Rob Meijer is strategy consultant and cofounder of Meijer & van der Ham Management Consultants in Amsterdam. At the Anton Jurgens Institute he teaches the Master Class ‘Financing new ventures'. In English, the international language of business. Opportunities in times of tempest? Definitely. 

On the website of Meijer & Van der Ham a woman looks hesitantly at a frog on the palm of her hand. It illustrates the economic and financial world lacks princes - especially in times of economic recession. Meijer, quite cheerfully, says: "It's definitely not impossible to get financing. The Dutch Government has created several seed funds for beginners to get a kick start. Continued investments can prove to be a lot harder but are still available for go-getters with a great idea and a solid business plan."

According to Meijer sound knowledge is the best seed money. "Do not just collect qualitative market information, also collect quantitative market information. For an innovation can be impressive, it still needs to make money in the end. Many new ideas fail, which doesn't necessarily mean they weren't really good." Meijer names another complication: to the consumer food innovations are often hard to imagine. "An iPod is tangible. But the health effect of a new food ingredient is not tangible to the consumer. This increases the need for beginning entrepreneurs to work according to well thought-out plans - including finances."

Things Meijer likes to see on the to-do list of new entrepreneurs? "New businesses must have a strong growth to be interesting to external investors. That can only be achieved by a sharp focus on activities. That's why it is key to produce realistic estimates of market potential and competition. And beginners have to have a good think about the amount of money they need, also for times of adverse winds."