New Entrepreneur (NE)
Name & surname: Lenka Vsetulova
Country: Czech Republic
Age: 33 years
Sector of activity: Sustainable Architecture
Have you already started your business? No.
What is your future business? My company will be an international architectural firm specializing in residential environmentally sustainable architecture on the domestic and international market. My company will deal with design and applications for the private and public market.
Host Entrepreneur (HE)
Name & surname: David Kodarin
Country: Slovenia
Sector of activity: Sustainable Architecture and Design
Experience in running a business (in years): 4
Name of business/website: Institute mOBILNO to go / www.mobilnotogo.eu
What is your business? Institute mOBILNO to go is focused on sustainability. Our mission is to help companies to transit to the circular economy and to create a new venture in this field. In the next 10 years, we want to spin off 5 companies, to decrease 5% of CO₂ emissions in Europe with our products and to establish 5 new ecovillages in Europe.
Period of exchange: 06/01/2020 – 06/07/2020
Duration of exchange: 6 months
How did David Kodarin benefit from his business collaboration with Lenka Vsetulova in the sector of sustainable architecture?
Designing sustainable tiny houses, campers, and related innovations were at the basis of the collaboration between two entrepreneurs who share a passion for sustainability: the Slovene David Kodarin (HE) and the Czech Lenka Vsetulova (NE). While David was looking for someone to share his professional objective to help companies transition to a circular economy, Lenka was looking for an opportunity to learn more about new technologies and products that may have a positive environmental impact. The matching between them was, so to say, inevitable.
During the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs exchange programme, the HE and NE intensively collaborated on a daily basis. In the first month the HE introduced the NE to his company and his core business so that the young Czech entrepreneur became acquainted with projects such as houzEKO, Camper, and Kakis. Subsequently, during the second and third month of exchange, the HE and NE focused their activities on designing camper interiors and projecting tiny eco-sustainable houses. In the remaining part of the exchange programme, they joined forces to produce a market analysis for marketing tiny houses, greenhouses, and sustainable campers in Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary.
Thanks to this unique opportunity, the NE was able to gain a new set of skills in the fields of business management, financial management, and marketing in a short period of time. She was also able to enhance her business plan for establishing her own company in the coming months.
On the other hand, the HE was able to benefit from substantial support from the NE in designing development plans, filing documents, and 3D graphic modeling for camper interior and exterior design. HE was also in a position to obtain a full market analysis for marketing his products in Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary. At the end of the exchange programme, the HE and NE defined a plan together for a continuing collaboration in the future.
Concluding Remarks
Lenka Vsetulova (NE): “I applied to this exchange programme with the goal to better understand how to start a firm specialising in sustainable architectural solutions for the domestic and the international markets. After a successful collaboration with David during the past six months, I am now ready to start my own business with the objective to make a difference on the environment and develop my own, sustainable entrepreneurial vision for the future.”
David Kodarin (HE): “I was looking for someone to share my entrepreneurial passion for products and designs with an impact on the environment in terms of sustainability. Lenka was the ideal type of young entrepreneur to work with as she is very motivated and at the same time shows deep respect for the life around her and for nature. I believe that we really need skilled and sensitive entrepreneurs such as Lenka, and I hope to stay in touch with her to be able to share new entrepreneurial endeavors together.”