Good practice:

Digital tool for supporting Start-ups

hoppid.no is the first line service system which provides advice, network and courses for the entrepreneurs in the region. hoppid.no have 30 offices in the municipalities. The municipalities are very different, and vary from rural to urban settlement. The development of the digital tool was initiated because of the different level of quality provided in the first line service system in the region. The County Council developed a project to innovate hoppid.no, as an answer to this difficulty, to increase the level of quality. With a digital tool, which includes online training and guidance, online communication with advisors, available experts in the online service, and concrete actions towards developing a business plan, we aim to make the start-up service equal in quality. The different advisors at the hoppid.no offices are all going through training in using the digital tool, in their meetings and communication with the start-ups. Another difficulty, is linked to the limited resources the advisors have working with the start-ups. This is met by the use of the digital tool in addition to the time the start-up get with their advisor. The goal is that the time spent on advising the entrepreneur, will be more efficient. Saved time can be used to prepare the start-up for growth, instead of just answering questions about the formalities about starting new business. The stakeholders and beneficiaries are the advisors and the start-ups, together with the providers of the hoppid.no

The Project is solved through an Innovation Contract, which is funded by three Parties; The supplier; Entreprenerdy, the customer; the County Council and Innovation Norway. The total amount of the Contract is EUR 260 000. Two project managers included, total workload; one person-year.

The advisors in the hoppid.no service has gone through training of using the tool with great success. They are all reporting big satisfaction with the user interface, and the simplicity regarding the usage of the tool. The entrepreneurs report the same thing, that this tool is easy to use, and self-explainable. Both advisors and entrepreneurs have been participating in the development of the solution, which have been crutial in achieving this result.

Challenges has been to get the advisors to use the system, together with the entrepreneur. Everything is new, and it is difficult to get the advisors to change their daily routine. This has to be solved with time, and a push factor (apply for funding) to get both beneficiaries to use the system.

This Good Practice has good potential for learning and can be transferred to other regions. The challenges start-ups encounter are similar in all regions, the training related to the digital tool, and the build-up of a business plan is universal. To implement this solution, adapted to each regions needs and unique features, is thus possible. The good practice is also developed in different languages, also English, and the tutorial videos will also be available in English. This makes this Good Practice even more transferable to other European regions. Under Further information, it is possible to click the link to try the simplified version of the digital solution. This solution can easily be adapted and customized to each region`s needs, as done for Møre and Romsdal and hoppid.no.