Are you contemplating the idea of founding a new association or venturing into entrepreneurship? In our latest interview with StartUP Jönköping, you can find inspiration on both exciting avenues. The president of this association shares insights into how the team restarted StartUP Jönköping and how the association now supports and educates JU students on launching their own businesses.
What is the StartUP Jönköping association about?
– We are an association for all four faculties, aiming to inspire and educate all JU students about entrepreneurship and innovation management. If students want to start their own business, we are going to help them along the way. We organize various events, including guest lectures on entrepreneurship, ideation workshops, and public speaking workshops in collaboration with other associations. One of our big events this year was a pitch competition, where students presented their business ideas to an audience and jury for valuable feedback.
Why did you decide to restart the association?
– The association has been around since 2017/2018, but it became inactive when the involved students graduated. Someone who was previously involved suggested we restart it. A few friends of my program, along with another student from a different program, decided to take it on. We met with the Student Union to learn about forming an association, adjusted some old documents, and started small events to create awareness since not many people knew about us.
What were the main challenges you faced when restarting the association?
– The main challenge was that nobody knew about us, so creating awareness about our association was crucial. Another challenge was finding a committed team because we needed a motivated group to ensure continuity. The Student Union helped us a lot, especially with the legal aspects like the code of conduct, since we didn’t have much information from the previous association.
You mentioned you organized a big event recently. Can you tell us about it?
– Our event, called “Day One,” aimed to inspire students to take immediate action on their business ideas with the motto “day one or one day”. We had six students pitch diverse ideas ranging from technology to sustainability and an experienced jury with expertise in tech, entrepreneurship, and venture capitalism provided valuable feedback. It was a great experience for everyone, especially the students pitching their ideas and we plan to do a similar event next year, hopefully with more participants.
What are the next steps for StartUP Jönköping?
– Our main events will start again in the fall where we aim to have interesting companies as guest speakers and organize educational events for students on entrepreneurship. We also plan to host the “Day One” event again, encouraging more students to participate and pursue their business ventures.
Restarting an association sounds like a big step and developing a very own business idea like a dream to lots of people. If you want to get in touch with StartUP Jönköping to get help on your journey make sure not to miss any of the upcoming events and if you want to delve into entrepreneurship as a business developer apply to become a member on their Instagram @startup.jkpg
Writer: Nathalie du Hamél
