Good Practice - Project
Rural economic diversification project supports youth enterprise in Romania
Youth entrepreneurs establish successful T-shirt printing business with CAP support.
General information
RDP Priority
- P6. Social inclusion and local development
RDP Focus Area
- 6A: Diversification & job creation
RDP Measure
- M06: Farm & business development
Summary
In 2018, a small rural micro-enterprise called ‘As The Wood Turns Srl’ was created with CAP funding to help two young rural entrepreneurs develop economic opportunities from a T-shirt printing enterprise allowing them to live and work in the South Danube LAG territory.
Results
The main project results include:
- Equipment bought and installed.
- Two full time jobs created.
- Business success from increased production and sales (representing 40% of the business investment made) exceeded the start-up company’s initial business plan forecasts.
Promoter
‘AS THE WOOD TURNS’ SRL
Funding
Total budget 70 000 (EUR)
EAFRD 52 500 (EUR)
National/Regional 17 500 (EUR)
Ressources
Documents
EU CAP Network - Good Practice - Rural economic diversification project supports youth enterprise in Romania
(PDF – 734.87 Ko)
Context
In Teleorman county, Romania, agriculture is the main industry. Although commerce has developed quickly across the county since 2000, a declining and ageing rural population and a low level of entrepreneurial activity are still big issues. The South Danube Local Action Group (LAG) addresses these challenges through its local development strategy seeking to build on the existing strengths and opportunities of the area. These include a good development potential of the service sector, availability of land for investment, emerging local businesses with an interest in diversifying the non-agricultural sector and younger people keen to engage in new job opportunities.
In April 2017, the South Danube LAG undertook an information campaign to promote EAFRD funding opportunities for local communities and their territories. This is how the beneficiaries of this project found out about the available funding and how it could help realise their ambition of running a business printing designs on t-shirts, marketing and selling them directly to customers in stores and online.
Subsequently, in 2018, the small rural micro-enterprise ‘As The Wood Turns Srl’ was created and ready to start.
To implement its business plan aspirations, the young company needed to purchase equipment and invest in capacity building. Good business management skills and a high-quality product were needed to create the two full time jobs planned to sustain the company. The needs of the micro-enterprise matched the objectives of the EAFRD programme well.
Objectives
The submitted funding application highlighted convincingly how the company will contribute to the strategic aims of achieving a balanced territorial development by helping to:
- Create job opportunities.
- Support business initiatives by young people.
- Reduce dependency on agriculture and increase the number of non-agricultural activities, develop services and diversify the economy.
- Increase the income of the rural population.
Activities
Implementing the project involved:
- Purchasing essential equipment.
- A pre-treatment machine (for carrying out the pre-treatment process of textile materials before they are printed).
- A textile printer. An easy-to-use piece of equipment with functions that ensure the control of the ink drop and the correct placement of the image on the textile material.
- An all-in-one desktop system for creating graphics to be printed, and which transmits commands to the textile printer. The system includes all the necessary accessories: keyboard, mouse and a complete operating system.
- Developing the company's two full-time members of staff.
- Producing, marketing and selling products in accordance with the initial business plan forecasts (achieving a value of 40% of the business investment – much higher than the required minimum of 5%). Careful records were kept of supporting documents, such as invoices, receipts, vouchers, etc. to prove the achievements.
Main results
The main project results include:
- Year I:
- Relevant equipment bought and installed.
- Two full time jobs created.
- Two full time members of staff trained.
- Business activities commenced with production and first sales.
- Year II:
- Increased production and sales (representing 40% of the business investment made).
- Targets of the business plan and grant requirement thresholds exceeded.
- Year III:
- Further increase in revenues achieved, creating stability within the company.
It is estimated that the upward trend in sales will be maintained and the company will be well-known in the marketplace and will have a solid customer base.
Key lessons and recommendations
- Demonstrating clearly in the project application form how the project will contribute to the specific aims and objectives of the LAG’s local development strategy is key to being successful.
- During the application process, it is very important to specify the most relevant performance indicators and to estimate realistic targets for them.
- The project has good demonstration potential. The clearly visible business is able to encourage other entrepreneurs to also seek EU funding and invest with confidence in their business development ideas. Furthermore, the project is a good example for other young people by showing that stable and interesting jobs and careers are available in the rural area.
- The project beneficiary carried out all the project activities with prudence and care, continuously assessing the most appropriate and cost-effective way forward for the company.
“The implementation of support for the development of non-agricultural activities in the LAG territory through projects, such as ‘Development of production through high-performance equipment’
in Viisoara, added value by: increasing the number of SMEs in the rural environment; developing new, innovative and competitive non-agricultural activities; creating jobs in the non-agricultural field; integrating non-agricultural activities into the sustainable development programmes of the area; ensuring economic growth and sustainable development of local economic agents, including agricultural holdings; increasing the attractiveness of LAG areas for other potential investors, as well as for visitors and tourists, etc.”
Dorina Antonescu, Manager of South Danube LAG