Final Report of the Expert Group - European Commission - Europa

‣ R@ - Computer mice (Estonia)In Estonia, in 2003/2004 the student company R@ was organised in an upper secondary school of asmall village in Estonia. The student company worked as an extra-curricular activity.The product of the student company was a computer mouse covered with fabric and having theappearance of a toy. As a result of a good selling strategy the student company’s product became quitewell-known and popular in Estonia and there were articles about the company in newspapers.By now some members have graduated from secondary school and they are all studying in highereducation institutions. They plan to create their own company.This case is extremely important in Estonia, as in small villages in southern Estonia the unemploymentrate is high and entrepreneurial spirit is not widespread. It is hard to find even local businessconsultants for these students. Everyone from this group claims that they have achieved a newthinking pattern – they see entrepreneurship as an important option in their lives. They are also willingto promote student companies as an important learning tool. After their success and its reflection inmedia, student companies have become quite popular among students and also among parents.‣ “School Days” – School yearbook (Ireland)In Ireland, “School Days” is an example of a real mini-company set up by 16 students at an all-girlssecondary school in Dublin as part of the Transition Year “Get up and Go” Mini- CompanyProgramme”.Recently, the final year students at the school had requested a yearbook for their final year. Theyasked the Transition Year students to produce one for them as part of the Mini-Company Programme.After a few meetings and a lot of market research, it was decided that this was a good idea and wasfeasible. The objectives of this Mini-Company were to produce a snapshot of the academic year2003/2004 in the form of a 32-page, A4 size, full colour glossy yearbook.Through advertising, sponsorship and sales of the product the students made a profit of €3,600.Students had an opportunity to gain first-hand experience of planning, setting up and running abusiness enterprise. Idea Generation and Business Planning were key components in the processenabling students to identify possible first steps needed in initiating and developing ideas forenterprise start-ups‣ Presnatch - ”Preventor” hooks (Sweden)In Sweden, the business mission of the mini-company “Presnatch” is based on offering a solution tothe problem of guests being robbed of their bags/handbags in public places, such as cafés, restaurantsand hotels, thus creating safety and convenience for the guests. "Presnatch" produced an innovativehook that prevents handbag theft in restaurants and bars. The company cooperated closely withSweden’s National Police Force. The company develops, designs, markets and sells the ”Preventor”.The product is placed under the table by each chair in a café, restaurant and/or hotel. The guests canthen hang their bags on the hook. Presnatch’s product means that the visiting guests do not have tokeep their bags on their laps, which increases comfort and convenience.To secure the ownership of the product design, students applied for exclusive rights for the“Preventor” at the Swedish Patent and Registration Office.Presnatch operates on a constantly growing market. The company’s product is unique at this momentin Sweden. Subsequently, the company’s goal is to grow rapidly before competitors enter. As futurepotential on the market was very high, students decided to continue their business activity during theiruniversity studies.41