Over the past four years, the Impakt Investment Foundation, in collaboration with 58 local communities and public employment services in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has implemented the IMPAKT Incubator of Business Ideas, supporting the establishment and improvement of over 350 new business ventures across Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Impakt Investment Foundation continues its activities to support entrepreneurship development and preserve jobs for entrepreneurs and small businesses in collaboration with local communities, cantons, and employment services in Bosnia and Herzegovina. More information about the IMPAKT Incubator of Business Ideas is available at: http://www.impakt.ba
As part of the collaborative effort between the IMPAKT Investment Foundation and the City of Bijeljina in 2023, the IMPAKT Incubator of Business Ideas program will be implemented. The program includes entrepreneurial training and financial, expert, and mentoring support for the best business ideas in the territory of Bijeljina, in accordance with the available financial resources for supporting entrepreneurs. This public call is issued for the purpose of applications for participation in the entrepreneurship development program, IMPAKT Incubator of Business Ideas, for the year 2023. The program description encompasses a comprehensive business ideas incubation program, supporting the realization of business ideas, consisting of the following components:
1. Preparation and presentation of business ideas to the expert commission for the evaluation of business plans and models.
2. Awarding non-refundable financial support of up to 5,000.00 BAM for the best positively evaluated business ideas in the City of Bijeljina, in accordance with the available financial resources for supporting entrepreneurs.
2. Expert and mentoring support in further business growth and development in accordance with assessed needs. All forms of support will be offered only to entrepreneurs who successfully complete individual program cycles. Support in each subsequent cycle is conditioned by the successful completion of the previous business ideas incubation cycle. In case of failure to fulfil obligations by the users, the IMPAKT Investment Foundation and representatives of the City of Bijeljina reserve the right to exclude any entrepreneur from the support process at any time.
Who is eligible to apply?
• Individuals with a registered place of residence in the City of Bijeljina.
• Civil society organizations (associations and foundations) based in the City of Bijeljina, interested in initiating social/entrepreneurial ventures in the form of companies or formal business.
• Owners of existing businesses based in the City of Bijeljina, registered up to 12 months from the date of the public call announcement, interested in developing entrepreneurial skills and implementing a business idea for expanding their operations (new products/services, entering foreign markets, etc.).
Additional requirements include:
• The applicant must have a business idea they want to start and establish a formal business, such as a commercial agricultural household, entrepreneurial activity as a primary or additional activity, a company with at least one employee, a cooperative with at least one employee, or an association operating on the principles of social entrepreneurship with a minimum of 1 employee. In the case of a start-up business, it is necessary to ensure employment for at least one person for a period of one year through the implementation of the business idea.
• The applicant must belong to one or more of the target groups as specified below.
• The applicant must possess minimal technical skills for managing the production process or business activities.
• The applicant must have completed at least high school or have experience in the activities covered by the business idea.
Target groups:
• Unemployed individuals residing in the territory of the City of Bijeljina.
• Employed individuals residing in the territory of the City of Bijeljina who would like to start their own business.
• Civil society organizations registered in the territory of the City of Bijeljina interested in engagement in the field of social entrepreneurship.
• Owners of existing businesses registered in the territory of the City of Bijeljina, registered up to 12 months from the date of publishing the public call, interested in developing entrepreneurial skills and implementing a business idea for expanding their operations (new products/services, entering foreign markets, etc.). Supplementary activities are not acceptable unless the implementation of the business idea involves transitioning to the primary and/or additional activity.
Participation requirements:
To participate in the IMPAKT Incubator of Business Ideas, you can apply with a business idea that results in the formal establishment of a business entity/legal entity and/or the implementation of a business idea for expanding operations (new products/services, entering foreign markets, etc.). Start-up businesses should not be older than 12 months.
Acceptable forms of business ventures include: commercial agricultural farm, business entity with the obligation to employ workers, entrepreneurial activity as the primary or additional activity, association and/or cooperative operating on the principles of social entrepreneurship with the obligation to employ one worker. Supplementary activities are not acceptable, except in cases where the implementation of the business idea involves transitioning to the primary and/or additional activity. Restrictions regarding the sectors or industries from which business ideas originate are subject to legislative requirements.
Additionally, business ideas that have a negative impact on human health (e.g., production, processing, or sale of alcoholic beverages or tobacco products, production with a significant impact on the pollution of the human environment, etc.) are not acceptable. Furthermore, activities related to the preparation and serving of food and beverages (restaurant activities, cafes, fast-food restaurants, places for preparing meals for consumption outside the preparation facility, food trucks, mobile food carts, food preparation at stands in markets) as well as catering and other food preparation and serving activities are not acceptable.
These restrictions do not apply to activities related to training and business improvement for chefs, caterers, etc. Activities related to wholesale and retail trade (motor vehicles and motorcycles, agricultural raw materials and animals, household goods, information and communication equipment, machinery, equipment and accessories, food and beverages, motor fuels, specialized goods, non-store retailing, stands and markets, etc.) will be considered unacceptable.
In case it involves own production and retail/wholesale trade of self-produced goods, the previous provision does not apply. Although certain activities are restricted for application and use of non-refundable financial support, participation in entrepreneurial training will be allowed. Additionally, employees of the Employment Service, City Administration, and members of their immediate families, as well as beneficiaries of the YEP/IMPAKT incubator of business ideas who have been granted non-refundable financial support in previous years, are ineligible to participate in the Program.
How to apply?
Applications can be submitted in one of the following ways:
1. In person or sent by registered mail or by submitting the application form in a closed envelope to the clerk’s office of the City of Bijeljina, marked ‘Za učešće u programu IMPAKT inkubator poslovnih ideja’ (For participation in the IMPACT Incubator of Business Ideas Program) or by filling out the online application form. The application form can be downloaded electronically from the official website: https://www.gradbijeljina.org/ or in person at the Info Desk of the City Administration.
2. By email – submitting a scanned form, which can be downloaded following the instructions from the previous point, via email to: olga.tmusic@gradbijeljina.org.
3. Online application – using the link: https://forms.gle/k71QW4wba72bK4J89 with the mandatory attachment of the registration decision for existing businesses and non-governmental organizations in the designated field (2.2) as specified.
Note: In case of applying through one of the first two methods, a copy of the registration decision for existing businesses and non-governmental organizations must be submitted. Applications on the appropriate application form should be submitted no later than 31 August 2023. After the expiration of the application collection period from this Public Call, applications will be evaluated for administrative compliance, and incomplete applications will not be considered and will be rejected.
Where can I get more information?
For more information, you can contact the Bijeljina City Administration, Trg kralja Petra I Karađorđevića 1, via email at olga.tmusic@gradbijeljina.org, or by phone at 055/233-159, as well as through the email podrskasarajevo@impakt.ba. For the purpose of providing adequate information about the program, the Impakt Investment Foundation and the City of Bijeljina will organize a presentation of the IMPAKT Incubator of Business Ideas program, which will take place on 4 August 2023, at the Innovation Centre for Sustainable Development – InCOR (address: Filipa Višnjića 17, Bijeljina – above Garden pub), starting at 10:00 AM. All interested citizens are invited to attend the workshop or presentation.
