Training programme for entrepreneurs

The Community of Madrid runs a training programme made up of 110 training activities distributed across 13 different specialisations, organised into two main blocks:

• Entrepreneurship. Business creation
• Entrepreneurial skills.

These training activities are aimed at people with entrepreneurial initiatives who want to start a business activity in the region or who have a recently established company. The programme is intended preferably for unemployed people residing in the Community of Madrid.

The courses are organised in different editions, and the groups are formed according to the number of applications and the registration date. Some specialisations may be delivered in person or in a virtual classroom (online), provided that the required minimum number of participants is reached. In the in-person mode, the activities take place in centres belonging to the Community of Madrid, while in the online mode they are carried out through the training provider’s online platform.

No course may begin with fewer than 11 attendees, and at least 15 participants will be required to form virtual classroom groups. Once registration has been completed, the applicant may be included as assigned or on the waiting list, and will later be contacted to confirm participation, as well as to receive information about the mode, start date and timetable of the course.

Within the Entrepreneurship. Business creation block, 50 courses in the specialisation “Design your Business Plan” have been scheduled, with a duration of 40 hours per course, in addition to an extra pool of 45 tutoring hours, at a rate of 3 hours per participant. Of these editions, 5 are in person and 45 are in a virtual classroom.

At present, the in-person mode appears as closed calls, while the virtual classroom mode remains open.

The Entrepreneurial skills block includes 60 courses distributed across 12 training specialisations, grouped into four areas of knowledge. The open specialisations for each area are detailed below:

• Financial management
  • Microfinance for entrepreneurs (in-person mode)
  • Find investors for your business (in-person mode)
  • Franchises, another business model (in-person mode)
• Business management
  • Management of business activity for small businesses or microenterprises (in-person mode)
• Communication and negotiation
  • Elevator Pitch. Improve your communication (in-person mode)
  • Design Thinking. Creative thinking in business (in-person mode)
  • Your business identity or corporate image. Branding (in-person mode)
  • Launch your business or product using Lean Startup (in-person mode)
  • Negotiation with financial institutions, customers and suppliers (in-person mode)
• Logistics
  • Control of raw materials in small businesses or microenterprises (in-person mode)

The duration of each of these courses is 16 hours.

The programme is funded with resources from the Spanish Public State Employment Service and aims to strengthen entrepreneurs’ skills in key areas for the launch, consolidation and management of their business projects.