Students Realise their Dreams Through Business
Still studying and already have your own company? This is the daily life of Team academy students. After coming up with a business idea, setting up a company and warming up their feet in the first year, they study business management and marketing in the second year to develop their own businesses. So what are the Team academy students’ businesses and how are they doing?
G. Baltmiškytė after several attempts, established itself in the field of beauty
Gintarė Baltmiškytė knew she wanted to earn money and work for herself. On her own terms and on her own schedule, not on someone else’s. Having tried to work at beauty industry several times since leaving school, this time she put her knowledge into practice and gave a new lease of life to her studio, where she provided manicure, pedicure and eyebrow correction services.
“I learned about business during my studies. I started working for fun, not for money. I focused on quality and diligence. It’s not so much about the number of clients, but how and what kind of manicure or other service I give. And I started to succeed. I have regular clients who are happy with the results of my work,” says the student about the changes in her business.
With more than 10 different certificates proving her professionalism in her chosen field of beauty. “I might not have created this business if the very principle of the training method did not require it. In my second year, I got the courage to find out that a solo business was my preferred option. I realised from meeting different entrepreneurs and companies that it is often difficult to get started, that I am not alone, and that I just have to put in the effort and not just rely on bad experiences,” the young entrepreneur shared her discoveries from her studies. In the future, she wants to expand her business and employ other people.
Baltmiškytė offers her services in a studio next to the college campus (Kalvarijų g. 127). Book a service and see examples of her work on her Instagram account @polarnails_.
M. Šalkauskas seeks to change attitudes towards cannabis products
Mantas Šalkauskas is a cannabis product enthusiast who has been dreaming of selling cannabis products for about 10 years. The change was prompted by favourable legislation and… studies at Vilnius Business College. Setting up an e-shop, selecting products, starting up – the student had to work hard to make his dream come true. Education is also important to him, as Mantas aims to change people’s attitudes towards cannabis. For this, he used his e-shop and invited another business study programme student, Kipras Išganaitis, to manage his social networks.
“During my studies, I developed a different attitude towards many things. I realised how important it is to plan your agenda, to learn how to work in a team (which was harder for me before), to understand human psychology. It’s interesting to be able to apply the knowledge I’ve gained right away. We recently learned about surveys, we did them in our own business and it turns out that everything works,” shares M. Šalkauskas.
Doing business in such a changing field, with a lot of changing information and laws, is both challenging and motivating. In the near future, the students plan to recruit a third person, and their future plans include a physical store and expansion in Europe.
For cannabis products sold by M.Šalkauskas and K. Išganaitis, visit www.cbdpasaulis.lt
R. Aleškevič: through sweet gifts to the work you love
Robert Aleškevič is also an e-commerce entrepreneur, selling personalised festive chocolates. “I want this business idea to survive and the business to grow,” says the student. One of the first in his course to boldly and responsibly start his own business, Aleškevič had to set up an e-shop, take care of various permits, find a warehouse and other tasks. While in his first year he and his classmates used to argue for three weeks about the name of the company, today he gets much more done in the same time. “We had to get to grips with what the main jobs were, as well as obtaining and applying knowledge about sales and business development,” recalls the boy, whose solo business has now moved on to the next stage.
The student is working hard on a new version of the website and will offer more choice to customers looking for personalised gifts: in addition to chocolates, he will also sell albums, puzzles, souvenirs. In order to have more finances to expand his business, he found a job and entrusted the administration of the social networks to another business field student, Ugnius Gedžius.
“Owning my own business is a dream I’ve carried for many years. I want to have a job that I enjoy,” says Aleškevič.
For personalised chocolates and other gifts, visit www.ardovana.com
We are proud of our students and invite you to support their businesses!