This year, from 13 to 17 November, the Entrepreneurs' Experience Days were held as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, with the aim of encouraging entrepreneurs to share their experience and knowledge for business development. The sixth edition of the Entrepreneur Experience Days, organised annually in Latvia since 2017, attracted nearly 100 companies as participants. Close to 130 meetings have taken place this year as part of this initiative. The Entrepreneur Experience Days are held by Swedbank in cooperation with the partners the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA), the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LTRK), and the Confederation of Employers of Latvia (LDDK).
This year, companies from various industries – IT and communications, consulting, transport and logistics, finance and insurance, education and science, e-commerce, media, communication and information services – took part in the initiative. The participants came from different cities and regions of Latvia – Riga, Mārupe, Ropaži, Gulbene and Balvi.
This year, the experience providers that kindly welcome entrepreneurs to their premises were represented by Draugiem Group, Riga Airport, Lursoft IT, Patent Board, Notre, Alpha Partners, Sakret and others. This year's experience recipients included companies like airBaltic, Schwenk, Gaso, Latvian Railways, Riga Technical University, Liepāja Bus Park, Roibox, Daile Music House, Disease Prevention and Control Centre, Riga Housing Manager, Nordic Homes and others.
“This is the third time we have participated in the Entrepreneur Experience Days with our experience stories, appreciating the opportunity afforded by the initiative to exchange ideas and examples of good practice among professionals and those interested. When selecting the event topics, we always focus on issues that are important not only for company management, but also for employees and their engagement. That is why this year we chose to raise a discussion on the role of entrepreneurs in promoting employee health," says Inga Rame, Director of the HR Department at Riga Airport.
This year SCHWENK Latvia took on the role of an experience recipient. "It was a very interesting experience to take part in the Experience Days as an experience recipient, as I am mostly on the other side and our company often hosts different guests. It was a great opportunity to get to know another manufacturing company that is also our client, so I am convinced that the Entrepreneur Experience Days are also a must-attend if you want to explore hands-on experience in another entrepreneur's portfolio. It can help you get inspired, learn something new or simply broaden your horizons," says Anete Segliņa, Head of Continuous Improvement Processes Department at the company.
"Thanks to the Entrepreneur Experience Days initiative, we have been able to bring together entrepreneurs from different industries, representatives of various organisations, as well as experts in their field, not only to gain new ideas and solutions to the present challenges, but also to get to know each other, share experiences and build new collaborations for the future. The range of topics offered by this year's experience providers demonstrates that entrepreneurs have to make a whole range of different decisions on a daily basis – from sales for further development, availability of human resources, investment opportunities in companies, digital communication skills to intellectual property protection, issues of access to finance and sustainability. We are pleased to be part of an event that can help, even in a small way, an entrepreneur make the best decision for tomorrow,” says Jevgenijs Ivanovs, Head of Corporate Customer Division at Swedbank.
As part of this initiative, Swedbank also held an online conference for entrepreneurs, inviting representatives from various fields, including Swedbank experts, to share their stories on the current challenges and issues in business. Recordings of videos covering the conference topics can be watched on the Swedbank blog under “Pieredze” (Experience) and Swedbank Latvia Facebook page.