NESsT Launches Online Course for Entrepreneurs in the Danube Region

NESsT, in partnership with the Danube Transnational Programme, SENSES, developed an online course to support entrepreneurs with running successful and sustainable social enterprises.

How was the course created?

Before the launch of this course, NESsT conducted research to pinpoint the skills and knowledge gaps of social entrepreneurs and the regions in which they operate.

Social entrepreneurs revealed the areas that are most challenging for them. NESsT designed a module for each so that entrepreneurs have a roadmap and a framework that helps to train your mind on how to solve these challenges.

The training modules are designed by experts from eight countries, including…

What will entrepreneurs know by the end of the course?

  1. How to start and run social enterprises successfully and in a sustainable way 

  2. How to develop a sustainable social business concept

  3. How to use general marketing practices

  4. How to develop your sales pipeline

  5. How to design a strategy and an operation framework for your social enterprise

  6. How to track and improve the effectiveness of your efforts

  7. How to use basic financial terminology and channel it into the financial management of your business

  8. How to design the sustainability of your business by integrating different financial mechanisms, such as grants, loans, and other investments

  9. How to evaluate business opportunities

  10. How to identify, evaluate and minimize the risks of your social enterprise

  11. How to integrate representatives of different vulnerable groups into decision-making roles

Who should take the course?

  • You have a solution to a social problem in your community but do not know how to create a business around it

  • You have a business plan or are interested in designing one

  • You are eager to improve your entrepreneurial skills

  • Your need more targeted education on generating social impact. Perhaps you have a business already but it is not yet generating high social impact

  • You would like to increase the market share of the enterprise or shift from local market to regional, national or even international market

  • You want to establish market relationships with multinational companies, but find it hard to reach them

  • You want to learn about financial tools for long term sustainability

What is the course format?

The course consists of six modules that include a presentation and videos focusing on descriptions of the concepts, expert testimonies, and case studies of best practices. A quiz at the end of each course will help you to evaluate your new knowledge. All content is in English and each presentation and the information on the platform has been translated to the national language of the partner countries of the SENSES project.

What modules are included in the course?

  • Module 1: Introduction to social entrepreneurship - Social entrepreneurship in a nutshell - Design Thinking for Social Enterprises - Social business model canvas

  • Module 2:  Effective marketing tools for social enterprises,  with specific focus on on-line marketing

  • Module 3: Sales and pipeline management, with specific focus on how to enter to new markets

  • Module 4: Challenges in the management of a social enterprise, with specific focus on social impact measurement  

  • Module 5: How to ensure long-term financial sustainability?

  • Module 6: Intellectual property and innovation management