- Albania
- Bulgaria
- Czech Republic
- Estonia
- Finland
- Kosovo
- Greece
- Hungary
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Sweden
- Iceland
- Andorra
- Belarus
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Cyprus
- Hungary
- Russia
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Ukraine
- Vatican City
- Liechtenstein
- Malta
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- North Macedonia
- One student or university staff member is responsible for the initiative and committed to founding the Junior Enterprise. Find the co-founders that will work with you (5 is highly recommended).
- Establish a contact with JEE. You will have an Enlargement Manager to guide you through the whole process.
- Understand the history, culture and purpose of the JE Network, how it works globally, and the characteristics of a Junior Entrepreneur.
- Define regular meetings to follow up the process and discuss new steps. Look for a common workplace and tools to start.
- Know the International Maturity Model — a framework to transform Junior Initiatives into Junior Enterprises. Define a Development Roadmap with clear goals, tasks, deliverables, owners and deadlines.
- Get in touch with some Junior Enterprises from the same field of study to understand how they work and what they do.
- Create an initial Business Model Canvas and Value Proposition Canvas to understand, draft and define your business guidelines.
- Run a Market Research to better understand your target market, evaluate its needs, demands, channels, preferences and success criteria.
- Define an initial portfolio of services related to your field of study that you can offer and write a proposal about it.
- Define a Corporate Visual Identity, including the Junior Initiative’s name, logo, colours and personalised templates for documents and presentations.
- Present the initiative to the university to find support and collaborations. If possible, find a teacher to be the mentor of the Junior Initiative.
- Present your Junior Initiative to potential clients: pitch the JI, test your portfolio fit-to-market, and get feedback for improvements.
- Present your Junior Initiative to companies: the private sector can support the JI as knowledge partners and advisors.
- Present your Junior Initiative to organisations supporting entrepreneurship: join the entrepreneurial ecosystem (incubators, accelerators, training programs, and entrepreneur’s network) of your region and improve with a strong local network.
- Complete the legal process required in your country in order to be registered as a non-profit organisation. You must start by writing and registering the statutes of the Junior Initiative.
- Create the Internal Rules, including the Selection and Election Processes, which must be defined and agreed on by all members.
- Elections must be held and the JI must have its first Executive Board. Register the Minutes of Possession for the legal process.
- Create a Bank Account for the Junior Initiative.
- Define strategic goals for the future of the Junior Initiative and plan your first budget.
- Define the Junior Initiative’s organisational structure, departments and responsibilities.
- Start promoting your Junior Initiative to external stakeholders. Define a communication strategy and start implementing it.
- Define your recruitment and selection process and execute the first recruitment process to grow your team.
- Define the Training Programs for new members.
- Define the internal communication tools and workplaces.
- Define the Project and Quality Management together with follow-up practices for your projects.
- Define the commercial procedures and get your first client to work on a project.
- Define knowledge management and handover practices.
- Get more active in the Network. Look for opportunities to participate in National and International events. Virtual events can be an option to get yourself out there.
- Evaluate the Roadmap you did back in step #1 to ensure you went through all the stages. Check the International Standards for Junior Enterprises and ensure the JI fits every aspect of its criteria.
- Discover the membership process.
- Follow the steps described by the recognition organisation in the application procedure.
- Join the JE Network by successfully completing the process and being approved by JEE.
A study from the European Commission shows that Junior Entrepreneurs have up to 20 percentage points higher employability and twice the propensity to create their own business. Compared to other academic opportunities, the JE concept gives ownership and responsibilities to the students for managing a company-similar structure, which takes their personal and professional development to a higher level. Junior Entrepreneurs have access to an international network of exceptional students, with an entrepreneurial mindset and a collaborative spirit — and is not easy to find in other initiatives to foster employability.
It really depends on the motivation of the students. Completing the Maturity Model should can take between 6 months to an academic year
Our steps in the maturity model give you some clues to find the first project. The easiest way is through your personal network or through your professors. Yes, you will need at least a project, so you can prove your viability as Junior Enterprise.
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