The experience of turning an idea into a business
Ana Martínez had a business idea but she lacked business training to implement it. After taking part in Women Entrepreneurship in Emerging Sectors Project within the EEA Grants Gender Equality Programme, her interactive tourism and cultural experiences app is already on the market.
06.04.2015
“The EEA Grants training programme has helped me to turn my project from an idea into a business”, explains Ana Martínez Luján, one out of 27 participants in the Women Entrepreneurship in Emerging Sectors Project in Valencia, which aims to encourage women’s entrepreneurship in the priority emerging sectors where women are underrepresented through training and guidance.
Ana Martínez, psychologist and specialized in caring for the elderly, learned that “we must have the courage to do the things we want because otherwise, we can regret it”. So she decided to start working in a long-time considered idea. However, she needed a business plan and while looking for business training, she found Women Entrepreneurship in Emerging Sectors Project, promoted by Incyde Foundation, within the Gender Equality Programme operated by the Spanish Secretary of State for social Services and Equality and co-financed by the EEA Grants. “The course content was really comprehensive and useful and I would point out the individualized tutoring and the possibility of keeping on consulting teachers even after the programme closing”, says the entrepreneur.
Her project is the selling of cultural experiences and play on real scenarios and her launching product: Game in Florence. In search of fifth element. It’s an app which enables us to live exciting adventures through the city of Florence (Italy). In a nutshell, getting to know Florence by playing and learning.
Florence is only the beginning. The objective of this Spanish entrepreneur is transporting the model to other cities because “our mission is to provide a creative, innovative, cultural and entertaining product to the society and available to anyone”. The potential market is not only individual customers who download the application (it is already available in Android and iOS) but also cultural and educative institutions, tour operators, travel agents…
“Starting a business is very tough, makes you dizzy and this kind of programmes helps a lot because you have experts close at hand who guide you through all the different and complex aspects involved in this task”, concludes Ana Martínez.
Women Entrepreneurship in Emerging Sectors Project has been developed in 20 Spanish cities in two editions and more than 500 women have taken part.