Swedes Oscar Lundin and Benjamin Kainz were both 18 when they created Ung Omsorg, a company offering social services to elderly people: essentially conversation and small-scale domestic help from students.
Three years later, the company employs 400 part-time students, who typically serve for a few years before moving into social services or other careers.
In April this year, they received the 'JA YE Young Entrepreneur of the Year' award in Brussels, and their "success story" was prominently displayed by the European Commission in a video by DG Enterprise.
Lundin believes Europe needs more social entrepreneurs in the welfare sector, and especially in the education system, arguing that society is not currently a good provider of care and education in the long run.
The development of entrepreneurial skills should be given higher prominence among students to promote the philosophy that business can be a way to make positive social changes, he argues.
"The average European school needs more entrepreneurship in the curriculum, and more practical dimensions to education," he said.
Such measures can lead young Europeans to believe, as he does, in enterprising as a way to "both make a living and impact upon my surroundings".
The Swede, who has been active in promoting entrepreneurship in other countries, notably Croatia, is strongly in favour of EU initiatives such as the 'Erasmus for entrepreneurs' programme, and also believes showing the public success stories such as his own can be a positive way of stimulating "more doers and more action".
Lundin concludes by emphasising that companies and entrepreneurs must become more interested and involved in the school structure. "In that way," he says, "the gap between students and entrepreneurs will be smaller. It should be easy to create new companies and inspiring to work towards a dream".
