NE Julian Carbajo Antelo and HE Nikolas Ioannou
New Entrepreneur (NE):
Name & surname: Julian Carbajo Antelo
Country: Spain
Age: 35
Sector of activity: Mental Health
Did you already start your business? Yes
Name of business/website: www.mindmatters.cc
What is your future business? Hypnotherapy and psychotherapy
Host Entrepreneur (HE):
Name & surname: Nikolas Ioannou
Country: Cyprus
Sector of activity: Architecture / real estate
Experience in running a business (in years): 5
Name of business/website: www.travelwithvr.com
What is your business? Architecture Visualisation Studio
Period of exchange: 01/04/2022 – 04/10/2022
Duration of exchange: 5 months
Did Julian really build his business from scratch during his EYE experience?
I am originally from Spain but have lived and worked in several European countries among them Belgium, UK, Germany, Russia, Spain, and now Cyprus. After pursuing a career in International business, I decided to follow a different path that is more aligned with my values and my skills. I wanted to help people get through their challenges and life struggles. Coming from a business background, I wanted to find a way that is both effective and where results could be quickly observed. As a result, I trained as a hypnotherapist and psychotherapist and read a Master degree in Psychology. My objective was to open a hypnotherapy practice using remote telehealth and all modern marketing tools to provide my services worldwide in English, French, and Spanish. The goal is to drive change and improve my client’s lives and get back the control of their lives.
I heard of Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs from a friend and decided to take part as I felt an exchange with another entrepreneur could help me improve my business skills and create new business contacts. Thanks to EYE, I got in touch with Nikolas and we immediately found a common ground as he understood the challenges I was going through in my business and his strong business and marketing acumen convinced me to begin the experience. I chose Cyprus as I wanted to experience a totally different country and culture in the Mediterranean.
The whole experience was a challenge as I had to travel to another country and temporarily live and work abroad but Nikolas was very helpful in facilitating this transition.
The exchange has been very successful as the objectives have been met: I built a business from scratch from its logo and corporate image, to the sales and marketing strategy, the design of a modern website with all sales and marketing functionalities, the back office system to keep track of invoicing, appointments, bookings, customers, the online marketing presence on social networks, the blog, and registration in professional directories. The collaboration was very efficient as I worked autonomously but at the same time Nikolas was mentoring me through every step of the way and we were meeting daily to address the difficulties I was encountering and showing me how to solve them. I learned a great deal through his business by analysing together with Nikolas his business strategy, his online marketing presence, and his way of doing business by participating in calls, meetings with customers and stakeholders, and demos. Although the way was quite smooth thanks to the guidance and mentoring I received, we found some unexpected hurdles especially during the design of the website but we were able to overcome them. Our exchange allowed us to meet our objectives which was for me to create and develop an effective online marketing strategy and to acquire skills in the design and implementation of a mobile application. Nikolas fulfilled his objectives which consisted of improving and consolidating his online presence on his website and social media and learning about mental health issues. We collaborated effectively on all those fields and helped each other every step of the way.
The impact of the exchange on my business has been considerable as the business was built from scratch during the exchange (sales, marketing, business strategy, accounting and finance) and is now running on its way to become financially viable with increasingly more customers learning about the solutions I provide. My business acumen has been greatly improved in all these fields and I have a better idea of what it takes to be an entrepreneur. After the exchange I will remain in contact with the HE as our collaboration is mutually beneficial and we have agreed to collaborate further in the future. The next steps in my business are to increase my customer base and design and create training in the area of hypnotherapy and breathwork. I definitely recommend the EYE program as a very formative experience which takes you out of your comfort zone with constant support which is great in order to maximise your chances of success as an entrepreneur.
Concluding Remarks:
Julian Carbajo Antelo (NE): “I learned all the basics to be a successful entrepreneur, mentored and guided by someone who has already made his journey as an entrepreneur. The EYE program increases your chances of success in your venture and allows you to create long lasting business relationships. Success as an entrepreneur not only depends on you but those you surround yourself with.”
Nikolas Ioannou (HE): “Working in the exchange program with Julian was very resourceful and pleasant. Both of us were able to share some of our knowledge and skills. I learned a lot about mental health related aspects. I recommend this program to anyone looking to explore collaboration and at the same time to build up on something new. It will be very interesting to repeat this journey with a new entrepreneur and be benefited by exchanging some knowledge. The programme is great and there should be more awareness about it, so more and more entrepreneurs around Europe will be able to experience and learn about entrepreneurship.”