Starterslab sets new ambitions for itself

KORTRIJK - Twenty years after its inception, Starterslabo West-Vlaanderen has drawn up new ambitions for 2025-2028. The key words? Deepen, broaden and extend. Starterslabo helps aspiring entrepreneurs to take the leap into self-employment in an accessible and guided way. In cooperation with the King Baudouin Foundation, Starterslabo West-Vlaanderen carried out a strategic reflection exercise. This analysis revealed highlighted, among other things, the desire to become less dependent on government subsidies (from Flanders and VLAIO) and yet generate more turnover, among other things by focusing on career counselling.

Good success rate

Every Flemish province has a Starterslabo and across Flanders around 500 files are opened every year. Of these, 60% of the aspiring entrepreneurs effectively take the step towards entrepreneurship. West-Flanders counsels and coaches around 100 files, equally with a 60% success rate. ‘And that is a lot,’ says Herman Wenes , current chairman of Starterslabo West-Vlaanderen, which was founded in 2004. ‘After all, let’s not forget that the candidates are recruited from the group of long-term unemployed, long-term sick, people with a distance to entrepreneurship and people with hidden talents. The end goal is always to activate people who are eager to become entrepreneurs and help them to become self-employed, as a main or secondary occupation.

Let’s activate, activate, activate

Now, on the occasion of its 20th anniversary, Starterslabo West-Vlaanderen is setting new ambitions for the future. Among other things, it wants to create up a separate Competence Centre within its own structure so that jobseekers become less dependent on what the VDAB dictates (or not). ‘Such a competence centre not only helps starters to get started but can also help with career reorientation counselling,’ says director Olivier De Cock. ‘In this way, we also hope to boost our own turnover and become less dependent on what we receive from the government (about €164,000 a year). But our end goal remains the same as in the past, and that is to activate, activate, activate.’