The continuation of family businesses offers to young unemployed people great opportunitis for their inclusion in the job market. However, this formula is not exploited enough because of the special difficulties it involves. The reason why the transfer is normally difficult is because the transition of a family business involves a transfer of ownership but also a transfer of management and in many occasions the ones taking over the management don´t have the necessary competences to do so in an effective way. The transition of a family business requires a high level of development of soft skills from the different parts involved and the future manager needs to deal with the “old” management style, needs to be able to adapt the business to his/her own idea of the business and to the current demands of the market and needs to be able to generate trust in the workers, the clients and the providers of the family company. This involves different competences: such as leadership, emotional intelligence and entrepreneurship which need to be trained. With the Business Owners project we want to contribute to raise awareness among young people of the possibilities that this formula offers for their professional development and we will create training materials to increase the necessary competences of these youngsters in order to be ready for a successful transfer. The Business Owners project is in the line with the priorities of the ERASMUS+ programme which supports the development of training materials to develop soft skills and specifically entrepreneurship, and it also supports projects which create or reinforce links between training and the labour market for a better matching of skills and competences between both. The main objectives of the project will, therefore, be: - Raise awareness in VET centers, and other training organizations, of the necessity to train and develop entrepreneurial competences among young people. - Raise awareness among young people of the possibilities that family businesses have as an employment alternative. - Increase the employability of young people through the continuation of family businesses. - Improve the necessary competences of young people to carry out a successful business transfer process. - Give continuity to family businesses as a driver for the local and regional development. To achieve these objectives, in the framework of the project we will produce the following results: - A study to detect the “Key success factors in business transfer. Identification of competences for a successful handover of family businesses” implementing different social research tools such as interviews or the organization of focus groups with experts and trainers in business transfer. - A “Self-assessment tool for the evaluation of the necessary competences for a successful handover of a family business”, so VET learners can evaluate their own level of the key competences in family business. - A “Course for the development of competences for a successful business transfer” which can be used by VET trainers as part of their training activities or by VET learners themselves and which provides different contents to develop the key competences for a proper business transfer. - A “Manual for trainers for the accreditation of competences related to family businesses”, which will provide VET trainers with a methodology to be used for training VET learners and to use the self-assessment tool and the course to produce the best results among their students. To results of the project will be assessed internally, according to an Evaluation Plan and also externally with the participation of VET learners and VET trainers in test sessions where they will evaluate the different results. In total, 345 among VET learners and VET trainers will participate in these sessions, which will be also a good way to disseminate the results of the project and to involve the final users in it. The results of the Business Owners project will have an important impact firstly in the partner organizations, as they will incorporate the training materials developed to their training offer but also in other organizations from their network which will have the availability of innovative training materials for a topic which has not been explored enough until now.
CONTEXT OF THE PROJECT: The framework in which we have worked is the family environment, specifically the family business, in which we have to consider the family roles and the marked traditional character of this type of business. With the objective that these family businesses can continue, it is necessary to give these future generations, some of them young people, others heirs of their business, we must have the necessary skills to ensure the continuity of the family business. The project has been aimed for providing future entrepreneurs, managers or consultants with the necessary skills and abilities, providing them with the necessary training so that they feel able to be part of the company, take over the company, and raise the improvement in the business with the objective of ensuring the continuity of the family business. Therefore the project has developed an online tool, which has developed the skills and competencies that every young entrepreneur will need for their future work in the family business. •OBJECTIVES: They have identified what skills are necessary for a young entrepreneur to take over the family business, either their own or others. For this, it has been necessary to identify good practices within family businesses. These good practices ensure good continuity of their business and were explained by the entrepreneurs. This served as a basis for developing the content of the tele-training platform that the students were going to study. • NUMBER AND PROFILE OF PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS: There have been six participants. 1. FESMC UGT CyL (Spain): It is one of the most important national and regional trade unions that cover the sectors of services, mobility and consumption, established in Valladolid, Castilla y León, Spain. In this case, our federation has provided a great deal of experience in collective bargaining, in training schemes for workers, in employment regulation files and in succession of companies, so our contribution has provided a trade union and sectoral vision. 2. INVESLAN (Spain): It is a private organization working in the field of economic and social research. They have provided us with training and extensive experience in training students and developing European projects. 3. SCV, StudioCentroVeneto s.a.s. Di Antonio Brunello & C (Italy): They are a private consultant with extensive experience in the field of European project management (content, administrative, planning, research, etc.). Development of microenterprises and succession of family businesses. 4. Wyzsza Szkola Biznesu i Nauk o Zdrowiu (Poland): It is the first non-public higher education institution in Poland. They have provided us with their experience in researching intergenerational education. 5. CCIS: GOSPODARSKA ZBORNICA SLOVENIJE - CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY OF SLOVENIA. (Slovenia). It is the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, a non-governmental organization, business organization. They have provided us with a wide range of experience in business management and human resources which are necessary for the success of companies. 6. Kahramanmaras Mesleki Egitim Merkezi (Turkey): They are an institution of professional development directed to students who left the regulated education and who desire to learn a trade in the industrial area. The Turkish partner has provided professional experience in the field of practical education and vocational training as well as in the direct application in companies, necessary in our project. ACTIVITIES O1: Identification and COMPILATION OF THE GOOD PRACTICES AND COMPETENCES necessary for a successful business transfer. Interviews have been conducted with experts and focus groups in all countries. Each partner has collected its findings in its national report and then gathered in a global report, which has been translated by all partners into their national languages. O2: A self-assessment tool has been developed so that users are able to self-assess these skills and focus on those who need more training. The tool is interactive and available in all partner languages. O3: TELE-TRAINING COURSE for the development of competencies for a successful business transfer. It can be accessed through https://www.gzs.si/businessowners/vsebina/ESP/Curso. O4: MANUAL directed to instructors and trainers of vocational training that will facilitate the methodology to train the students of Vocational Training. The manual will be translated into the languages of all partners. RESULTS AND IMPACTS ACHIEVED: They are available to those who visit the website. The impact is guaranteed since all project products are in 6 languages.