A day at the (home) office with… Saskia!

Before I start the day in my home office I first have to go through my dramatic morning ritual. Getting up early is not a quality I possess. After hitting the snooze button far too many times, I make my way to the kitchen and start my day with a fresh pot of herb tea. I check my emails, take a look at my calendar (- a very interesting day ahead of me!) and pick up my phone for the first call of the day. I always love to talk to as many people from my network as possible. Why this is so important to me?

I work as a business coach at Mercator Launch and have a background in  corporate multinationals where I was responsible for marketing and business development. So, my specialty really lies in the Go-to-Market strategy. But, the market is always subject to change and to ensure I am up to date with the latest developments and trends, it is essential to have my antenna in the market and therefore – support, build and invest in my network. Knowing what the other person is doing or is working on is one thing, but really helping each other get better, for me, is the real essence of networking. It enriches both the entrepreneurs and our partners as myself as a business coach. So, keeping in touch with your network is key!

When my cats are fed, I crawl behind my laptop. To make working from home a bit more pleasant, I transformed the old coal storage area in our house into a cozy, small and cute home office. No time to ponder as I immediately get my first video call of the day. Colleague Brechtje has a question about the Mercator Lauch website. A simple question, but I don’t know the answer right away. Fortunately, I have a nice former colleague who literally is a digital genius. He can probably help me out. After I end my call with Brechtje, I immediately call him. He of course knew how to help me right away. This just goes to show how important it is to keep your network well maintained. When I hang up, I immediately join the video meeting with my colleagues from the HAN. After I explained our new IMPROVE program and we discussed the plans for the coming quarter, I hang up. In the meantime, I received a request via e-mail to give a guest lecture at the RU on behalf of Mercator Launch for international students. Exciting! I talked to my team and we agreed that this might be a good introduction for me as the newest team member. So, I called to yes to the guest lecture! 😊

Now it’s time for a – late – breakfast with a delicious second pot of ginger tea. My next conversation is with our contact from the  Gemeente Nijmegen. We talk about corona and the consequences for startups. Gemeente Nijmegen has a big network and can help us, but they are also very curious about our experiences in the crisis. Catching up pays off, because I hang up a lot wiser and I wrote down a number of new financing options for startups.

After a sip of tea, I call my colleague Ed to catch up on a project we are working on together – the development of a Mercator Launch app. We want to set up an app that serves as a marketplace for ideas that have arisen on campus and where a suitable implementer is sought. Super interesting to work on of course and therefore a great project to dive into with Ed. One of our startups, Brily, will develop the app for us and we discuss the requirements for this.

Then I cycle to our office. I finally have the code of the front door so luckily the thirsty plants can get some water! On my bike, I call the Marketing Intelligence Officer at Veco (my old employer). Why, you ask? I offer 1-on-1 coaching to Aerocount with their Go to Market strategy and tomorrow I have an appointment with the founder of this Radboud spin-off. There are some aspects of the market which I know she can help me with that are a bit foggy for me. After I watered the plants and the alarm is put back on, I cycle home. When I get home my boyfriend is already there. Time for dinner!

All-in all I had a very productive, social and efficient day!