About GroBusiness
GroBusiness, based in Winsum, is a program of the Economic Board Groningen, supporting entrepreneurs in the province Groningen, the Netherlands. Established in 2021, GroBusiness provides local entrepreneurs with the tools and knowledge to help their businesses thrive.
In Groningen, the mindset often suggests “it could be worse” when things are going well. At GroBusiness they believe “there can be more!”. Funded by the province of Groningen, GroBusiness is one the various programs under the Economic Board of Groningen. It was created to support and assist all types of entrepreneurs, from freelancers to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); everyone in the province of Groningen is welcome.
The team at GroBusiness consists of “SME explorers,” all of whom are (or have been) entrepreneurs with a genuine desire to help others. They understand the entrepreneurial landscape and its challenges. GroBusiness serves as the starting point for all entrepreneurial questions in Groningen. When an entrepreneur comes in with a specific question, the GroBusiness team, with expertise in various domains, provides tailored consultancy to help overcome challenges and identify new opportunities for the next step.
While GroBusiness services are without obligation, they hope entrepreneurs will take action based on their advice and utilize their network. In addition to consulting, they also organize events such as GroTalks, aimed at creating awareness by sharing knowledge, exchanging information, and inspire entrepreneurs to take action on various topics, including AI.
Overall, GroBusiness acts as a connector between entrepreneurs, strengthening the economic structure of Groningen’s entrepreneurial community and aiming to indirectly contribute to more jobs, increased business activity, and a more attractive business climate in the province of Groningen
Facilitating AI Adoption for SMEs in Groningen
Artificial Intelligence has been on the rise over the past few years, and many organizations have already taken the first step into the transformative world of AI. However, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) still face various barriers to adopting AI in their daily operations, often thinking that AI is only suited for larger companies such as multinationals.
GroBusiness receives daily inquiries from entrepreneurs facing issues on various topics, such as financing, sustainability and circularity, sustainable employability of staff, internationalization, and digitalization.
Keeping these challenges in mind, Grobusiness wanted to address them during one of their GroTalks. They wanted to raise awareness of how AI can enhance organizations while tackling these issues, demonstrating entrepreneurs that AI is accessible to everyone and can be adopted immediately.
Key challenges GroBusiness wanted to address in the realm of AI include:
- Clarifying AI: Making AI understandable and accessible to entrepreneurs, emphasizing that it’s not just for multinationals. This involves explaining what AI is and raising awareness about its potential to enhance their organizations.
- Making AI accessible: Demonstrating that AI is approachable for everyone, and therefore beneficial for entrepreneurs, by inspiring and equipping them with the knowledge and tools needed to integrate AI effectively into their day-to-day business.
- Immediate appplicabilty: Highlighting the practical applications of AI, by showcasing use cases that illustrate how entrepreneurs can start using AI right away to improve their operations, drive growth, and foster innovation.
Excited about inspiring entrepreneurs in the North of the Netherlands to understand that AI is accessible to everyone, GroBusiness wanted to show how AI can be integrated into their daily business operations. To achieve this, GroBusiness partnered with DataNorth, recognizing the expertise they could offer to other entrepreneurs.
Transforming challenges into opportunities with AI’s transformative potential
With the aim of inspiring entrepreneurs through the powerful world of AI, GroBusiness partnered with DataNorth to showcase innovative applications and guide them on how to take the first steps. At a GroTalk event, an inspiring AI talk was given to demonstrate that AI is accessible to everyone and that entrepreneurs can start leveraging it right away.
During the AI talk, participants were first introduced to the history of AI, with fundamental concepts such as machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, and generative AI explained. Various examples of AI applications were shown to illustrate these concepts.
We then demonstrated practical applications for businesses, showing use cases and how AI can be implemented in day-to-day operations, including for SMEs. Additionally, the steps on the roadmap for AI adoption were discussed. After inspiring participants about the transformative potential of AI, we explored its specific potential for entrepreneurs in Groningen.
As a result, participants realized that AI is not only for multinationals. The participants discovered that they can start with AI with a low entry barrier and saw that other entrepreneurs have already successfully implemented AI in their businesses.
Overall, with the help of DataNorth’s inspiring AI talk, GroBusiness was able to present AI in a practical, engaging manner, demonstrating its transformative potential and encouraging local entrepreneurs to start adopting AI in their businesses.
Measurable impact of AI at GroBusiness
The expectations for the AI talk were far exceeded for both GroBusiness and the participants. The inspiring session not only generated awareness about AI and its possibilities, but also motivated participants to take concrete steps towards implementing AI in their day-to-day business.
This collaboration between GroBusiness and DataNorth demonstrates GroBusiness’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurs in Groningen by raising awareness and helping them leverage the potential of Artificial Intelligence.
This significant step in strengthening the economic structure showcases GroBusiness as true connectors, working to foster a livable and vibrant province of Groningen.
The success of the inspiring AI talk at GroTalk has paved the way for continued collaboration with DataNorth. The next step for DataNorth is to give an inspiring session about AI for over 500 organizations at the upcoming GroBusiness OndernemersFestival.
