Strategic Sourcing Europe

“SME toolkit” is a website dedicated to SMEs. It is a project of the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group. the SME Toolkit offers free business management information and training for small businesses / small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and how-to articles on accounting and finance, business planning, human resources [...]

eProcure & Supply, one of the biggest Trade Fair and Congress for Procurement and Supplier Management in Europe, will welcome some 140 exhibitors (see below the ones present in 2006) and vendors of proven solutions for electronic procurement, from Wednesday to Friday 25-27 April 2007. For any solution-provider – for sure, if any interest [...]

Asia-Europe Alliance (ASEAL) is an international organization, whose mission is to develop and expand cooperation in the field of Paperless Trade in order to contribute to the economic development of Asia and Europe, in accordance with ASEAL’s Charter, Statute and Rules of Procedure. ASEAL was founded according to local laws and [...]

A long time ago (5 years!) I was trying to sell eutilia concept and services (B2B procurement SaaS) to a french CAC40 multinational. At the end of the first and unique 1 hour meeting I got with some key executives of this company, closed by the usual “well, great, let us some time to [...]

A new and interesting “Industrial Marketing Survey”, conducted by ThomasNet+Google and available here (you need to register), shows that industrial marketers are not completely aware of where the ‘buyers’ are going to source for products, services, and suppliers, what the process is, and what these buyers need to know.
Here are my top 4 learnings from [...]

Do you know Bobex? It’s a european B2B marketplace. Not a new one, as Bobex started business in 2000 . Their tagline? “Matching suppliers and buyers”. The principe is simple, as mentioned on their website: Buyers submit their request free of charge and suppliers reply with customised bids. ‘Customised bids ‘ means [...]

Most of the big eProcurement players are struggling for critical mass and attractive pricing. Very few are already cash positive and if so, they have still a long way ahead to recover their initial investment. Those company might not appreciate so much this entrepreurial open source pitch from Dave Stephen, CEO and co-founder of COUPA. [...]

E-future centres. Not an European idea unfortunatly but definitly another great initiave in Western Canada, to promote e-business benefits directly to SMEs. Visit their websites at www.e-future.ca funded by the ‘Western economic diversification Canada’ and specific to canadian SMEs, they will bring you valuable information to understand where and how to benefit from Internet.
As [...]

SMEs in Romania look still vulnerable after EU access. An article from Robert Comanoiu – Bucharest Daily News – 13 April 2006
“All the Small and Medium Company representatives agree with Romania’s EU accession but one quarter of them said that the companies they lead are not entirely ready for this,” said the president of the [...]

Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank is lauching a SME guide helping switching banks
A GUIDE for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) designed to take the hassle out of changing their business bank has been launched by Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank. The fear of disrupting banking arrangements remains the biggest barrier to switching for more than [...]

ESA is willing to support SMEs in the Satcom Sector. An article pubished by CNW, April 10th 2006
In order to help Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) enter the Satcom (satellite communications) sector, the European Space Agency’s Telecommunications Department has launched a new round of the Start-Up Projects Initiative on 10th April 2006. Five rounds have [...]

Useful links for UK SMEs

The following links are provided by SMALLBUSINESS | EUROPE. smallbusiness|europe aims to support the involvement of UK small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in EU policy making. smallbusiness|europe do so by facilitating dialogue and information flows between the UK SME community and EU officials and politicians.
European SME representative organisations

# Eurochambres

# European [...]

ClickZ Network is an Internet Marketing Solutions of interest for SMEs. Here is a summary of its wide offering

The ClickZ Network is the largest resource of interactive marketing news, information, commentary, advice, opinion, research, and reference in the world, online or off-. From search to e-mail, technology to trends, our coverage is expert, exclusive, and [...]

VNUNET is providing sound news about IT management. They have developed a specific page to address SMEs’ issues.

SMEs need technology that’s easy to use, and easy to install and maintain by a smaller in-house IT team. And it has to be quick to pay back the initial investment in the form of benefits to the [...]