Entrepreneur

Check our criteria

PUM works with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as entities that support them. For both SMEs and supporting organisations it's important to ensure that you meet our criteria. Review further below in which countries and sectors we are active.

Criteria for SMEs

PUM works with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to support the improvement of their organisation, productivity, profitability, job creation, and social and ecological impact. Health care organisations are assessed as SMEs. Our clients are true changemakers who play a leadership role and influence others on social and ecological practices.

Before applying for advice, it’s important to ensure that you meet our criteria:

Your SME must have been operational for at least two years.
Your SME should be more than 50 percent privately owned.
Your SME should employ between 10 and 250 full-time (more than 20 hours) employees.
Your SME’s total revenue in the year prior to collaborating with PUM should be more than EUR 10.000, and less than EUR 5 million.
Your SME should be more than 50% locally owned.
The owner of your SME should not come from a middle/high income country (see World Bank Definitions)
Your SME should not be a franchise or a holding.
Your SME must be unable to find the required local expertise and/or unable to pay for it.
Your SME must cover accommodation and local transport for the PUM expert and expenses for a translator (from English to your language) if needed.
The owner of your SME must be fully committed to being involved throughout the entire collaboration with PUM.
Your SME must comply with the basic OECD guidelines. This means that your SME does not support child labour or forced labour, neither does it operate in any of the following sectors: weapons and ammunition; radioactive materials; gambling and casinos; pornography and prostitution; racist and anti-democratic media.
Your SME must share the requested data in the application form, in the evaluation form after project completion, and in the annual follow-up surveys until two years after project completion. Data privacy and security are ensured. (see: Privacy Statement – PUM)

Criteria for organisations supporting SMEs

PUM also cooperates with organisations that work for the benefit of SMEs, focusing on the improvement of their management and the support they provide to SMEs. These organisations include member organisations, educational and knowledge institutes, organisations working on infrastructure, and Incubators.

Before applying for advice as such an organisation, it’s important to ensure that you meet our criteria:

Your organisation must have been operational for at least two years.
Your total annual budget should not exceed EUR 5 million.
Your organisation should have at least 50% local ownership.
Your organisation should employ between 10 and 250 full-time (more than 20 hours) employees.
Your organisation must be unable to find the required local expertise and/or unable to pay for it.
Your organisation must cover accommodation and local transport for the PUM expert and expenses for a translator (from English to your language) if needed.
The owner of your organisation must be fully committed to being involved throughout the entire collaboration with PUM.
Your organisation must comply with the basic OECD guidelines. This means that your company does not support child labour or forced labour, neither does it operate in any of the following sectors: Weapons and ammunition; Radioactive materials; Gambling and casinos; Pornography and prostitution; Racist and anti-democratic media.
Your organisation must share the requested data in the application form, in the evaluation form after project completion, and in the annual follow-up surveys until two years after project completion. Data privacy and security are ensured. (see: Privacy Statement – PUM).

Additional criteria

For educational and knowledge institutes (R&D) and organisations working on infrastructure:

Your organisation should be able to demonstrate which SMEs you support and how they directly benefit from your services.

For Incubators:

Your incubator should have supported at least 5 start-ups in the last year.
Your incubator should have had a minimum annual budget of EUR 5000 in the year prior to collaborating with PUM.
Your incubator should be able to support a minimum of 10 SMEs.
Your incubator should have at least 3 staff members.

We operate in more than 30 sectors

Our 1,200 experts share practical advice across more than 30 areas of expertise. They have acquired their knowledge through extensive work experience and are professionals in their field. Many of our experts have owned or currently own companies in the sector in which they provide advice.

Discover the fields in which we are active

We are active in more than 30 countries across the globe

We establish collaborations in over 30 countries worldwide and have representatives in each of them. PUM representatives play a crucial role in our organisation, using their valuable local network to identify potential clients and business ecosystems. They serve as the primary point of contact for clients and partners, liaising with the global PUM team.

Discover the countries in which we are active.

How it works in practice

Once your request for advice has been approved, the collaboration with PUM starts. Together we will define a Plan of Approach describing your request and how we will collaborate in further detail. How does it work from there?

Plan of Approach and agreement

We sign an agreement, which includes the Plan of Approach. Based on the Plan of Approach we find the most suitable expert for you.

Preparing for the project

Once you have agreed to the expert PUM has matched you with, you start the preparations for the project. The expert will contact you to collect more information and clearly define the project. The outcome will be described in a Work Plan.

Travel arrangements

In case of a project on location, PUM takes care of the expert’s travel expenses, including airplane tickets, insurance and visa costs. However, we request clients to cover accommodation, meals, interpreter fees (if needed), and local transportation.

Execution of the project

The expert will spend the first day(s) of the project getting to know your organisation, market, bottlenecks and dilemmas. Together, you will focus on addressing your initial question, but you may also explore further. You might identify opportunities to not only make your business more profitable but also more sustainable, cleaner, safer, and efficient. Furthermore, you will also explore possibilities beyond your business to create a lasting positive impact on your community.

The Client Report

At the end of the project, you will receive a report from the expert with advice and possible recommendations for implementation. The expert will be available for remote consultation and feedback.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Some data collected with the application form will be used as baseline data. You will receive an annual follow-up survey until two years after the project completion to monitor and evaluate changes against the baseline. The evaluation survey after the project completion will be used for learning and improvement.

Together we grow.