¿Cómo ve Donostia y el emprendimiento una estudiante de intercambio?

Por Asun Ibañez, Directora Académica del Título Propio de Especialización en Innovación y Emprendimiento.

Cada año recibo a unos 60-65 estudiantes de intercambio en la asignatura «entrepreneurship» que imparto en inglés dentro del grado de Administración y Dirección de Empresa (ADE) de la Deusto Business School (DBS). Suelen coger la asignatura tantas personas, precisamente, por el idioma. Vienen de muy diversos países (Australia, USA, China, Canada…) y pocos dominan el castellano, así que prefieren estudiar en inglés. Todos los años hay grandes individualidades que destacan por su actitud y entrega a las actividades que realizamos en la asignatura. De hecho, uno de mis mejores colegas profesionales actualmente lo conocí así.

Este año una estudiante francesa, Iris Prigent, me pidió ayuda para entrevistar a una persona emprendedora para un trabajo que tenía que hacer para su universidad de origen y le dí el contacto de nuestro «super Coco», los que le conocéis ya sabéis de quién hablo. Me ha parecido una bonita excusa para un post y le he pedido permiso para publicarlo. Aquí os dejo su primera parte, antes de la entrevista, sobre «por qué crear un negocio en Donostia», cuando redacte la entrevista la publicaremos también.

¡Gracias Iris por compartir con nosotros tu trabajo!

Why should you set up your business in San Sebastián?

We all dream about being entrepreneurs! No boss, no need of a justification when you are sick and most of all, for once in your professional career, you will take your own decisions. I am sure I convinced you! Now let me convince you that San Sebastian is the best place to set up your business.

First of all, a lot of young people are moving to Spain. From 1995 to 2014, more than 760 000 immigrants from England have moved to Spain. Also, according to Jaune Marti Romero, the overall population of foreigners has increased since 2000. More than 10% of the population in Spain are foreigners. This means for a new business – more types of consumers and a more cosmopolitan society.

Moreover, according to 2018 index of Economic Freedom, Spain is ranked 30th among 44 countries in the Europe region: before France, Portugal and Italy. It is mainly due to fiscal health, judicial effectiveness, and labour freedom. Since 1975, when returning to democracy, Spain has become the Eurozone’s fourth-largest economy specialized in manufacturing, financial services, pharmaceuticals, textiles, footwear, chemicals, and tourism.

Now that I proved that Spain is favorable for you and your future business, what about San Sebastian?

Donostia San Sebastian is a coastal city located in the Basque Country with 186,000 inhabitants and is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Spain. That’s why, commerce and business are the main economic activities. San Sebastian is known internationally for the San Sebastian International Film Festival and the European Capital of Culture prize it received in 2016.

According to “Orkestra”, in the Basque Country Competitiveness Report, San Sebastian is also a city with a lot of challenges to be solved: a demographic change, the educational system, labour costs, innovation, etc. Aren’t these the main goals of start-ups nowadays : to take up challenges ?

Also, in order to attract businesses, they put in place “Crecer+” which is an angel investors network. The main goals of this organisation are:

• Identify and prepare projects to incorporate investment
• Close rounds of funding among members of your network
• Co-invest with international investors having held an investment forum in London
• Train on the general investment activity and on specific topics
• Create an accessible space for entrepreneurs that they identify as a source of funding, guidance and contacts

Apart from its economy and its attractiveness, San Sebastian is also a pleasant city to live in: three wonderful beaches, nice weather and close to the Pyrenee mountains. You can also practice a lot of sports like surfing, running, swimming and move around the city with a simple bike. Moreover, the city is active culturally and gastronomically with numerous music and film festivals and well-known restaurants.

Even if you choose a city for its economy while starting a business, having a city that is also pleasant to live in can only be positive for your business and you.

To conclude, San Sebastian is one of Spain’s key economic areas known nationally and internationally. It has the support of organisations like Orkestra to keep in touch with the competitiveness

of the Basque country and its new challenges. The living environnement it offers is also not negligible.

If you want to set up your company there let me give you some administrative procedures you need to follow:

1. Choose a company name that is unique (submit five choices in order of preference and for an additional cost, you can trademark the name you chose)
2. Inject 3000€ in your company capital
3. After the injection of capital has been documented, you go to the notary to write the company deeds
4. Once done, the notary will register the company at the Company’s house
5. When you receive the official registration, you are done!

HAVE A NICE BUSINESS EXPERIENCE IN SAN SEBASTIAN !

Example of an innovative business in San Sebastian:

GUREAK is a Basque business group that generates and manages stable employment opportunities and suitably adapted to people with disabilities, primarily for people with intellectual disabilities in San Sebastian and its region.

GUREAK is a solid and diversified group with a presence mainly in the sectors of industry, services and marketing with a revenue of 179 millions euros. Their businesses and activities are competitive and pursue the highest levels of social profitability and efficiency in management.