Recent testimonies of successful business networking - Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme
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Çiğdem Fidan (Türkiye)
Age: 40
Company name: (Start-up)
Sector of activity: Education and training services
Christian Lombardt (Germany)
Age: 51
Company name: GesundheitsTicket GmbH (20 years of experience)
Sector of activity: Health, beauty and social services
Period of exchange: 03/2021 until 06/2021
Duration of exchange: 3
Business sector of the exchange
Çiğdem Fidan, an aspiring entrepreneur from Türkiye, is an Aromatic Herbs Technician. She dreams of opening her own business and providing training for people who want to use herbs safely in their daily lives. She decided to participate in the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme as a Young entrepreneur and to find a host in Germany, as the use of medicinal and aromatic herbs has a long tradition here. She also wanted to study the larger European market, learn about people's habits in using herbs in daily life, and expand her network while gaining more visibility online. Christian Lombardt , the founder and CEO of GesundheitsTicket GmbH, became her Host entrepreneur. His goal is to use a tax-free voucher system and a Germany-wide network of health partners to help other companies improve the social and health coverage of their employees. With the GesundheitsTicket and a budget, employees of participating companies can pay for and receive a wide range of preventive services to support their health. His company also runs Health-Plattform RegioGesundheit.news and writes and shares news about their network and prevention work. Christian was interested in someone who could improve his marketing activities and bring his perspective to product development in the health market, so he decided to participate in the programme EYE.
The entrepreneurs carried out various activities to develop their businesses. Çiğdem researched online conferencing platforms that Christian planned to use in the future to determine which best suited his needs. She also conducted theoretical and field research on European market dynamics and trends related to MAP. The theoretical research involved studying more than 20 websites to understand their dynamics. Çiğdem also visited Botanischer Garten and made some site visits to drugstores and pharmacies. Finally, she examined the websites and social media pages of Christian and other competitors and activated her own social media accounts, including profiles on Instagram, Facebook, and Linkedin, with her new perspective.
Having studied and understood the dynamics of the European market more thoroughly, Çiğdem gained enough confidence to make her training content more precise. Moreover, analysing European trends and habits gave her a new perspective on how things may develop in Türkiye in the near future. She gained new ideas that she had never considered before this collaboration. Christian encouraged her, shared his valuable experiences with her and provided her with useful training materials and tips on how to run successful social media accounts. Çiğdem also received valuable insight into online courses and feedback on her business idea. Finally, Christian connected her with other professionals in the same field and encouraged her to expand her network by writing articles with other experts in the field of herbal medicine. Thanks to this experience, Çiğdem now plans to open her business in the next 12 months.
For more information, please contact the local contact points involved in the exchange:
New entrepreneur's contact point:
Zeytin Grup Danismanlik Arastirma Organizasyon Egitim Mimarlik Insaat Bilisim Ticaret Sirketi (Ankara, Türkiye)
Host entrepreneur's contact point:
ABUplus International GmbH (Berlin, Germany)
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