Cyrille and Louis are both graduates of IÉSEG. With their association Impulso, they decided to transform the way students carry out their gap year. They explain how this new kind of gap allows you to live an extraordinary experience.
The journey of the founders of Impulso
Can you go back over your journey?
Cyril: We have a fairly similar journey with Louis. We come from Lille families and we are friends of IÉSEG. We met at school during our M1, in 2012. During our gap year, we wanted to set up a project that had meaning and impact, while leading a crazy story. This is how Impulso was born. We realized that, all over the world, millions of people are setting up micro-businesses even though they do not have the skills to do so. But we can provide them with this knowledge.
Louis: They are entrepreneurs by default. They have no choice. We therefore wanted to help these populations who have not necessarily studied, but who are launching micro-businesses. In France, we met with some players in the sector to define our theories and we went into the field for six months to validate or invalidate them and to see what we could contribute as students. We tested our concept on site and realized that we could provide skills that seem simple to us, but which are not for them.
So Impulso was born during your studies?
Cyril: Impulso was born during our journey. At the end of our studies, we returned from Latin America, we carried out our end-of-studies internships in incubators. We launched three years ago!
Louis: For a year and a half, we worked on Impulso in the evenings and weekends. We gradually recruited a few volunteers. We tested our business model for a few months. We have an associative status, but it is not viable to depend on subsidies, so we wanted to create a hybrid organization. So in 2019 we launched a new version of Impulso with an operational team and that’s when we started sending more volunteers.
Everything you need to know about Impulso
Impulso, what is it?
Cyril: It is an association which offers six-month impact gap-year missions, with six months of preparation upstream. The field of possibilities is very wide. Students can support poor people in Latin America by helping them launch their businesses, as well as small associations in Hauts-de-France, which do not necessarily have access to talent.
Louis: After leaving business school, it is very rare to go to an association. They do not have access to these talents and we want to make these profiles available to them for six months.
What do the students do during these six months of preparation?
Cyril: Whatever their mission, the preparation is the same. Students are trained in things like prospecting, public speaking, pitching. To leave, they must raise €10,000 during the six months of preparation. This allows us to finance 100% of their mission and part of our association. This is also our economic model.
Louis: For projects abroad, students are more aware of microfinance, while we rather address the administrative or financial dimension for local missions. If the base remains the same, we of course adapt the training taking into account the challenges of their project.
Cyril: We prepare the logistical dimension with them, we help them find a field of action so that they can concentrate on the missions. In Latin America, for example, some microfinance institutes identify micro-borrowers who need help. In Hauts-de-France, we rely on our network of local partners. Between the start and the end of the mission, the most important thing is immersion. You have to succeed in building bonds of trust with the beneficiaries, crossing the cultural barrier… The pair then makes the handover with the next pair.
How did the idea for Impulso come about?
Louis: Originally, during our gap year, we wanted to carry out a mission together with Cyrille. Our desire was really to combine our studies with a social dimension, to give back to others. We found out what we could do and saw that Latin America offered a lot of opportunities. After our studies, we decided to combine entrepreneurship and commitment.
How to do your gap year using Impulso?
How can we benefit from the gap year made in Impulso?
Louis: Historically, we are open to business school students, but we are working on diversifying the students we welcome. Impulso does not only recruit students from business schools, we target students from all backgrounds: IAE, communication schools, university… Our recruitment is based above all on human skills. We offer two sessions. We recruit in April-May for departures in January and in October for departures in July.
Cyril: Our desire is really to attract volunteers who display great values and who want to have fun on a human level, to share… Spending six months at Impulso is very educational in terms of personal development and the acquisition of skills and this allows you to complete your school curriculum with human commitment.
