Samenvatting

The starterstraject is a project set up by the Chamber of Commerce and the city of Zoetermeer. The goal of the starterstraject is to give the starting entrepreneur a head start. The starting entrepreneur is prepared for the risks and difficulties that arise when starting a new business. The starting entrepreneur faces many difficulties when starting a new business and these difficulties have as a result that around 50% of the businesses does not last more than five years. The starting entrepreneur is not well prepared for the risks and difficulties. With the starterstraject these risks and difficulties are tackled and starterstraject will make starters aware of the commitment that is required for starting a new business. The city of Zoetermeer subsidizes the starterstraject. With this subsidy the starterstraject is accessible for all starting entrepreneurs.
The Chamber of Commerce and the city of Zoetermeer are interested if the subsidy is well spent. Therefore the main research question is: How effective is the starterstraject and are there possibilities for improvement? In order to give a full answer to this question, it was divided in sub-questions. In order to research the effectiveness of the starterstraject, the effectiveness is measured by contacting the participants of the starterstraject. The participants were able to give their opinion about the starterstraject. Furhtermore the participants could also give any leads on improvement of the starterstraject.
The participants or customers of the starterstraject were researched as well. The participants had to fill in an intake form before starting the starterstraject. This form gave a lot of information about the participants. The majority of the participants are educated and want to start a business to be his or her own boss. Furthermore most of the participants do not need extra investments to start a new business. A reason for this can be found in the way this new business is started. The vast majority of the starters are entrepreneurs without personnel (ZZP'er). There are almost no boundaries to start as a ZZP'er. Most of the ZZP'ers will start in the business services sector.
The participants face problems when they are starting their business. The starterstraject is designed to assist these entrepreneurs, but the starters are not being helped with their main problem. The main problem of the starting entrepreneur is to get enough orders in order to exist. Failing to get the right amount of customers is a problem most of the entrepreneurs face throughout Europe. Still most of the participants of the starterstraject are optimistic about the future and think that they will have a well functioning business in five years. To research if the majority of the participants are right with this view an extra research is required.
Throughout Europe entrepreneurs of small and medium enterprises (SME's) face almost the same start-up problems. Therefore the European Union has set up a Single Business Act (SBA). This SBA is installed to create an economic climate which is optimal for SME's. SME's are vital for a well functioning economy, on a national scale as well as on a European scale. Without an increase of SME's the growth of the economy will stagnate. SME's boost local economies and therefore Member States and Europe stress the importance of SME's. The starterstraject is an example how local government is acknowledging the importance of SME's and consequently assists starting enterprises. It is an example of the "Think Small First" principle. This principle is an outcome of the SBA. This principle is what the SBA is all about. When installing new economic measures, the SME's should be kept in mind.
Another outcome of the SBA is the set-up of various projects that assist SME's. Like the starterstraject, these projects are designed to tackle the problems and risks that starting entrepreneurs face. These projects are sponsored by the Member States, where the projects take place, and the European Union. The projects will educate the starting entrepreneurs, but have different ways of educating. The starterstraject focuses more on seminars and personal counseling. Other projects have a more practical outcome and provide an exchange for starting entrepreneurs. Another project provide the entrepreneur a digital office window, where the entrepreneur can sign in and get all the relevant information and necessary forms. All of these projects have the same aim, which is to increase the growth of successful enterprises and give starting entrepreneurs a head start. This is the same goal as described in the SBA.
As described, the goal of the starterstraject is to provide a head start for starting entrepreneurs and make them aware of the risks and difficulties that arise when starting up a business. The effectiveness of the starterstraject is hard to define. More than 60% of the participants have been able to start up a business. However more than 50% do not have enough customers. Still the participants indicated that the starterstraject has helped them and provided them with information that helped them a lot. It was so helpful, that a vast majority of the participants did not need any help after the starterstraject.
The participants of the starterstraject are aware of the risks and their business plan will get a critical overview. This should enable them to make a choice of starting a business or not. Both of the decisions are good, because the entrepreneur will not rush into starting a business and will make a well considered decision. This decision is an outcome of the starterstraject and therefore has made the starterstraject effective for starting entrepreneurs. It would be recommended that the city of Zoetermeer should keep on investing in the starterstraject and if possible look for extra funding from the EU. The investment has proven to be valuable for starting entrepreneurs and gives the city a good overview of the lifecycle of the starting entrepreneurs. In order to keep an eye on the starting entrepreneur the Chamber of Commerce can conduct surveys every five year in order to get a better view of starting entrepreneurs and their problems. This way the effectiveness of the starterstraject can really be determined and policy regarding entrepreneurs can be made thoroughly.