New Entrepreneur (NE)
Name & surname: Marija Šokčević
Country: Croatia
Age: 36
Sector of activity: IT
Have you already started your business? Yes
Host Entrepreneur (HE)
Name & surname: Christian Adelsberger
Country: Austria
Sector of activity: IT, office and communication equipment, services and supplies
Experience in running a business: 6 years
Name of business/website: www.parkbob.at and www.ubiq.ai
Period of Relationship: 21/05/2019 – 21/09/2019
Duration of Relationship: 4 months
How could Christian and Marija cooperate most effectively to give a real boost to the marketing of Christian’s company?
Christian Adelsberger is the founder of the company Ubiq (formerly known as parkbob). He heard about the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneur Program from one of his team members who had had a good experience with it. Ever since the early days of the founding in 2015, Christian wanted his company to be a global one. In order to get there, Christian looked for various viewpoints and perspectives. He realized that it was important to question processes and reflect on the way of transferring processes. As the company started exploring potential new partners and ways to market its products, as well as revising its processes, Christian thought this would be a good time to bring in someone who had a new perspective and support in this process – thus creating a win-win situation.
“I didn’t have many expectations at the start”, Christian summarized his thoughts at the beginning. “I expected to meet a very self-driven entrepreneur-to-be who is excited about the company I am building and the products we are developing.”
In his opinion, passionate individuals always find good ways to contribute and to learn, so he was confident he would find a good match. And he did: with Marija Šokčević from Croatia. Why did Marija choose to participate in the program?
She started thinking about her own business and wanted to get as much useful information and first-hand advice from an experienced entrepreneur. Also, she found it very beneficial for professional growth to gain international business experience, improve her language skills and make contacts.
So how did they got along during the exchange? Marija was involved as much as possible in Christian’s work and the daily activities of the company. Christian saw that she really wanted to know the business and the operations from inside so this is what he and his team facilitated. Marija supported them with marketing activities, specifically with text and videos for social media, editing or contributing to blog articles, contributing to the monthly newsletter and revising the website content. She was also engaged in regular communication with the external marketing. She supported Christian in the preparation of project proposals and investor presentations. In addition, she joined him for external events where he represented the start-up.
What was the biggest contribution Marija made to Christian’s company? One of her initial goals was upgrading the relevance of Christians marketing activities for attracting Ubiq’s target groups. This was a big success and was of great help.
Being involved in various parts of the process, Marija was able to provide feedback on the business development processes which was very valuable for Christian.
Christian plans on continuing to incorporate new ideas and methods proposed by Marija. Some of the improvements are process related. For example, she contributed a lot to marketing processes, helped to set up templates and improved the flow of communication with the external marketing agency.
“We learned that even if a process seems a bit challenging at first (we had some challenges with the initial setup of the exchange) it is worth waiting because passionate and entrepreneurial people need to be given opportunities to develop and they can always bring something very positive to an organization. Marija certainly did.“, Christian says.
“This exchange was very valuable in bringing a new perspective to my business and hopefully a new perspective on the NE’s business ideas. I also learned that you can never have too many ideas and input from people who are truly interested in what you are doing.”, Christian says.
Christian and Marija will certainly stay in touch regarding their entrepreneurial activities and he will be happy to support her in the next steps, wherever she chooses to take her ideas. “If any of the contacts I have in the mobility field can be of use to her, I’d be happy to make introductions.”, Christian says.
Concluding Remarks
Christian Adelsberger (HE): “I would recommend the program to any seasoned entrepreneur who is willing to open up about their work and support an upcoming entrepreneur to develop their skills and ideas, and who also wants to gain a new perspective on their business.”
