After launching a competition to find three ‘starters’ who will receive support in their attempt to succeed as micro-entrepreneurs, the socially-oriented finance agency microStart announced the names of the winners of its first-ever round of annual awards on 15 November.  Each of the three winners, who are shown in the photo gallery below, will be allocated €2,000 to help implement their business plans, and also receive personalised coaching from a well-known businessperson. 

microStart was set up in March 2011 with the aim of making micro-loans available to people who are excluded from the normal job market and find themselves without access to traditional lending, but would nevertheless like to set up their own business. 

The initiative came from ADIE, a French non-profit organisation whose founding principle is that everyone should have the right to embark on economic activity, in conjunction with the European Investment Fund and BNP Paribas Fortis.

According to microStart CEO Patrick Sapy, the micro-credit organisation has so far had discussions with close to 1,500 would-be micro-entrepreneurs and granted over 300 micro-loans.  “It’s true to say that the current economic crisis is partly responsible for the takeoff of micro-credit in Belgium as in many other countries,” he points out, explaining: “The businesses that require our financing are usually quite simple activities so we’re not working with highly elaborate business plans. Moreover, in most cases the clients have the right mindset to embark on a career as an independent. However they’re faced with a range of obstacles – losing their unemployment benefit, having to pay high social security contributions, or the fact that certain professions require formal qualifications.”

Before the end of 2012, microStart will be launching, with the support of a private partner and the Belgian Ministry for Social Integration, a drive to help prepare people – especially young people in Brussels – to enter the world of work. The aim is to help job-seekers to make the most of their current qualifications and build on them through training programmes and individual coaching during an eight-week period. This will include an introduction to administrative procedures and assistance in putting together their loan applications, plus also help to develop their personal aptitudes and improve their behavioural skills – qualities which are equally essential for a (micro-) businessperson. 

Currently microStart employs a staff of nine and also draws on the skills of around 50 volunteers, around half of whom are BNP Paribas Fortis employees.   This video, which features a testimonial from one of the BNP Paribas Fortis volunteers, and the photo gallery below will help to put faces to the name microStart.  You can also see a testimonial in French from a young woman who has received financing and assistance from microStart. 

microStart currently has two local branches – in South Brussels at place Bethléem 9, 1060 Saint-Gilles; and in North Brussels at rue Royale Sainte-Marie 47, 1030 Schaerbeek.  Encouraged by the results achieved so far in the Brussels region, microStart is planning to expand into Flanders and Wallonia in the coming months.

microStart is still looking for more volunteers to help provide vital assistance to the budding entrepreneurs. Interested? Then get in touch with Astrid De Visscher.

www.microStart.be