Profit
centers for start-ups:
The
profit center model is an important element of the "Bielefelder
Unternehmensschmiede". The project is part of the "Institute for
Innovation-Transfer at the University of Bielefeld Ltd." (IIT GmbH). It
enables graduates, students and employees from the university to gather
experience in different branches and to professionally prepare themselves for
business independence. With the assistance of a profit center, the potential
entrepreneur has the opportunity to test his business idea under real market
conditions within the IIT GmbH before establishing a company. During this phase,
the IIT GmbH supports him in the areas of accountancy, market-analysis,
marketing, distribution and insurance.
The
incubator-room in the technology-center of Bielefeld gets the potential
entrepreneur one step closer to the goal of setting up an independent business;
an office with the structural benefits of the center gives the entrepreneur the
opportunity to use these in the start-up phase. The two offices were set up in
cooperation with the technology-center and the municipal WEGE GmbH.
The promotion of start-ups from university was sponsored by the Ministry of Economics of the land North Rhine-Westfalica as well as the Sparkasse Bielefeld and the Sparkasse Herford. From 1997 - 2000, 77 entrepreneurs were active in 41 profit
In search of regional solutions as how to sponsor business start-ups, the EU has had 72 proposals to choose from and has placed the Bielefeld model on first place. This collective experience will now be applied at the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris and the Universidad Politecnia de Valencia in the frame of the EU project "USINE" (University Start - Up of international entrepreneurs).
Founded
during the middle of the 90's as a profit center in the IIT GmbH, the AMMMa AG
is considered exemplary for the promotion of business start - ups at the
University of Bielefeld. Started by students, graduates, graduate students, and
professors of the university, the enterprise has continued to develop itself
with the tasks of its entrepreneurs in the framework of diploma theses,
doctorates and research projects and by the use of the advancement of the
program of the "Bielefelder Unternehmensschmiede".
The
institute for project management, market and public opinion poll, IPMM in short,
is a partner for inno-vative and professional solutions in the areas of customer
linkage manage-ment, market and public opinion polls as well as project and
conflict management. As an established profit center of the IIT GmbH, it has its
place as GbR in the technology center Bielefeld.
The
start-up was developed at the faculty of sociology; it offers a full service
from the market analysis to the market strategy to its customers. Among its
customers rank the Volkswagen AG as well as the fair center Bad Salzuflen. In
addition, the IPMM offers seminars with topics such as on-line market studies or
conflict management for businesses.
The basis of the profit center LoGiSch - learning systems (the initials stand for the initials of its founders) was the multi-media product ViSeL, a learning software for the bio - technical area, which was developed in the 90's at the technical faculty of the University of Bielefeld. This virtual sequencing laboratory (ViSeL) permits an introduction into gene analysis, the sequencing of DNA to solve the mystery of the genetic make - up. As a computer based training, it provides modules for learning the theoretical basis and its practical uses. University students, high school students and interns in the area of laboratories are the target groups for this program; it received a prize at the LernTec, the Fair for Learning Software of the Ministry of Federal Economy.
At
the beginning of the year 2000 the "WellnessInstitut" was founded.
This business idea was previously developed within the frame of a profit center
in the IIT GmbH. The WellnessInstitut organizes "Wellnessevents" for
its company customers as well as privately run sport and health organizations.
To be able to meet the needs and wishes of the customer, applications are given to free lance employees. The basis of this business idea stems from time spent studying education as well as the knowledge in the field of cosmetics, where the entrepreneur was self - employed. Recently, the project has begun to be sponsored by the Deutsche Ausgleichsbank.