Next Sunday, April 16, is
World Entrepreneurship Day and, to celebrate it, we bring you four success stories of four entrepreneurs who, after passing through Autoocupació, have managed to create or consolidate their company.
María Pardo, between biology and handpoke
María Pardo is an artist with two passions: biology and art. Despite having studied a degree in Genetics, and after discovering the handpoke technique, María left her job as a geneticist to
make a full living from self-employment.
María took the “
Start your business” course at Autoocupació, which was of vital importance when it came to launching her venture and doing so with the necessary tools to take her business to the next level. The artist values the training very positively, as well as her experience at Autoocupació. “For me, the information and support received at Autoocupació have been of vital importance in order to make a living from my artistic project.”
Now, the entrepreneur has launched
Mestrella Pokes, a business focused mainly on handpoke tattooing. “I would recommend Autoocupació to anyone who is considering starting a project but doesn’t know how to do it or where to start.”
Ricard Serarols, a freelance designer
Some time ago, Ricard Serarols, a designer from Barcelona, decided to become an entrepreneur and create
his own design studio to be able to work and invoice projects on his own account. Ricard’s relationship with Autoocupació began when he needed support in the registration process for his business activity. From the Foundation, as an
Entrepreneur Service Point (PAE), they helped him with the paperwork and informed him about public grants and subsidies that matched his profile.
“I have always received very friendly treatment and they have resolved any doubts that have arisen quickly and efficiently,” he says. Ricard also says that he would recommend this service to anyone who has a business idea and needs help to develop it correctly.
Currently, he is working as a
freelance, covering different branches of design, although he is mainly dedicated to product design, art direction, and graphic design.
Cherish Ayad Perpose and her wellness center
Cherish Ayad Perpose is a massage therapist with training in chiromassage, lymphatic drainage, and sports massage. Cherish came to Autoocupació with a clear business idea:
to set up a wellness center where massages were performed. To do this, she took the “
Start your business” course. Cherish explains that this training marked the beginning of her development to train as a businesswoman.
During and after the course, the Autoocupació team helped her develop her business idea and analyze its viability. They also advised her on the different forms of possible financing for her project. In this way,
she obtained a €25,000 microcredit from Microbank and the Youth Guarantee grant.
Cherish managed to open the doors of her business,
Himala, at the beginning of September last year. She is very happy to be working for herself and is increasingly growing her client portfolio. Furthermore, she values her time at Autoocupació very positively. “Thanks to Autoocupació, I was able to better understand where my clients were and how to find them,” she states.
Max, Marc, and Jhaysson, benchmarks in the restaurant industry
Max Ros Petrov, Marc Soler Martinez, and Jhaysson Mauricio Hoyos are 3 young people from the restaurant sector. After working in different restaurants for years, they decided that
they wanted to start a business together, opening a restaurant. From this came
Àcid Bar, a sandwich restaurant in Sant Cugat del Vallès that aims to be a benchmark in the fast-casual and delivery fields.
They requested advice from Autoocupació in order to finalize their business plan and receive the viability certificate to obtain financing. The three members of the project explain that, at all times, they “noticed the enthusiasm and interest of the team” in assisting them.
After the consultation, they obtained
€50,000 through the Microbank credit line and €15,000 with another entity for the start-up of the business, as well as
liquidity from a fund managed by Youth Business Spain, an entity of which Autoocupació is a partner.
The restaurateurs consider their experience to have been “very positive” and are grateful that, as time has passed, the contact with the Foundation continues to exist. “We can affirm that Autoocupació has been of great help for the launch of the project,” they explain.
The four success stories agree on one thing: entering the world of self-employment has completely changed their professional trajectory, allowing them to pursue their vocation and say:
I am what I want to be!
