It is one of  the primary tasks of the consulting service to sensitise start-ups with a migrational background for the “complexity” of the start-up procedure and make them critically reflect it as well as prepare it thoroughly. The migrational aspect  is considered by the consultant by building on socio-cultural experiences of the migrant:  the structures, norms and values of the “home country” as well as the individual experience situation/integration of the migrant have a strong influence on the economic behaviour.  The consulting focussed on target groups is based on these experiences and is able to recognize possible prejudices. In the course of the consulting, the ethnological background should be neglected to focus on the entrepreneurial target.
Target figures are 400 contacts with 200 counselling interviews per year as well as 200 participants in information events on the topic GründungInterkulturell.

The consulting service is available free of charge to migrants from the Hannover region, independent of the industry/business idea and offers precise services in consulting:

• Systematic start-up - Contents: the first steps into independence, information on the start-up schedule, the business plan and the consulting range.

• Demand analysis - Contents: Overall evaluation of the person and the start-up idea, determination of the consulting/qualification requirements corresponding to the individual start-up conditions.

• Individual consulting - Contents: Checking and refinement of the business concept and clarification of individual questions

In order to avoid critical circumstances in  dealing with the German authorities, the target group is addressed “on the ground” by official and informal channels with the project (i. e. social and educational institutions, migrant organisations as well as employment offices).

Sample data:
2009: 491 consultings
2010: 296 consultings and 59 start-ups realised by migrants

The project GründungInterkulturell was taken up by the Lower Saxon Ministry of Economics in cooperation with the integration commissioner for the Federal State of Lower Saxony as beacon project “start-up consulting structures – create intercultural compentences” for further economic regions of Niedersachsen.
The project target of the project which is always limited to one year in cooperation with regional partners is building and supporting  intercultural competence in the start-up institutions in order to explain foreign nationals and migrants how to access start-up specific processes.

A project evaluation is undertaken via annual customer satisfaction surveys as well as by an also annual complete survey of the customer data. The latter is an enquiry by phone of all those interested in start-up for the period of one year in order to record their entrepreneurial development.

People interested in start-up with a migrant background benefit from this by eliminating consulting restraints, language problems as well as cultural and social obstacles, in combination with a communication of the German culture, business culture and type of economy.

The project GründungInterkulturell is financed within the frame of the economic development agency hannoverimpuls by the city and the region of Hannover.

• The annual budget is nearly € 90,000

• Staff: a social psychologist (university degree) and certified start-up consultant (Qplus) as project manager as well as an office clerk.