•What’s your idea?

•Does it already exist / has it already been done?

•Is it based on an identified need?

•Who is your customer?

•What research do you need to do?

•Do you need partners or collaborators?

•Do you need matching funding?

•What resources are available to you?

• Determine potential of your idea
• Compile list of questions you need to answer 
• Create a plan for answering them through 
  • Research
  • SWOT Analysis 
     

RESEARCH can be used to identify

•potential customers / market

•competition among these customers / this marketplace

•usefulness & positioning of product/service

•the feasibility of your idea

SWOT ANALYSIS

Internal and external analysis of

•strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & potential threats to your product/service

RESEARCH such as

•Web searches

•Relevant industry associations

•Local library

•Contacting potential customers : by mail/email, face-to-face, using a survey

•Talking to relevant resource/support organisations

•Assess your competition

•Understand what your competition is doing

•Become a customer of your competition

•Identify how you can do it better/differently

•Identify what sets you apart and attracts customers

•Identify your unique selling point

•Identify your target market

• Your Research / SWOT Analysis will give a good indication of where you need to go next with your idea
• It should
  • Further inform or validate your idea 
  • Determine if you should go ahead with your idea 
  • Re-define or re-focus your idea
  • Explore various angles for your idea
  • Change your idea
     

•Build the right team with strong track record

•Company structure – governance, compliance, financial management capacity

•Create a business plan & financial model

•Clear market strategy, including product, pricing & distribution strategy

•Demonstrate that consumers willing to pay for product/service

•Viability - Potential for growth & increase in revenue

•Research EU funding programmes and what programme is most relevant to your idea - eg. https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/funding-grants_en

•Explore the types of projects that have already been funded – eg. http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/projects/eplus-projects-compendium/

•Read criteria of each funding programme to check if relevant and your eligibility

•Do I have enough time – deadline, timeline, schedule, resources, partners. Be sure to take enough time for a thorough analysis and the planning phase

•What support do I need to develop my idea into a proposal?  What support is available? Eg……

•What kind of matching funding might I need?  Where can I access this?

•Do I need partners – relevant partner searches?  Eg.  ESF Partner search on ec.europa.eu/esf/transnationality/partners-search

•Or use your current personal/professional networks to identify relevant or potential partner organisations.

•Be clear about what you are looking for: Establish what your field of expertise and capabilities are. What type of project you would like to initiate or join?

•Align your proposal to EU’s priorities

•Make sure that your project idea is in line with your organisation’s overall strategy

•Scan open calls: The best way is often a keyword search. It’s worth trying a range of search terms to maximise results

•Get in touch with your national contact point: They can help you understand what is required and keep you up to speed on EU policy developments in your field. They may also know about relevant events like information days for particular calls for funding.

•Plan a timeline for your application: Calls for funding always have deadlines. Do you have enough time to take on the preparation of a competitive proposal?

•Subscribe to the RSS feed for relevant calls: The Horizon 2020 Participant Portal allows you to subscribe to RSS feeds for funding calls. This means you’ll be notified when relevant calls are published.

•Check if you can benefit from national subsidies: Your national contact point will be able to give information about whether there is any support available to help you make your project proposal.

Apart from proper planning, what makes a project a success is that it:

•addresses real problems

•with realistic objectives and activities

•risks to the project outcome are properly evaluated and taken into account

•your organisation has sufficient capacity to implement and manage the project and

•it leads to sustainable/long-term results

Business idea supports

•https://enrd.ec.europa.eu/leader-clld_en

• https://www.localenterprise.ie – Ireland

•Project idea to proposal http://www.migration4development.org/en/content/project-idea-project-proposal

•The Proposal Writing Process https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1NhEhovepA