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The digital kit promises to digitize SMEs and freelancers and “give them” a Macbook Air. There is a lot of small print

September 3, 2025 by usatoday24

On paper the Digital kit It doesn’t seem a bad idea. The government’s proposal, managed by Red.esgrants a series of subsidies to facilitate the “digital transformation” of SMEs and freelancers. Or what is the same: that small businesses and people “in self -employment” can for example have their website, their online store and even access the subsidy of a macbook air m4 that seems to leave “free”. Except that it does not go free. Not much less. Subsidies for digital transformation The program, promoted by Red.es and the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Function, aims to “digitize” SMEs and adapt them to new times. Source: Red.es Financing comes from the Next Generation EU program of the European Union, and to start it up they were established different segments of beneficiaries that depended on the size of the SMEs or whether you were autonomous. The calls for almost all segments have been ending over the last months, but there is one that remains active: that of segment III, dedicated to SMEs from zero to three employees and also autonomous. The maximum amount of the subsidy for this segment is 3,000 euros, and is divided into two items. The first, with a subsidy of up to 2,000 euros can be used to commission the development of a web page (“basic internet presence”) or an online store (“Marketplace”). The second, which is becoming a claim on social networks, is a subsidy of up to 1,000 euros for the acquisition of a “safe job”which normally translates into a PC or portable. An important detail here: you can not ask for only the computer for the computer, and this can only be requested as a complement to the subsidy for the website or online store mentioned above. To access the program and get those “digital bonds” of up to 3,000 euros the process, explained in a PDFIt is theoretically simple. Just access the web accelerapyme.escomplete a “self -diagnosis test” and request help Digital kit through the form of the Red.es electronic headquarters. From there we will have to get in touch with a “digitizer agent”which will be the intermediary through which this “digital transformation” of our business is carried out. It is they who provide us with services (or manage that a third party provide them) and that they also take care of the acquisition of the famous portable of 1,000 euros. It is possible to become one of these digitalizing agents through the aforementioned Electronic Headquarters of Red.es, and In another guide in PDF It explains how to log in. A digitizer agent tells us the reality of the digital kit program As we say, on paper everything seems correct, but in practice the digital kit program has become a source of controversy that affects both parties, both those who have asked for those subsidies and to those who have managed them. To know from within what is happening we have talked to Pablo F. Iglesiasfounder of the consultant Cyberbainers that among other things achieved homologation for the digital kit. He has suffered the “small print” of this project as well as a service provider as a couple of a person who requested them. After this time offering their services, he tells us how his feeling is that there were “too many used who have seen in the program a quick business opportunity.” It is a message that others have shared such as Jaime Gómez-Obregón, which explained in x How a microenterprise “sold” hundreds of digital kit projects by subcontracting websites to freelancers in South America, which ended up promoting “Business models of using and throwing”. Iglesias also indicated how there have been large companies that They have taken advantage of the program to capture new customers as part of your service offer. In both cases the impact has been mostly negative. There are many the Complaints in social networks that They speak of Scams Related and how it has been seen that frequently the quality of the web pages or online stores created was very low, they were often “clones” of other web pages with minimal modifications that did not justify the 2,000 euros of the subsidy. For churches there is another additional problem: “Although they grant, for example, 6,000 euros to your company, the categories are limited to maximum expenses. Insufficient expenses to provide a service of twelve months, which encourages, by the structure of the subsidy itself, that the quality of the service is very but very low … or an economic agreement is reached outside the digital kit contract.” Iglesias himself explained that with 2,000 euros it is practically impossible for someone to “make you a professional website, give you basic services of backups, maintenance and monthly SEO work for 12 months.” Even so, he emphasizes, this program has caused the foam “alleged marketing agencies that They are dedicated to riding clonic WordPress With free templates in an afternoon, financing with the digital kit. “Although these pages do not position well in front of the competition, in the eyes of the program they have fulfilled the work,” and as the type client to which they van do not understand anything in the digital world, because it cooks. “ Free laptop myth In recent days we have started to see frequently on social networks like Tiktok Publications of accounts that They talked of The easy What was it get a macbook air m4 “free” subsidized by digital kit. But all these messages are misleading advertising, since although the digital kit program subsidizes these teams, who want to take advantage of this option will have to be very attentive to the small print. To start, because That subsidy does not cover VATand here Iglesias points to how “the state always wins.” To get the laptop we have to ask both the subsidy of 1,000 euros for the “safe job” and the 2,000 euros for the creation of a website or, as many of those ads sell, the start -up of … Read more

We are champions in productivity with medium and large companies. The problem is that with SMEs we lose by win

July 16, 2025 by usatoday24

The OECD data has been putting the red lantern to Spanish productivity decades. However, that perception does not Low productivity in Spain It does not fully adjust to the reality that reflect the Recent OECD reports. Such and as they highlight in The confidentialalthough the global data show a very discreet increase, companies of between 10 and 250 workers exceed productivity to the average of their peers in the OECD. However, the big problem is that 95.1% of Spanish business fabric is made up of SMEs with between 0 and 10 employees. What the OECD says about Spain. The OECD, in Your productivity report Of 2024, it evidences that the average annual growth of the hour per hour worked in Spain has been 0.5% per year, while the OECD as a whole has registered an average of 1.2%. That places the country clearly below the average of the Club of developed economies. Despite this scenario, a BBVA Foundation Analysis On the evolution of the total productivity of the factors (PTF), which combines the productivity of labor and capital to leave a photo closer to the reality of companies, says a growth of 0.9% interannual of this parameter. Which reinforces the conclusions of the OECD on the growth of productivity in Spain, which is like the Second country with greater growth of productivity in the last two decades. However, beyond the global data of Spain, the graphics of the OECD productivity study value the largest companies already medium -sized as a productivity engine in Spain. Thus, the OECD evidence that the mismatch in productivity is not so much between Spain and Europe as a whole, but among the different company sizes within the country itself. Total productivity of the factors (PTF) by country. Source: Productivity Council of Spain Microenterprises: many and unproductive. As recognized From the report From the Productivity Council in Spain, the most relevant feature of the Spanish productive fabric is that 95.1% of Spanish companies have less than ten employees, confirming that microenterprise is the standard in Spain, not the exception. According to the OECD dataSpanish microenterprises generated in 2023 an added value of $ 56,990 per worker, compared to $ 108,356 per employee generated by large companies. That means that large companies are 90% more productive than SMEs. The productivity of microenterprises is 15.3% below the OECD average and represents one of the main ballasts for the national average. He OECD diagnosis On microenterprises it is clear: having many very small companies limits the Productivity improvements and investment capacity. Medium companies approve with note. The highlight of the international comparative analysis is that, according to the OECD, “Spanish medium -sized companies have a productivity higher than the EU average, standing above the other advanced countries in their category.” In percentage terms, Spanish companies of 10 to 49 employees are 8.7% more productive than the OECD average; those of 50 to 250 employees 9.1% and those of more than 250 employees 5.2%. In other words, only 4.9% of companies in Spain would be above the OECD average, occupying avant -garde positions in terms of competitiveness in markets International The challenge: increase size and investment. The recipe that the OECD gives to Improve productivity Of these microenterprises it is clear, but it is not simple to apply: it is necessary to seek improvements in productivity through Investment and innovationimproving the value added by employee so that the business fabric gains size. According to 2023 dataSpain is at the tail in investment in machinery, ICT assets and i+d. Precisely, a Report of the Bank of Spain He pointed to productive investment as the key to business growth. The report emphasizes that private business investment had not managed to recover prepondondemic levels, while public investment in this area had recovered and grew at a good pace. In Xataka | Some researchers have analyzed the working day in Spain: the same thing that 40 years ago is worked, but in worse jobs Image | Unspash (Sherman Yang) We believed that in Spain we were not productive, but medium and large companies exceed the OECD average. That is the problem

The Extremadura Plan for SMEs and Autonomous

July 8, 2025 by usatoday24

Labor conciliation is a serious problem that not only has an impact on the labor market conditioning the Labor availability. It also has repercussions at demographic and economic level. The Board of Extremadura has launched A new call to support SMEs and the freelancers of the region. It is an economic aid of 2,500 euros for each worker who is allowed to telework or dispose of a flexible schedule to reconcile work with the care of dependent children or relatives. Conditions to access help. This initiative is part of the Extremadura Autonomous Employment Plan And it seeks to “promote the digital transformation and the conciliation of working and personal life in SMEs and among the self -employed,” according to the official text of the Board. The SMEs and freelancers who have their fiscal domicile in Extremadura may request this help, which have a maximum of 250 employees and whose annual business volume does not exceed 50 million euros or their annual balance does not exceed 43 million euros. With this measure, the Board joins the initiatives on teleworking and conciliation that other communities have already launched Like Madrid. In addition, it is mandatory that benefited workers have been hired in the company before the request for aid. The amount of the subsidy will be 2,500 euros for each worker who passes to teleworking or having flexible schedule, for a maximum of 10 workers per company and with a maximum limit of 10,000 euros per company. Teleworking or flexibility. “One of the main challenges today is that labor demands, such as long days, rigid schedules or lack of flexibility, make people difficult to meet their family responsibilities, such as caring for children, the elderly or people with disabilities,” says the Board in its specifications. Therefore, the call establishes its priority in Teleworking models and time flexibility that allows workers to adapt the schedules of their day to Family care needs. One of the requirements is that at least 30% of the weekly working hours must be made and that the flexible modality must imply a real adaptation of the schedules To facilitate conciliation. According to the published decree, “the company must prove that it has effectively implemented teleworking or flexible schedule for at least a year after the granting of aid.” Less stress, more productivity. Conciliation measures directly affect to workers’ stress And, as a consequence, other aspects such as the improvement of productivity and commitment to companies are improved. From the Board of Extremadura it is ensured that the measure “not only benefits people, who can experience a better quality of life, lower stress and greater job satisfaction, but also has advantages for organizations, such as greater productivity, lower staff rotation and a healthier work environment” Against the precariousness of women. Women are the most affected by the precariousness induced by family reconciliation. According to INE datathe percentage of men with more than one child who worked was 90.4%, compared to their female peers registered 71.8%. Hence the need to favor conciliation in self -employed and SMEs and that these “contribute to reducing gender inequalities, since most of the time it is women who face greater difficulties,” abounds the brochure of the call. In Xataka | Up to 15,000 euros for moving to Extremadura. The only requirement: be a digital nomad Image | Unspash (VITALY GARIEV)

A Norwegian company is building an empire buying Spanish software startups for SMEs. With patience and without mergers

May 5, 2025 by usatoday24

Norway houses one of the biggest Spanish software startup buyers, although not well known beyond the niche niche. With five acquisitions since 2021 and more than 250 million euros invested in Spain, Visma has become a fundamental actor in the national technology and entrepreneuraccording to a long analysis of EcoTechers. Operational independence as a management model The Nordic giant broke into the Spanish market in 2021 with The acquisition of HoldedBarcelona business management software, which disbursed more than 190 million euros. Since then, has incorporated to declaring, woffu, quaderno and, The most recent, Tugesto, A Valencian startup that was participated by Angels, Juan Roig’s investment society, president of Mercadona. “I would expect something more this year for own ambition and project ambition. 2025 and 2026 are going to be years of many outings of Private Equity who entered the year 2021 and 2022. We are already beginning to see movements, “says Miguel García-Paredes, responsible for mergers and acquisitions for Spain and Portugal of Visma, according to EcoTechers. The most striking of its strategy is that, unlike other corporate buyers, Visma maintains companies acquired as independent entities, retaining their brands and management teams. “The idea of visma is to set up an ecosystem rather than also from entrepreneurs and conserve the entrepreneur,” said García-Paredes. This philosophy was evident after the recent purchase of Tugesto. As reports The economist“It will continue to operate as an independent company under the same name and address.” Manuel Fandos, CEO of Tugesto, said That this union represents “a unique opportunity to revolutionize business management together, especially in a market such as payroll software, where much remains to be achieved and innovate in Spain.” Who is visma: the discreet multinational Founded in 1996 by merger It was privatized by the HG capital fund. Currently, its shareholding is distributed mainly between HG Capital (70%) and the Sustain Fund of Singapore GIC (14%). The company has closed the year 2024 with 2.8 billion euros of income, a growth of 17%, and 893 million EBITDA (+26.6%)according to data provided to EcoTechers. In Spain, where it has more than 400 employees, it hopes to reach 60 million billing this year. “Spain is one of the highest growth for visma,” said Merete Hverven, CEO of the group, to The economist In 2023. “From our landing in 2021, we grow at a rate of 70%.” Visma has perfected its acquisition strategy after More than 373 completed operations worldwide. Only between 2023 and 2024 closed more than 70 purchases. In Spain, its focus is on SME -centered software startupsan easy pattern to detect seeing your history. According to García-Paredes, they look for companies that meet or approach the “40 rule” for software, that is, the sum of the percentage of income in income and the Ebitda margin is equal to or greater than 40. The company, which has a presence in 27 countries in Europe and Latin America, sees in Spain a strategic market for its size – almost 50 million inhabitants – and for the “growing advance of digitalization”, factors that predict that there will be more acquisitions in the future. Outstanding image | VISMA In Xataka | The technological basis of quantum computers developed in Europe: what happened so that in the long term we lost the race

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