How Can a Grant Support the Combination of Day Job and Entrepreneurship?
Exercio is a collaborative initiative by four tech-inspired youths from Tampere, with the goal of enhancing the gym experience and making workouts more measurable. The team’s concept secured the Sustainable Entrepreneurship Grant from Tampere University’s support foundation in 2023. Dive into Exercio’s story and discover how the grant has supported their entrepreneurial experiments!
“Love the problem, not the solution.”
There, for four tech enthusiasts, began our journey into HUBS’s Pre-Incubator course almost exactly a year ago. These words also marked the beginning of a path from problem-solving thinking to a deeper understanding of the issues at hand.
Behind this blog post is Exercio. Comprising four young individuals from Tampere, Exercio is united by a passion for technology and new innovations. The goal of Exercio is to digitize the world of sports, particularly gym workouts. The aim is to create a digital environment within the gym, where workout tracking happens automatically. To achieve this goal, we utilize cloud and IoT technologies and analyze the collected data. In addition to gym-goers, gym owners also receive curated reporting services tailored for them.
Applying for a Sustainable Entrepreneurship Grant with the support from HUBS
Through HUBS, we have received significant support in the early stages of entrepreneurship. We gathered tools, courage, and goals at the HUBS Business Incubator, after which we proceeded to refine the discussed themes at Red Brick. However, HUBS’ support did not end there; during the summer, we applied for a Sustainable Entrepreneurship Grant to cover software development costs.
Our idea was to acquire part of our measurement device’s firmware from an external source, and we specifically sought a grant to cover these costs. However, we concluded that we could manage for a while with self-built measurement devices and decided to invest in new firmware only after the issue has been further validated.
The grant has been a great start to our entrepreneurship journey. Each member of our team has a day job, so resources for running the company are limited. However, with the support of the Sustainable Entrepreneurship Grant, we have been able to experiment with what it’s like to operate as entrepreneurs. The ongoing small incidental costs are covered by the grant, allowing us to continue our entrepreneurial experiment even without substantial income at the moment. Currently, the grant enables us to work in our day jobs while simultaneously developing the business. Our primary goal at the moment is to have everyone graduate this spring and then move towards new opportunities.
The grant has been a great start to our entrepreneurship journey. Each member of our team has a day job, so resources for running the company are limited. However, with the support of the Sustainable Entrepreneurship Grant, we have been able to experiment with what it’s like to operate as entrepreneurs.
Reflections on life and entrepreneurship
Life doesn’t have to be either-or; it can be both-and. Often, people set limitations for themselves or see things in black and white, forgetting that life often provides room for various experiences and opportunities. The same applies to the professional realm. For a long time, we lived under the notion that entrepreneurship requires going all in or not at all.
Additionally, we assumed that there must be a perfect moment for entrepreneurship to be worthwhile. It’s true that the more one is willing to give, the more they are likely to receive. The right moment may never come, so it’s worth seizing the opportunity if it feels even a bit right. To those aspiring to become entrepreneurs, we want to say, try boldly!
When aiming for the moon, you may reach the stars, but at least you won’t be lying on the ground.
– Pyry, Anna-Reetta, Elli, Iiro
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