STAY AFLOAT

<< Background >>SMEs have undisputed significance in driving Europe’s economic growth, accounting for 85% of new jobs and 66% of private-sector employment. As such, the quality and relevance of entrepreneurship education provided for new and existing entrepreneurs played a key role in achieving the 2020 goals of smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth. Statistics showed that more than half of European businesses will not survive past the 5-year mark. As such, business failure is recognized as an important topic. But to date, the emphasis has been placed on accepting failure and helping entrepreneurs learn from the experience and start over again. But this overlooks the huge economic, societal, and personal consequences of business failure. STAY AFLOAT project was developed to help entrepreneurs and SMEs identify and interpret early warning signs of a business crisis, with the aim of increasing the number of business advisors (coaches) who are incorporating early-stage warning signals of business crises and intervention strategies into their training programs. By improving the skills and attitude of business advisors, the effectiveness of entrepreneurship training is increased, and waves of change have been made through entrepreneurship teaching<< Objectives >>The STAY AFLOAT project aims to equip the project's target group with key competencies outlined in the 2018 Proposal for a Council Recommendation on Lifelong Learning. It emphasizes entrepreneurship, creativity, critical thinking, and effective process management, which are crucial in today's dynamic landscape. Through the STAY AFLOAT project, we equip entrepreneurs and their teams with a diverse set of skills, including emotional intelligence, which directly impacts professional performance and organizational success. By fostering employability and personal development, the project enhances civic participation and supports the development of businesses and intermediary bodies. Our training methodology, based on Open Educational Resources (OER) and online learning, ensures accessibility and flexibility for all participants. By making materials available in multiple languages and under a creative commons license, we aim to maximize outreach and encourage the continuous development of entrepreneurship competences among low-qualified adults. Ultimately, the STAY AFLOAT project seeks to foster a culture of lifelong learning and innovation, empowering individuals to adapt to the demands of a dynamic global economy.<< Implementation >>In the STAY AFLOAT project, we implemented a series of activities aimed at supporting on one hand entrepreneurs (especially those low skilled), to discover and develop the talents that are vital to starting, growing, and sustaining a thriving enterprise. On the other hand, the focus is on coaches and facilitators in order to give them the resources and knowledge they need to fully support current and future entrepreneurs in understanding the skills based on coaching and EI and their unique talents. With that guidance, entrepreneurs will develop their talents into strengths to achieve greater business effectiveness and success.Our activities focused on various aspects:- Establishment of Committees: We formed Executive, Promotion and Communication, and Quality Committees to streamline project operations and responsibilities.Working Groups Formation: We organized working groups to develop detailed plans for the project's three main results, fostering collaboration and task delegation.Creation of Website and Virtual Collaborative Environment: We established an online platform for sharing consortium documents and facilitating communication among partners.Transversal Activities: These included project management, monitoring, evaluation, communication, and exploitation of project results throughout its duration.Management and Implementation Activities: Led by the coordinator, these encompassed quality control, risk assessment, financial management, coordination of partners, organizing meetings, and addressing project issues.Regional Training Systems (R1 and R2): Implemented at a regional scale, these systems aimed to minimize travel efforts while providing effective training for entrepreneurs and facilitators. They formed the core of the project and were tested and adapted across project countries.Development of Training Guides: Guides for learners and facilitators were developed to support the use of the OER training system within formal training settings.Maximizing Impact through Engagement: We promoted project results and engaged with target groups through focus group discussions and questionnaires in all project countries.Emphasis on Face-to-Face Contact: While project information was available online, we emphasized the importance of face-to-face interaction between facilitators and end-users for effective implementation.By implementing these activities, we aimed to promote sustainability among young companies, enhance employability, and equip entrepreneurs with the skills needed for business success in their crucial first five years.<< Results >> Result 1: Stay Afloat Framework – a digital document available in English and all partner’s languagesThe result can be accessed on the project's website: https://stayafloat-erasmus.eu/result-1-2/The main object of this result was the identification of 15 situations experienced by entrepreneurs during the first five years of a new Company that can be helped by a coach in order to overcome the most critical difficulties by using coaching and Emotional Intelligence skills and tools and create a Framework. This output wants to asses and helps entrepreneurs (especially those low-skilled) to discover and develop the talents that are vital to starting, growing, and sustaining a thriving Enterprise.The framework of this result has been the consequence of the research carried out by the eight partners of the consortium (I&F-Ireland, Forum Educativo-Spain, CPIP-Romania, CSR Inosolutions-Norway, Coworking Plus-Denmark, Die Berater-Austria, Innovation Hive-Greece, and Aproximar-Portugal) through surveys of entrepreneurs with businesses less than five years old, in each of the countries involved.The information resulting from the surveys has made it possible to identify the 15 most dangerous situations faced by inexperienced entrepreneurs in the first years of a business. Result 2: STAY AFLOAT CURRICULUM AND OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OERS)The consortium developed a complete toolkit for business advisors to teach entrepreneurs early-stage intervention skills as part of their business development programs. The result is available in all partners' languages and can be accessed on the project's website: https://stayafloat-erasmus.eu/result-2/Result 3: STAY AFLOAT ONLINE COURSEBased on the OERs and optimized for digital delivery, the developed course enables SMEs and entrepreneurs to develop and test their skills. The course can be accessed on the project's website: https://stayafloat-erasmus.eu/result-3/