AKCEES-ing entrepreneurship is GREAT

Entrepreneurship is one of those key words business people bring up a lot these days. And it is easy to understand why.

Jobs for the ever-increasing unemployed youths, creativity, innovation, and competitive edges that can bring more dynamism to Romania’s business landscape – these are just of a few of the arguments that are put forward and that make entrepreneurship a viable and desirable solution for Romania.

On Friday, I attended the one year gala of Akcees – a Romanian NGO that started from the very same question – what do entrepreneurs need, and how can they get the adequate support?

The very young team at Akcees has delivered, in a relatively short time, mentoring sessions, networking events, workshops, international internship programmes, a summer school, and attendance of university fairs or events with somewhat fringe topics such as “girls in tech”.

And they have ambitious plans for 2013 as well. You can find them here.

The keynote speakers reminded that entrepreneurship can sometimes be a bit opportunistic. “When you told me you wanted to be an entrepreneur, as a father I said go ahead, but you never told me I would be the business angel!” is the anecdote Irina Scarlat, Akcees vice-president, shared with the audience.

Many of the youth attending the anniversary gala said determination was key for getting into entrepreneurship: ‘They told us it would never work, so we just had to try it and prove we could!’ Or, as Sir Richard Branson, one of UK’s GREAT Ambassadors would put it – you learn by doing.

Of course, entrepreneurship is not the easiest road to take. But it is definitely worth the adrenaline!