CoPIE Tool

The European tool analysing the start-up support infrastructure

The CoPIE-Tool should make the comparison of regional business start-up infrastructure in different European regions possible and easier. Formerly conducted CoPIE researches have initiated an active discussion between decision makers and different actors in the sphere of start-up support on the requirements of different target groups. Compared to aggregated national researches such as the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), the innovation of the CoPIE-Tool is to analyse the regional start-up support structures. 

The CoPIE-Tool has been used in different regions such as in Lisbon and Wales. With respect to the research that has been conducted in the urban district of Berlin Mitte in 2008, iq consult additionally improved the method of the CoPIE-Tool. The current research design evaluates the regional start-up business infrastructure with the help of interviews of three main actors:

• DECISION MAKERS from ministries, public administrations and further start-up intermediates (Chambers, federal state bank, et cetera)
• BUSINESS ADVISORS
• START-UPS AND YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS

With the help of standardized questionnaires, interviewees can evaluate different statements on a five-point Likert scale: 1. Strongly disagree 2. Disagree, 3. Neither agree nor disagree, 4. Agree 5.Strongly agree. 

The statements can be divided into the following categories:(1) Policy and strategy, (2) Procedure/implementation (3) Monitoring and evaluation (4) Framework, (5) Entrepreneurial education (6) Sensitization Pre-start-up advice (7) Post-start-up advice (8) Access to finance (9) Infrastructure (9) Quality (10) Regulations for business start-ups.

Furthermore, interviewees need to consider the specific requirements of marginalized groups within their evaluation. By doing so, conclusions regarding „Inclusive Entrepreneurship“ can be drawn as well existing gaps within the support system can be identified. The additional collection of demographic data allows for a multivariate analysis, e.g. regarding gender and age.

With a systematic collection and the comparison of data from different European regions, European experts can identify suitable approaches and make reasonable recommendations. The raising of the decision maker’s awareness for target group-specific requirements leads to a bigger access to start-up support for a wider range of people.