You begin as a Focus Group, a group of students committed to founding a Junior Enterprise.

At this stage, your focus is on building a core team, understanding what a Junior Enterprise is, and committing to the journey ahead. You familiarise yourselves with the Junior Enterprise Movement, its standards, and its way of working, and you establish initial contact with Junior Enterprises Global to orient yourselves.

Objective:
A committed founding team with a shared understanding of the Junior Enterprise model and a clear development roadmap.

You define what your future Junior Enterprise will do.

This stage is about understanding your environment and shaping a first business logic. You explore similar Junior Enterprises, analyse your local market, define an initial portfolio of services linked to your field of study, and test whether your idea makes sense in practice.

Flexibility is key. Ideas are refined through feedback, not perfected in isolation.

Objective:
A clear value proposition and an initial service portfolio grounded in real needs.

You step outside your founding group and confront reality.

Your initiative is presented to your university, potential partners, and potential clients. You gather feedback, secure institutional support where possible, and integrate into the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. This is also the stage where your initiative gains visibility and legitimacy.

Validation is not about approval alone, but about alignment.

Objective:
External support, feedback, and clear next steps towards formalisation.

You lay the legal and organisational foundations.

At this stage, your initiative becomes formally structured as a non-profit organisation according to national requirements and with that can change into the Junior Initiative status. You define statutes, internal rules, governance processes, and elect your first Executive Board. Financial and administrative basics are put in place.

This is the most demanding stage structurally, but it is essential for durability.

Objective:
A legally established, internally governed organisation ready to operate.

You lay the legal and organisational foundations.

At this stage, your initiative becomes formally structured as a non-profit organisation according to national requirements. You define statutes, internal rules, governance processes, and elect your first Executive Board. Financial and administrative basics are put in place.

This is the most demanding stage structurally, but it is essential for durability.

Objective:
A legally established, internally governed organisation ready to operate.

You align with the Junior Enterprise standards and enter the network.

Recognition confirms that your organisation fulfils the international criteria of a Junior Enterprise. Depending on your country, this process is handled by a National Confederation or by Junior Enterprises Global.

Recognition protects the meaning of the Junior Enterprise name and connects you to the global network.

Objective:
Official recognition as a Junior Enterprise.

You grow impact and contribute to the ecosystem.

Recognition is not the end of the journey. Your Junior Enterprise continues to evolve by expanding services, improving quality, engaging in the network, and supporting the creation of new Junior Enterprises. Over time, you help strengthen the Junior Enterprise ecosystem locally and nationally.

A Junior Enterprise is built to outlast its founders.

Objective:
Sustainable growth, increased impact, and contribution to the Movement.