Universidad Europea de Madrid

Eva Icarán.

Director of the Career and Placement Office (CPO) at Universidad Europea de Madrid.goe@uem.es

Dear Entrepreneurs: It is my great pleasure to welcome you to this “Gallery,” which we are inaugurating with the hope that it will be a place where you can find inspiration and meet colleagues on your journey of transforming an idea into a real project. We want it to be a place for sharing reflections and experiences, not only for people who have found a way to turn their dreams into reality, but for all who want to share their “good intentions.” Make yourself at home, and if you want to share experiences or ideas with us, be our guest! Don’t hold back, there’s plenty of room for everyone.

Gabriel Baile. “Milhistorias”

“To be a social entrepreneur one must be skeptical. More specifically, skeptical about the correctness of your own actions. One must also be of the belief that anyone who gets the right opportunities will have the ability to thrive within their community. Being a social entrepreneur implies working each day for the good of others and being aware that people are not just numbers. Being a social entrepreneur means viewing everything around you with a critical eye and with the conviction that all things can be improved upon. In summary, being a social entrepreneur is never limited to just doing one’s job, rather it’s an act of positive reformulation and co-creation of the world we live in.”

Gabriel Baile is head of the “Milhistorias” project, an ecological orchard which helps homeless people find employment.  This project won the UEM Young Social Entrepreneurs Award More information at http://www.milhistorias.es/

Miguel Palomo. “AVINTE”

My name is Miguel Palomo, and I run “AVINTE” (Association of Young Volunteers for Integration). This is an all-volunteer organization whose goal is the integration of young people with cerebral palsy through weekend recreational and leisure activities.

Being a social entrepreneur, as I understand it, consists of wearing a pair of magic glasses which cause you to see things with a spirit of commitment and willingness to help those closest to you.  I can’t really tell you where to buy such glasses; I found them one day when perhaps someone else had lost them.  I hope to wear them for a long time to come, and I feel very privileged to wear them.  I encourage all young people to be very aware of things happening around you, as you never know when you might find them. If you do find them, I hope you won’t pass up the opportunity to grow that comes from walking a certain path: finding happiness in making others happy.

Simón Menéndez. Hechos.

Why do we work? Why do we focus our efforts on helping others? These are questions that we all ask ourselves sooner or later. Why not put our efforts to use creating a huge bubble of comfort and fun?

The UEM Young Social Entrepreneurs Awards were recently presented. We could have chosen to become entrepreneurs who work for our own benefit, but we chose differently.  Has it been worth it? Whenever this question comes to mind, I remember a phrase from the Indian philosopher Krishnamurti, who asked himself, “Does it really matter if I change?” His response was, “That’s the wrong question. You are the rest of humanity.”

Having the kind of dream Martin Luther King referred to in his famous speech makes us managers of change. As for me, I have made my own small contribution by helping to create an association, “HECHOS”, www.hechos.eu, which has grown quite a lot over the past three years and has given us the chance to work with lots of different groups of people.  We have created five homes for unaccompanied foreign minors from Morocco and countries in sub-Saharan Africa, we have started up a socio-work insertion program for supervised and previously supervised minors, we advocate for the rights of children in different ways and we have created two adult passage homes for formerly supervised young people, in addition to other projects. Our staff of some 30 employees works hard every day to change society through their example and professional approach.

All of these dreams reward us and make us learn more than we’d thought.  I have seen a child who arrived in a canoe bathed in the happiness of a loving family; I have felt the embrace of a young person who had to leave home on the day of his 18th birthday, without immigration papers and without work. A short time later I was able to tell him, “Djiby, we’ve found you a job.”

We can all dream and we can all change the world.  And dreaming is worthwhile, in spite of the occasional nightmare. To share the dream with us, check us out on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000285423413&ref=ts

Gabriel Bastardo. Guía del Inmigrante

In times of crisis, you’ve got to be able to look on the bright side. We must create opportunities, make improvements and strive for changes that foster the development of oneself, and hence society.  The world is in a constant state of movement and change, and we are part of the process.  Everyone must find their place, but you alone are the one who makes positive changes.

If you have a concept of nothingness, that is your inner voice, your intuition, telling you which way to go.  I encourage you to listen to it and make it your life’s work.  Remember that achieving difficult goals takes time, and achieving the impossible only takes a little bit more. The world is in your hands and you have the chance to shape it as you wish.  I’d like to share a phrase that my grandfather used to say and that has been in my family for generations: “You've got to get up in the morning with determination if you're going to go to bed at night with satisfaction.”

Gabriel, shown in the photo, is editor of the magazine, “Guía del Inmigrante” and a winner of the UEM Young Social Entrepreneurs Award.

The latest issue of the magazine, Tateiju España Guía del Inmigrante is available for download

Tateiju España Guía del Inmigrante magazine, issue No. 4 at:
http://rapidshare.com/files/341358941/Tateiju_Espa__a_Gu__a_del_Inmigrante_4to_numero.pdf

Juan Antonio Merodio. Las Redes Sociales aplicadas a pequeños negocios

You’re probably tired of hearing terms such as social networking, Web 2.0, SMO (Social Media Optimization) and SMM (Social Media Marketing). Maybe you’d like to put some of these terms and activities to use in your business, but you don’t know where to start.  If you think that your business doesn’t fit into the social networking scene or that your advertising budget is limiting, go on reading and you’ll understand why any business, big or small, can grow with the help of social networking, and with minimal investment.  The only things you need are good ideas and at least an hour a day. There are many different types of options. You can choose general sites such as Facebook or Tuenti, or sites specialized in a particular business area or profile such as LinkedIn, a social networking service for professionals.

This is only the beginning of a concept that is starting to revolutionize internet marketing. The only thing that remains to be seen is how far it will go. This article will summarize the first steps you need to take in order to begin using these social networks for your business.  The very first step consists of developing a Project Planning and Implementation (PPI), a document that will guide you as you work towards achieving the results you seek.  To do this, your PPI must define several points that need to be addressed during the course of your campaign:

General Objectives:

You must define the objectives you want to achieve and the actions to be carried out. Your goals may include increasing brand exposure, finding out what consumer perceptions are, promoting the sale of a product/service or improving the search position of your website.

Guidelines

Who are you targeting? What approach will your campaigns take?  Answering these questions will give you initial ideas about your potential market and how to target it, since one of the advantages of social networking is that it enables you to reach potential clients in a direct way without having to take a sledge hammer to crack a walnut.

Lines of action:

A business is something that normally should be thought out in the long-term, and you should bear this in mind when using social tools so that success will be lasting and your ROI will be optimal.

Tools to be used:

The product or business to be promoted and the market that you are targeting will determine your tools. So as to provide a realistic overview of tools you could use as part of your strategy, some of the most commonly used social networking services are listed here:

• Yahoo Answers
• Menéame
• Facebook
• Tuenti
• Linkedin
• Viadeo
• Xing
• Squidoo
• Ning
• Twitter
• Youtube

Key Performance Indicators (KPI):

KPI are indicators that measure the extent to which objectives are being met.

Reputation: Pagerank is a good benchmark here

Noticeability: The Alexa ranking is one assessment tool

Search position: Defining the keywords to be highlighted or that you would like to use.

Site traffic: Measurement of individual website visits. Google Analytics is one option, although I recommend using at least two statistical systems.

Time spent on site: Tells you the average amount of time that visitors spend at your website.

Visitor origin: You need to analyze where your website visitors come from. They may arrive from search engines, from typing your website’s URL into a browser window, from clicking on a link or from a reference found at another website or social network site. 

Conversion: What do you want visitors to do? Your aim might be for them to register with your website and enter personal data to send them updates, or perhaps you want to sell them a product, in other words your end goal is to turn visitors into customers.

After you’ve answered all of these questions and tuned your PPI to your business, it’s time to get started. Go out and create profiles at social networking sites you plan to use, and “feel your way around” in order to become familiar with them.

Juan Antonio Merodio Yáñez

CEO Grupo Ellas

Marta Rueda

When I began to study psychology I still didn’t have a clear idea as to where my professional life would take me.  What I did know was that I wanted to work with children.  As each university year passed I became increasingly more apprehensive about my professional future.  I was under pressure from professors, my classmates felt as lost as I did, semesters were flying by…., and I still had no idea as to what job was right for me.

Then one day, I thought: if my ideal job doesn't exist, why don't I create it?

And that's what I did.  In my last year of studies I started taking advantage of any opportunity that came up for internships, projects or open presentations offered by my course professors in order to learn, gain familiarity and broaden my knowledge in the field of child psychology. Regardless of the course I was studying, I always adapted it to fit my own interests.

As a result, I gradually discovered what I liked the most about children, and was surprised to find two areas that I wanted to pursue that were complementary: creating and adapting products for children, as well as maintaining direct contact with children through an alternative and personalized methodology:  psychomotricity.  I tried to be as proactive as possible in both areas. This year, thanks to the support of UEM, the psychomotricity project that I am working on with a fellow student who is a teacher has been the focus of a great deal of encouragement in terms of continuing to work with children with special needs (socio-cultural, economic, behavioral, emotional, developmental disorders, etc.).  This support, combined with the daily progress I observe in the children, is justification enough for me to have become a self-starter. What would it take to turn you into a self-starter?

Luis Monge Malo

Borja González-Gay Díaz de Terán

Winners of the Entrepreneurial Award for Graduate Students for their Clever Consultingwww.cleverconsulting.net

“There is no formula for becoming an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is nothing more than wanting to be successful without being afraid of failure. From the time we are very young, we are taught to be afraid of making mistakes and to avoid uncertainty. If we take on something new with a feeling of fear and despair, we will never see it through. The key is to focus on what we can really accomplish. Unsuccessful efforts are useful learning tools, not lessons on how to fail.

Persistence and optimism are essential. There are always people around trying to tell us what we are not capable of achieving and reminding us of our limitations. Patiently listen to those who give advice, but choose which advice you end up taking with care. Edison was told that his light bulb would never work, yet the passion and optimism that drove him also led him to become the most prolific inventor in history.

What about you? Have you given up what you most like and are good at in order to do things that you don’t like and are not particularly good at?”

Jonathan Puga. jonathan.puga@gmail.com

Global Network Project

“First and foremost, I would say that having a business plan is essential. You hear it all the time, because without a plan you cannot meet the goals that you set out to accomplish. For years I had the idea of starting a business at a young age, a time when I was not tied down to anything (mortgage, children, etc.) and had a lot of willingness to make it happen, but I had no idea how to get started. This is why several months ago I saw the opportunity to participate in the business incubator and develop the idea that I had for my Graduation Project. My idea was to offer SMEs telecommunications services consisting of PBX (Private Branch Exchange) solutions based on IP telephony and including installation, maintenance and consultancy services. Thanks to the incubator, I turned my idea into a reality using a business plan. I was offered the chance to work in an atmosphere similar to that of a company and the incubator assigned me a tutor who provided me with advice as my business plan took shape. Once my business plan activities had finished, the Entrepreneurial Award competition gave me, not only the chance to compete and have a chance at winning, but also the satisfaction of seeing my project become a profitable company, which will very soon attempt to enter the marketplace under the name Global Network S.L. I would also like to thank my professors, Rafael Mompo and Francisco Alvarez, for supporting me and for their technical assistance in carrying out my business plan.”

María Sánchez Carracedo

““The Graduation Project allows you to choose how to apply all the knowledge you have gained during your university studies. Carrying out this project within the business incubator teaches you to determine whether a technological idea is viable from a business standpoint.

In my case, as my initial idea went through a series of changes, I began to realize that what I was trying to do was not completely viable from a business standpoint. Making changes to the original plan made it much more interesting and real because I knew that it could eventually become a product and service that is actually marketed; there was even a forecast for business results over time.

Participating in the competition gives you the chance to tell a lot of people about an idea that you have been working on all year long, which is a great experience all around.

I have also found it helpful in terms of promoting myself professionally: the professors at the UEM School of Engineering tutor us on technical matters, while the tutors from Madrid Crece provide complementary business training, which is always very helpful, whether you will be running your own company or working as an employee.

"Apart from technical assistance, the tutors have also helped me on a personal level.”

Alberto Garín

Project Manager, Universidad Europea de Madrid Young Social Entrepreneur Awards

“I’ve always considered that a social entrepreneur is above all a non-conformist: a person who does not accept that the world is immovable, who seeks and provokes change, who is adventurous and takes the initiative. But an entrepreneur is not simply someone who is daring. An entrepreneur learns to be one. He has to know the world he wants to change, and above all, he needs to know how the world he wants to change works. It is only when we become aware of our reality, when we realize its shortcomings and deficiencies that we can become entrepreneurs. To start with, the person who discovers social shortcomings is no more hard-working than one who tackles innovations in the world of business. In both cases, the entrepreneur knows that he is struggling, above all, against immobility, monotony and routine.

But a social entrepreneur faces a bigger challenge than any other person with initiative: his goal is not only to improve production, discover a new scientific or market solution, or generate a new form of professional organization. The social entrepreneur aims to offer an alternative life to society, an alternative that favors the majority but at the same time allows each person to develop as an individual. The social entrepreneur appeals to people's self-awareness so they can discover what lies beyond the polarities of “I” and “Them”: Us.

The risks are evident. Perhaps the alternative he proposes is not accepted, but it may also not be appropriate. As I said before, it is not enough to be daring; first, you have to be aware. Aware of reality and of its possibilities. Aware of our possibilities. The social entrepreneur has to learn to become one: learn to understand, above all, the Other; learn to discuss rather than impose; learn to listen rather than speak. In short, learn to respect rather than fracture. It is only then that with his non-conformism he will be able to construct a better social alternative.”

 Rafa Mompó perfilesjovenes@rafaelmompo.com

PhD in Telecommunications Engineering, Master’s Degree in Business Management and Marketing

“I love my profession. I am proud to be a Telecommunications Engineer. We engineers have always been the first who dare to push the limits, and it is for this reason that companies and society call on us when they need a quick fix. Telcom people are like the phoenix: we burn ourselves up and come back to life, our wisdom is passed down from generation to generation and our tears make everything better. This is the spirit that is instilled in us at the university, and our professors have always encouraged us to carry out Graduation Projects that push the limits. That is what my teachers taught me, and I am very proud to encourage my students to do the same. Our Graduation Projects are carried out as bold business plans -- because this is what society needs young people to do! Telecom people are and always have been the first to respond. That is why we fill with pride when we see Honorable Distinctions awarded to our Graduation Projects. I am a telecom engineer, always have been, and always will be.”