Conversations with EEPA Category Winners – ResC-EWE

Discover the minds behind EEPA winners in our exclusive interview series! We had the privilege of engaging with winners from diverse categories at the European Enterprise Promotion Awards. Dive into insightful discussions, exploring motivations, strategies, and unique visions that set these projects apart.

Today, explore our interview with ResC-EWE, the Category 2, Investing in Entrepreneurial Skills. ResC-EWE - Erhvervshus Midtjylland S/I (Denmark) - ResC-EWE promotes sustainable entrepreneurship by supporting future entrepreneurs in creating resilient businesses by fostering risk awareness, risk anticipation, and mitigation strategies as fundamental entrepreneurial skills.

Let’s read what they shared with us!

How did you first hear about the European Enterprise Promotion Awards competition and why did you decide to enter?

We were informed by the Danish Business Authority that we could apply, and our management decided that we should have a go at it with the ResC-EWE project.

How did you prepare your application?

The staff members who already worked on the project drafted the application, and we discussed it with our communications team to avoid overly technical or detailed language in the application.

What do you think made your application standout?

From the start of the project, we felt that we had hit a gap in the market – we started even before the Covid-19 pandemic closed down much of Europe, and business resilience was seen very differently at the time, but as the project unfolded, a multitude of risk factors emerged and showed how important it is to always build resilient SMEs from the very outset.

Could you tell us what it felt winning the award and its significance to you?

The feeling was amazing. The whole setup with a stage show and music and everything was a fantastic framework for the awards. But the most important thing was what happened afterwards. The award has given a massive boost to the visibility of our project, and at the SME Assembly a long list of stakeholders approached us to hear more about the project. We will now explore the opportunities to cooperate with these and hopefully increase the impact of the project even more.

In what ways has winning the EEPA Awards impacted your ongoing projects/ initiatives?

Our winning project, ResC-EWE, is very much about entrepreneurial skills for creating resilient startups. In our daily work with SMEs in distress we tend to focus on numbers and deadlines, but the award has really brought the skills dimension of the topic to the forefront of our work. It has also made it easier for us to communicate to our stakeholders that we don’t just help failing SMEs get back on their feet – we actually help them build the skills they need to survive and grow in the future. This is a major leap forward for the Early Warning Europe Network and for our daily work to ensure that all European SMEs have access to support in difficult times.

What are your plans for the future?

Our daily work with the SMEs in difficulty continues. And we learnt that the moment a project runs out, the engagement of third parties tends to drop. This is why we plan to seek for funding for building a learning community around the courses, tools and materials of the ResC-EWE project, directly involving these stakeholders who may otherwise lose their interest. This way, we can permanently bridge the gap between entrepreneurship education and business life for startups around Europe and make sure they don’t fall between the cracks in the floor the first time a problem arises.

Why should others enter EEPA 2024? What advice would you give to other aspiring entrepreneurs?

My advice is: do not hesitate to apply. It has been a great process for us, and our networking and outreach efforts are in a much better place now than before we applied, so just do it!

We invite you to stay updated on the event on the Promoting enterprise news portal and also via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.  LinkedIn so stay tuned. It is possible to check the photos from the event also on Promoting Enterprise | Flickr.