Entrepreneur? Don’t be afraid, just do it!

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As I promised you, I will try to find out as much as possible about career opportunities for graduates in Life Sciences. Yesterday was one of the more inspiring days (but unfortunately it was too late to still post about it. Sorry!). I attended two talks about sustainable entrepreneurship. I’m all pro sustainable lifestyle, but that’s not what I’m going to write about today. Let’s just focus on the entrepreneurship itself. It all comes down to this: if you have a good idea, just do it!

Let me first tell you something about last night’s speakers. The first speaker was Emma van der Leest, a 4^th year product design student at the Art Academy. Art Academy you say? Yes. But to my surprise she works in the lab as well and develops biomaterial. She was inspired by a jacket made of bacterial cellulose and has now developed sustainable packaging material for the city farm in Rotterdam. Check out her work here!

The second speaker was Natascha Kooiman, who studied Communication Sciences. She started Smaackmakers. Giving presentations and advice on sustainability with respect to food is now her fulltime job. She talked about the fact that we only have one earth, and that we have to change our eating habits if we want this earth to still be a habitable place in 2050. You can find the Smaackmakers website here (Dutch only)!

Now, product design or food and environment is not really my area, and I don’t have any great ideas to start as an entrepreneur myself in my field. Or not yet maybe.. Let’s give it some time. But I did learn a few very important things from their talks. Both these women were extremely enthusiastic about what they do. They absolutely LOVE their work. And that is no surprise, because it was their own idea.

I believe that when you love what you do, it doesn't feel like working. Some might find that passion in existing jobs; in research, in teaching, in consultancy, etc. But some never quite find the job they like. Starting as an entrepreneur is exciting! There is freedom and flexibility. You are in control. You decide when you work, how much you work and what you work on. But it’s also challenging. Your work has a direct effect on your salary. That's not going to be good if things don’t go well. There is a lot of paperwork too, I believe (I’m not the expert though). I won’t get started on tax and pension arrangements…  And, depending on the field you work in, there will also be competition. Starting by yourself, and working alone can also be lonely.

By the way, the more I read, the more confusing it gets. There is the entrepreneur, the freelancer and the the intrapreneur (and maybe more titles that I haven’t heard of before). These are the simple dictionary explanations.

Entrepreneur: a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.
Freelancer: A person who sells services to employers without a long-term commitment to any of them.
Intrapreneur: an employee of a large corporation who is given freedom and financial support to create new products, services, systems, etc., and does not have to follow the corporation's usual routines or protocols.

You will find more info about the differences between an entrepreneur and a freelancer here.

Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur. Here is a list of 25 common characteristics of successful entrepreneurs. I think the difficult thing is to get started. So far, the best tip entrepreneurs gave me is to just do it. Go for it if you want something.
If you need to talk to more people; just pick up the phone and call them.
If you have a good idea; just start working on it.
It is as simple as thinking of a name, getting a bank account number, get registered (for the Dutchies: at the KvK) and get started. That sounds simple, but damn scary too. For my readers in the area of Wageningen; I just found out there is a website for starting entrepreneurs in agribusiness, food and environment. 

I’m curious to hear stories from starting entrepreneurs. Who knows, if I collect interesting stories I will post them here. If you know anyone or want to share your story, please let me know!!

By the way, I am also collecting information about PhD experiences in different countries. Once I've collected enough information I will post about that too. Wondering what kind of questions I'm asking or willing to help me out? Click this link, and forward it to your PhD friends abroad! :)