Katarzyna (Kasia) Turbiarz & Maria Romanowska - Erasmus entrepreneurs

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Recent testimonies of successful business networking - Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme

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New entrepreneur:
Katarzyna (Kasia) Turbiarz (Poland)
Age: 38
Company name: Tłumacz przysięgły języka hiszpańskiego Katarzyna Turbiarz (Start-up)
Sector of activity: Community, social and personal services


It was a great surprise for me to be able to participate in the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme at the age of almost 40. I was sure that Erasmus was only for students. It was as if someone, without any interest, wanted to help me survive as an entrepreneur and improve my business. This motivated me to do more, work harder and benefit as much as possible from this great opportunity. I am very grateful to Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs for believing in me.


Host entrepreneur:
Maria Romanowska (Spain)
Age: 42
Company name: MARIA ROMANOWSKA TRADUCTORA E INTÉRPRETE JURADA (15 years of experience)
Sector of activity: Community, social and personal services

In addition to establishing a peer-to-peer relationship with Katsia and mutual sympathy, we became aware of the complementarity of our professional profiles. For this reason, we decided to join forces and develop a common strategy and brand after the exchange. We owe it all to this experience!


Period of exchange: 01/2021 until 07/2021
Duration of exchange: 6

 

Business sector of the exchange

 

TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION

 

Katarzyna Turbiarz had started her own business as a sworn translator of Spanish only a few months before the outbreak of the pandemic. Her entrepreneurial situation was not stable and was made even more difficult to manage by the current circumstances. She became aware of the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme via Facebook, through a post in one of the translator groups she was a member of. Kasia realised that EYE was just what she needed and decided to apply as a Young Entrepreneur to learn the basic skills to run her company. Maria Romanowska is a sworn translator for Polish in Spain. She started her business 15 years ago and never had any collaborators until 2021. In late 2020, a friend introduced her to EYE and encouraged her to join. Maria realised that she had nothing to lose but something useful to gain from the experience, so she decided to register on the official platform as a host entrepreneur.



Maria quickly found that working with Kasia was very profitable for her. From day one, Kasia stressed the importance of using new technology in her work and taught her about translator software. Maria immediately saw the benefits of this software and has always used it in her work ever since. Kasia also pointed out the importance of having an online presence, not only with her own website, but especially on social media such as Linkedin or Facebook. Maria was surprised that her company was not easy to find on the internet. On the other hand, Kasia received valuable support from Maria, who was willing to share her experience and became not only a real mentor, but also a benevolent advisor in decisions related to the development of her business. She also motivated Kasia to take up professional challenges and prepare herself to offer technical translations related to her architectural background.



Finally, Maria and Kasia found that since they were working together, they were getting better results. Their self-confidence increased as a result of supporting each other. Remaining independent, self-employed entrepreneurs, they decided to start a new marketing strategy together, marketing their services as translators working closely together. The EYE programme showed them that a second translator offering services in the same language pair need not be a competitor and a threat, and that a common brand allows them to stand out in the market. Together, they can offer a new level of quality by personally doing translations for which they have full responsibility, without subcontracting to others. At the same time, together they can offer much more availability and work faster. They can also offer, under a common brand, the experience and skills that are the sum of their personal CVs. This is a new joint strategy resulting from the EYE programme.



For more information, please contact the local contact points involved in the exchange:

New entrepreneur's contact point:
Polish Agency for Enterpise Development (Warsaw, Poland)

Host entrepreneur's contact point:
Asociación de Jóvenes Empresarios de Valencia (Valencia, Spain)

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