The Company by Gentrepreneur
The Company by Gentrepreneur is a student cooperative and an initiative of the Ghent educational institutions Hogent, Ugent and Arteveldehogeschool. The concept, which consists in encouraging enterprising students to set up a business, either alone or in a team, within the framework of this structure (a cooperative with a social purpose) is unique in Flanders and anywhere else. Students who have promising ideas and entrepreneurial ambition can use the cooperative’s company number to work with their team on a project without having to worry about anything else.
The cooperative operation of The Company is part of what Gentrepreneur, the ecosystem for enterprising students in Ghent, has to offer. Gentrepreneur is the product of a unique cooperation between educational institutions Arteveldehogeschool, HOGENT and Ghent University with the City of Ghent.
This consortium has enabled Ghent to evolve from a pioneering city in Flanders in the field of student entrepreneurship to the current flourishing ecosystem where an increasing number of young people take up the challenge of starting a business.
Gentrepreneur is co-funded by Agentschap Innoveren & Ondernemen (VLAIO) and the province of East Flanders.
The Company supports the members of the cooperative with intensive coaching. The accounts of the different projects are kept by the cooperative’s own bookkeeping, who also train the student-entrepreneurs and advise them in efficient bookkeeping.
The low risk is a major incentive to join The Company. That’s what both present and former members of the cooperative say. The students have the status of student-entrepreneurs and benefit from a reduced rate of social security contributions. In addition, they only pay income taxes at the moment they leave the cooperative.
Another factor is the extensive coaching the members of the cooperative can rely on. Not only do they get help with bookkeeping, they also receive targeted support for their business development. Furthermore, experts are at their disposal for advice in legal matters and to check legal documents.
Nathan Verschoore (21) and Mathias Magnette (22) are students who founded BrewBeast. The purpose of their business is nothing less than to "reinvent the art of brewing". “The Company provided us with important coaching from the very beginning", they say. “First from entrepreneurial coach Tom, who challenged our business model and shook us up. Then from marketing coach Jeroen, who examined our communication and sales channels as well as our branding and positioning. We discovered that we still had a lot of work to do. We perform our activities under the VAT number of The Company and retain our family allowance and other tax benefits. It’s also more advantageous because there are two of us. In addition, we got to know other student-entrepreneurs through The Company: it really is a “company”. We have a shared workplace, get help keeping our books,… And the list goes on.”
For more information:
https://www.gentrepreneur.gent/thecompany
https://www.gentrepreneur.gent/
Archives
- 23/01/2023 - Lausanne announces Interact projects for 2023
- 17/01/2023 - Comon: Ghent's urban living lab
- 11/01/2023 - A student's experience of the EUniverCities meeting on sustainable urban development in Innsbruck
- 14/12/2022 - Exeter City consults the university community on its development plans
- 07/12/2022 - Researching and designing memory
- 23/11/2022 - City and university in tandem on the road to sustainability
- 18/11/2022 - Labour market changes and midlife workers in focus at West University of Timisoara
- 07/11/2022 - "Knowledge Bites": the research of the University of Parma meets the city
- 24/10/2022 - The University of Magdeburg becomes a "European University"
- 12/10/2022 - News from UMCS and the City of Lublin
- 03/10/2022 - Linköping University's "Pillow Project" recycling initiative is a hit
- 26/09/2022 - Lausanne, the first city in Switzerland to join the UNESCO network of learning cities
- 19/09/2022 - EUniverCities Innsbruck meeting: Tackling “Urban Sustainable Development”
- 12/09/2022 - Looking at our city through different eyes: students working with the city of Ghent
- 07/09/2022 - Engaging with local communities: University of Exeter establishes a new Community Panel
- 25/07/2022 - University of Málaga runs a new vocational course for students with special needs
- 18/07/2022 - West University of Timisoara kicks off a new project
- 13/07/2022 - The University of Málaga loans the City of Málaga a building for the Philharmonic Orchestra
- 04/07/2022 - Parma in the Mission 100 climate-neutral and smart cities
- 29/06/2022 - Staying on in Magdeburg after graduation
- 17/06/2022 - The EUniverCities Network meets in Exeter to discuss collaborative approaches to arts and culture
- 06/06/2022 - CaST project publishes a new volume on Engaged Learning
- 25/05/2022 - UMCS Lublin takes action to help Ukrainian refugees – and other updates from Lublin
- 16/05/2022 - Innsbruck supports partner university in Ukraine
- 04/05/2022 - Students at the Comon Make-a-Ton in Ghent come up with innovative healthcare solutions
- 19/04/2022 - The University of Exeter prepares for the launch of a new Community Partnership Hub
- 07/04/2022 - Research for the development of the last mile by public transport in Magdeburg
- 31/03/2022 - University students come up with a game to bring tourism to Málaga’s districts
- 24/03/2022 - The City and University of Málaga work together to excavate the “Cerro del Villar”
- 17/03/2022 - Timisoara and Lublin mobilise to support Ukrainian refugees
- 10/03/2022 - MagdeMINT: Technology and Natural Sciences for Young People
- 03/03/2022 - A student perspective on the EUniverCities meeting in Parma
- 17/02/2022 - Linköping University students coach upper secondary students in Swedish
- 10/02/2022 - Lausanne city and university work together on “Gender and the City”
- 03/02/2022 - News from Lublin
- 01/02/2022 - Innsbruck kicks off new “House of Physics”
- 28/12/2021 - EUniverCities Network Meeting in Parma
- 28/12/2021 - The report of 3 years of Secretariat managed by Parma
- 23/12/2021 - A handbook on strategic city-university partnerships at European scale
- 11/12/2021 - West University of Timisoara – International Conference on Universities Responses to Digitalisation
- 28/11/2021 - Spaces for studying, Parma Città Universitaria and city associations for university students
- 21/11/2021 - The final program of the EUniverCities Meeting in Parma
- 19/11/2021 - University of Malaga and the Malaga City Council sign a new agreement
- 09/11/2021 - From Magdeburg: Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences signs the Global Climate Letter
- 27/10/2021 - Visualisation Center C at Campus Norrköping awarded at international film festival
- 19/10/2021 - New updates from Lublin!
- 13/10/2021 - From Lausanne: “Sauvageons en ville” - Discovering nature in the city in surprising places, questioning the links we have with it and experimenting with ways to make the city wilder.
- 04/10/2021 - Next EUniverCities meeting in Parma: 1-3 December
- 30/09/2021 - Aurora Talks: Perspectives for Europe! Universität Innsbruck in conversation with Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn
- 28/09/2021 - The Company by Gentrepreneur