New Entrepreneur (NE):
Name & surname: Alina Ștefania Petre
Country: Romania
Age: 29
Sector of activity: Hospitality
Did you already start your business? No
Host Entrepreneur (HE):
Name & surname: Oliver Rauch
Country: Austria
Sector of activity: Jewellery
Experience in running a business (in years): 4
Name of business/website: C. O. W. Handels und Marketing KG, www.cowstyle.com
What is your business? COWstyle designs and produces jewellery made of leather, stainless steel and other elements. Our brand’s products are being sold in over 350 shops in 7 countries in Europe and in our online store (www.cowstyle.com) worldwide.
Period of exchange: 15/02/2021 – 30/06/2021
Duration of exchange: 4,5 months
What business skills did the involvement with Oliver’s business teach Alina from Romania?
Oliver Rauch, owner of cowstyle (www.cowstyle.com), has already hosted a few new entrepreneurs – the latest being Alina Petre from Romania.
Oliver shared his business knowledge with Alina: “We decided to have two weekly meetings in which to discuss the theoretical and practical aspects of business, to share experience, analyze Alina´s business plan, and discover what is needed to start her project so that she is as well prepared as possible,” says Oliver.
Together they solved different tasks and customers’ orders. Alina also spent time with Oliver’s team members to gain an insight into their everyday tasks. She took part in management activities and solving tasks. She saw for the first time how online orders are received through various sales platforms such as Amazon, Etsy, the company’s website and also local online sales markets, and she learned more about their use in terms of benefits and commissions.
Furthermore, Alina was included in practical tasks such as the engraving of jewellery and the use of lasers in making various objects such as business cards, banners, mouse pads, cutouts of leaflets for companies among others.
Alina developed her managerial skills in a visible way and she understood the components of a business in terms of budget, sales and marketing strategies from a tangible perspective with concrete examples.
For Oliver as a host, the exchange was quite fruitful too. It was a pleasure to share knowledge with Alina and she brought a lot of new inputs with her: “Her fresh ideas related to standardized tasks in our company were helpful for me.”