With completely different profiles, four former EAE students proudly tell us about the decision to become their own boss and how they made it a reality. Martín Morillo, a technology enthusiast who took the Master in Marketing Online and Electronic Commerce, tells us about the launch of his startup. Ramón Vila, a creative soul, decided to set up his own communication agency after finishing the Advanced Diploma in Business Administration and Management. Pol Llibre has successfully managed to launch his own artisan bakery brand thanks to the knowledge he acquired on the Master in Digital marketing and Electronic Commerce de EAE. Juanita Acevedo Segura fondly remembers her time on the MBA at EAE, as it was a turning point in her journey to where she is today as a successful coach.
An app for giving money, Martín Morillo
"It may sound crazy, but the objective is to give money away". A year and a half ago, Martín Morillo launched Solidarity App, his own startup that enables NGOs to raise funds without having to ask for money.
A year and a half ago, Martín launched Solidarity App, his own startup with the objective of making a social impact. Although it may sound crazy, the objective is to give money away. "The way it works is 'simple', we enable NGOs to raise funds without having to ask for money, and enable everybody (young people, children, adults), to give money without having to pay. For each free application that somebody downloads from SolidarityApp.com, a donation is made to a campaign of the NGO selected by the user ".
With respect to the company, he explains that "thanks to the application of mobile software advertising networks for the benefit of NGOs and the publisher, we donate 90% of the payment received from the advertisers to the free app when they acquire a new user. They are currently in the "post-MVP phase, having launched the V2 just a few weeks ago, with verified metrics (more than 11,000 donations made) and they are preparing to overtake SMS Solidario at a global level.
His current position is CEO/Founder, which, as Martín explains, involves putting himself in lots of situations: "Budget management, funding acquisition (private and public), strategic agreements with NGOs and advertisers, metric analysis and optimization, product design and management, user acquisition and retention through paid CPC or organic channels, PR initiatives and press releases, team management (technical and marketing), etc. "A bit of everything". The Master in Digital marketing and Electronic Commerce gave him "a broader overview of the digital marketing channels, techniques, tools and best practices".
Creativity for designing campaigns, Ramón Vila
His time on the Advanced Diploma in Business Administration and Management enabled this businessman to "shorten the maturity period and have a more focused view of the business". These are values that he has been able to apply to his business, Vision Communication, that he has been running for the last eight years.
His desire to train and "learn to manage my company better" led Ramón Vila to take a Master at EAE. The Director of Vision Communication, whose motto is 'communication for action' #comm4action, define his experience at EAE as extremely interesting and particularly rates "the School's flexibility".
Since 2009, he has run his own communication agency, a position that required "knowing how to have creativity to design the campaigns and related products, as well as a great deal of knowledge about the customers, to be able to offer them the solutions that best respond to their needs". In this respect, the knowledge he has put the knowledge he acquired at EAE directly into practice in various aspects of this everyday professional duties. For instance, he explains that he has tried to "shorten the maturity period and have a more focused view of the business, and generate value and the maximum profits for the company, ensuring that all of the people involved are motivated, committed and fairly remunerated.
"In my daily work, I have basically had to take on board in everything I do the fact that my role is to generate more value for the company and make all the decisions, however small they may be, from the perspective or improving and expanding my business". In his opinion, the secret to success is "working hard, being constant and believing in what you are doing". By doing so, he is convinced that "your passion for the project is contagious".
A commitment to the authentic product, Pol Llibre
Just over a year ago, this entrepreneur launched, Arttpa, a newly created company that manufactures high-quality gluten-free artisanal products without losing their traditional essence. A crunchy crust and soft crumb are the hallmarks of his breads, but he also produces sweet pastries, all at cutting-edge facilities in which there is no risk of contamination.
"I am currently working in a company that manufactures gluten-free products under the trademark Arttpa. I perform the duties of a general director, alongside two partners: the commercial director and the technical director, with whom I set up the business. It is a very young company, having been open less than a year, so now the objectives are raising brand awareness and increasing the number of customers and total sales.
In my opinion, it is extremely important to be meticulously organized and have a great capacity for hard work and sacrifice because, as with all businesses in the early stages, at the beginning, there are not enough hours in the day and you have to deal with lots of problems or, at the very least, unforeseen circumstances when starting up a company. In this respect, most of the knowledge I acquired during my studies at EAE, both in term of marketing, and accounting, management, invoicing, tax, etc., have been really useful when resolving problems and being able to drive Arttpa forward.
In my day-to-day work, there is always something that reminds me of a case study or something I learned. EAE's Master in Digital Marketing and Electronic Commerce gave me very relevant theoretical knowledge but, in my opinion, the most important things I gained was everything I learned from the practical case studies and forums. I think that it has been a great advantage to work on a joint project because, as the team is made up of different people from various backgrounds, you get to see other points of view and ways of working, which enriches the final knowledge acquired".
Business training and coaching, Juanita Acevedo Segura
Entrepreneur and author of the book 'Coaching para la Acción– Herramientas de marketing necesarias para triunfar', received the Female Entrepreneur Award from the Universidad de Rosario in Colombia.
"My experience at EAE was a turning point. It gives my great pride to say that my Bachelor's Thesis went from theory to practice and it is the foundation of how I have been making a living for the last 9 years here in Barcelona. self-employed under the trademark Advantage Service, offering Business Training and Personal Coaching services, specializing in Personal Branding, Social Media and Customer Service. My main objective my mission to generate KANVYOS (changes) with a positive impact on people, companies and society in general.
I am my own boss, which involves doing a bit of everything in each of the departments that every company has. As well as visiting customers, designing proposals, giving the training and running the coaching sessions, I am in charge everything in relation to marketing and communication on social media. I have the support of a solicitor, my husband and various professionals who I work with to run the courses.
In terms of being self-employed, I think that the most important thing is to love what you do because then it won't feel like work and it is worth the effort. Self-management, organization and time management are crucial. Attitude and Action is my motto! The attitude required in order to fully realize and believe in your capacities and potential, to know and believe that we deserve success, as well the essential action needed to give our dreams a free rein, set objectives and design effective strategies.
