Example 1

“You know better what you’re starting”

Jan Verheijen, manager of Coulant Interim, was thinking of opening a fourth office in Den Bosch for quite some time. Since this is not an easy location to start an employment agency, he commissioned a market research through the SME Portal. The results showed that there are growth possibilities in Den Bosch, particularly in the administrative sector. An advice that is taken very seriously by Mr. Verheijen.

Coulant Interim helps companies and organizations in het regions Eindhoven, Utrecht, and Weert to find temporary employees on the basis of temping or posting contracts, the recruitment and selection of staff, and payrolling. The start of a fourth office in Den Bosch, was already planned for a longer time. “However the experiences of some other employment agencies showed that it proved very difficult to keep an office in Den Bosch going, therefore, we decided to carry out a market research. Together with the SME Portal we applied for an innovation voucher, which resulted quickly in a large voucher of which we paid one-third ourselves. Because the research showed that especially the administrative sector is still growing, we will start with this sector in Den Bosch.

The complete procedure lasted about four months and I am very satisfied with it. I like to work together with students; we already had very good experiences in the past. Moreover, we would not have been able to afford an external consultancy agency. We started the first three offices without a market research, but in this case it was important to have more information up front. You know better what you are getting yourself into. If I see more opportunities for these kinds of projects in the future, I will definitely find my way to the SME Portal again.”

Example 2

“The SME Portal speaks the language of entrepreneurs”

“If you need to do something within your company and you do not have the expertise, you are as a SME entrepreneur entitled to an innovation voucher of SenterNovem. Unfortunately, only few entrepreneurs are aware of this possibility. Also the SME Portal can still gain name recognition among them. The Portal links the wishes of entrepreneurs perfectly to the expertise of the university.” Mike Klewer, of Klewer Consulting from Maastricht, is very positive about the services provided by the SME Portal.

Young, unrestrained, highly educated people. That are, according to Mike Klewer, the students he worked with via the SME Portal. “My whole career, also when I still worked at Phillips, I have profited from the input of young people. It is an enrichment of your organization, if you have an intern or graduate of the university around at least two times a year.

The quality of the students I have encountered until now through the SME Portal, was very high. They are enthusiastic and fast. I am also very positive about the procedure of the SME Portal. It is managed very thoroughly. The people there know the business world and the university, and as a result they are able to match the wide wishes of entrepreneurs in a good way. They speak the language of entrepreneurs and understand our impatience.

They are working very hard, but in my opinion they can manifest themselves even more. The Portal deserves a stronger position on the market. Do you know that Maastricht University educates webdesigners? This is perfect for starting entrepreneurs, who need a webpage.

In fact, everything you want to accomplish within your company, but for which you lack the expertise, can be compensated with an innovation voucher of SenterNovem. A small voucher represents sixty academic working hours, which is a lot! To SME-entrepreneurs I would like to say: do you have a vague idea of something you would like to develop within your company: get in touch with the SME Portal or Syntens; they will help you use your innovation voucher of SenterNovem.

Example 3

“A great way to obtain good results”

How is our target market composed demographically? How engaged are these people with technology? Do they know our services and how satisfied are they with the product? All these questions, Johan Bax of LOG ON, liked to have answered. Via an innovation voucher he commissioned a user research through the SME Portal, to complete satisfaction. “It is a great way of getting good results with limited funds.”

LOG ON delivers mobile services to the event industry. Thanks to the services of LOG ON, visitors of exhibitions can be continuously informed on their mobile phone. “We help our customer, the organizer of the event, to be the perfect host”, summarizes Johan Bax the concept.

Students, whom LOG ON already knew through another channel, were asked to carry out the user research via the SME Portal. “They already knew our company, which made it easier to start this new project. During a period of three months these students developed questionnaires, spent several days on an exhibition for the event industry surveying visitors, and reported back the results. At our start in 2004 we carried out a small-scale user research ourselves, however, now we were in need of a larger set-up. For example, to get a better insight in the direction we need to take our product development. For the realization of such a broad research, we just do not have the expertise in-house.”

A commercial partner was considered, but deemed too expensive. “As a SME entrepreneur this is just not affordable. The procedure of the SME Portal suited us very well. For SME entrepreneurs that are interested in value for money, this is a great way to obtain good results. Though I would advice other entrepreneurs to start early with the procedure. That our project was carried so quickly, we owe, in my opinion, to the fact that the students were already familiar with us and the company.”

Example 4

‘Great that someone thinks along with you’



Martin Deguelle is director of Pro/Future, a provider of ICT services specialized in system development and developer of the document and workflow management system HotDocs. For the realization of various (market) research projects, he hired students via one of the knowledge partners of the SME Portal Universiteit Maastricht.

‘You don’t have to teach us technique; we have entirely mastered that. But conducting market research is a different story. That requires completely different knowledge and skills. Perhaps we could do it ourselves, and we would definitely like doing it, but it is still beyond your core business. Moreover, people from outside have a fresh view of your company.  I really like working with students. They burst with enthusiasm and they do a good job. It is great that someone thinks along with you.

As a SME entrepreneur you are a bit on your own in this world. Then it’s nice when you can leave matters that are just outside your core business to someone else. I can wholeheartedly recommend the university students to my colleagues. I used to see the university as a kind of bastion; you had no idea how to enter it. Ever since I heard of Unipartners two years ago, our cooperation has almost become obvious. In that respect, the SME Portal of UM fulfils an important function. It shows entrepreneurs the way to knowledge.”