Finally got my professional bachelor in international sales and marketing degree. It hasn’t been easy to be a student-entrepreneur. I sometimes wanted to give up but those days are over now and I made it.

Student-entrepreneur
About three years ago I was sitting in one of my professors office. He asked me why I had taken the education marketing management. I told him it was because I wasn’t ready to be an entrepreneur and I thought I would become ready by finishing this education. He then asked “Why don’t you just start now? You can always close it later if it doesn’t work out.” – Since I couldn’t answer that, I went home and started to work on my idea.

It wasn’t easy but I managed to start my company and I managed to get through with my education. I had the support of my study group and the business academic, ZIBAT started an environment for entrepreneurs, Drivhuset.

You can read my four reasons to choose ZIBAT here.

Study group
My study group was formed before the conversation with my professor I believe. We did have a drop out from the group but we ended up being five. It was a great group because we each have our different fields which we are great at. We all took the top-up professional bachelor in international sales and marketing and here we got a new member and she was just what we needed. The group consisted of Azmat, Christian, Maria, Nikolas, me and later Line. – Some of the other students even asked to be in our group but we had to say no because we would be to many.

Working as a team we have all been trough some things and we were there for each other. We understood the others needs and gave some space if one needed it. – We made it every time and were always getting the better results compared to the other groups. Nevertheless was it a great experience working with these people and I wish the best for them.

Education
After getting a good understanding of the basics in business high school I went straight to ZIBAT to study marketing management, where the focus was at Business-to-Consumer-market and the company itself. I learned a lot of the background of the companies and about the different types. How to strategize and forecast about the different initiatives.

At the PBA in international sales and marketing, the focus was on the Business-to-Business-market at the international level. I learned to measure sales and relationships, how to manage these and what tools to use in the different types of companies. I learned to go a step deeper and to know which tool to use.

Education doesn’t just end there. It is a constant process you have to go through otherwise you will be left in the dark. A person constantly has to look for new sources and new knowledge. Why it is so important to be up-to-date with the newest knowledge and trends in ones field is simply because the business world is moving in an amazing speed. There are so many new and better ways to do things that you constantly have to keep up and that is why I take a lots of courses. If I don’t have time to go out and take them I will take them online. I also read a lot of articles and I have learned to sort the better articles from the bad ones. Which is also very important to learn because it has become so easy to write and some people just write something they have found from a very untrustworthy source.

Under the time of my PBA I also started longer Successful negotiation course online from the University of Michigan. I like to negotiate and since I have to negotiate a lot with my suppliers I took this course. I got great tools to different kinds of negotiations and I also learned about how to make a great lean-contract.

Experience
Before starting my own company I had worked for my father as a secretary. I had to help with the accounting, keep in contact with his business relationships and do other small work. Later I became a Mystery shopper, where I got an eye for detail. I learned a little acting and wrote reports after every visit. I worked for two different companies and when I later decided to quit I was headhunted by the first company. In the mean time I had tried to be a telemarketer and that was not something I found very interesting, so when my former workplace wanted me, I went back to work as a mystery shopper.

Then I started my own company X2Nails alone. This challenged me in great ways and I had to learn a lot of new things. I have gotten a broad experience. I have to take care of the logistics, the economic, marketing, sales, design, product development, business development, negotiations, knowledge about the relevant laws and so much more. I even got to try being a boss. I had an intern in three months and today I have two. It’s has been a great learning process for me and it still is. It’s amazing how much I have developed myself by becoming an entrepreneur and I still get amazed how much i sometimes can and know. – That is also why I have started this blog so I can share out of my knowledge.

I have started to give voluntarily speeches about my entrepreneurial journey and to inspire others. I was even one of the GEW ambassadors last year. Today I am a voluntary venture pilot for Mind Your Own Business, where I am with six others, helping 10 teenage boys startup their company.

To read more about my experiences and my projects you can check out my LinkedIn profile.

Now it’s time for a new chapter in my life. – I hope to learn a lot more and to make a positive impact!

I am a student for life.

– Hafsa

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P.P.S. I’m actually looking for a part-time job in Denmark, in my field. You’re welcome to contact me if you have found my profile interesting.