite small.
Below is a short checklist for suitable service and two recommendations for starting your first
website.
1. Price – check how much the system costs with your own domain (some offer free service
as long as you use their domain (http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/). Most likely you
don’t want to do that. It’s OK for a local hobby club but not for a serious start-up.
2. E-mail – make sure you can have e-mail accounts linked to this service.
3. Usability – Try to make a small web page and see if you succeed. This is the best way to
evaluate the functionality.
4. DO IT.
Recommended services:
 http://wordpress.com One of the largest online website engines in the world. Cheap.
Opportunity to grow on the next level if online site builder is not enough.
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

http://www.squarespace.com/ - stylish sites, fairly easy to use, 10 USD/month.
Search for your local companies and you might find even better opportunities.
2) Self hosted website content management system
Self-hosted site is for you:
 If your website needs more advanced features;
 You need to localize it;
 Require more control on the lay-out and options;
 You are comfortable with computers and solving small problems and reading support
manuals.
This basically requires the following steeps
1. buy an internet web hosting packet +internet domain from the provider (for example:
http://www.hostpapa.com/ ). You will also find plenty of local providers by looking at web
site hosting <insert your country here> on search engine. You are basically renting a weboffice space (piece of hard-disk) to store the information you want to put on the web.
2. Install the content management system on the hosting company’s service. Recommended
system is currently Wordpress (wordpress.org), but many others exist.
3. Learn how to configure and set up the system.
4. Create a website.
5. Make sure the system is secured and backed up.
Honestly don’t do this if you don’t have a friend to help you. This is the path the more
experienced users usually select. In case you are willing to put up some time to learn a new
skill, then this might be feasible.
20.1.3 Web shop
There are multiple options for online sales. You can create your own web shop or use some of the
ready made selling platforms to deliver your product and we recommend using one for your first
online goods and services.
It’s not the technology for holding back the web shop, but rather a marketing and getting
customers. You can take a look how easy it is to technically start the web shop, but again
remember that marketing is the key to success.



www.tictail.com
http://www.miiduu.com
Search web shop engine, free web shop software, how to start online sales.
Marketing tips for online sales. You can also use these tips when planning your future operations
and get a good to do list for your team.
http://www.shopify.com/blog/7900695-12-social-marketing-strategies-to-grow-your-onlinesales#axzz2jIQMrFzp
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20.1.4 Online brand and social media
When you are testing the demand, Facebook (or other social media presence) is an easy way to
spread the word among the friends. This way you will also get the first round of customer
experiences. When you are done with that you need to take a more active look at the
characteristics of different social media platforms and focus on the most important ones.




http://www.powerupsocial.com provides good information about various platforms and
their abilities. (note US centric view on the issues).
See for example social media usage in Russia and think where would you need to start:
http://www.russiansearchtips.com/2013/01/russian-social-networks-in-numbers/
http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-strategy/social-media-strategy-in-8steps/ (see the article on basic social media strategy).
20.2 Online office tools
This chapter presents the basic online tools for running the operations of the JA Start-Up company
20.2.1 Online collaboration and back-up
In theory hard disks never break and you are not planning to lose your computer. Still the same
people use safety belts in a car. Are they planning an accident?
Current technology has made it really simple to backup and save your work on the web (or cloud
as it’s called). What you need is a suitable service combined with an application that does it for
you.
The basic idea is that you create a “backed” folder on your computer and attach this folder to the
service. After that all the files and subfolders are automatically saved and backed up to the cloud.
(disclaimer: There are certain security question about NSA being able to access your data. Unless
you are working on something really secret, we don’t believe that your JA Start-up data is relevant
for US National security.)
There are many quite similar services to be used and you can familiarise yourself with them from
the following links



www.dropbox.com (most used and supports all the platforms)
www.skydrive.com (together with your Microsoft account, i.e. Outlook.com)
Google Drive – Together with your Google account (usually Gmail)
All the services allow you to store data on the cloud and also invite your team members to share
and access the same data. This way you can share all the information with each other without
sending attachments or losing your work.
20.2.2 Invoices
We recommend you to use online software to create your invoices and track the sales.
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Due to banking, currency etc. issues the local solution may be best suited to your needs.
Example from Finland:
Holvi.com
Truly remarkable online service to do your invoices, small web shop (with credit card payment
integration), expense tracing and basic accounting. All online, no set-up or monthly fee,
transaction per sale/invoice 0,9€.
Opening up in Europe soon (by the time this is ready they are open…)
www.holvi.com
20.3 international
Countries involved, stats,
links to other countries sites:

www.jaStart-Up.com (Finland)
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