Who I am? Britta Driessen, 27 years old, graduated in Medical Biology and incredibly happy to be a business coach at Mercator Launch. Why? Because being a business coach gives me the opportunity to support young entrepreneurs in gaining the knowledge, competences and network they need to transform their idea into a business. Helping people create and realize their dreams is what I love most!
Usually, my day starts with a cup of coffee from my RUMAG coffee mug. A funny mug that I got from my colleague Rob which reads “SORRY. IK. LUISTER. NIET.”. This literally translates to ‘Sorry, I’m not listening’, but don’t worry, this only applies to my co-workers who keep on bothering me before I’ve finished my first cup 😉. While drinking my coffee, I open outlook to check my e-mails.
At ten o’clock, I have a 1-on-1 coaching session with an Improver (our nickname for participants of our ‘’IMPROVE’’ incubation program). Right now, the entrepreneurs are halfway through the program, which means they are validating their customer assumptions: what are their problems and what do they need? During our coaching session, we talk about the conclusions of their validation study, plan next steps, I connect them with people who can help them and we explore ways to further improve their business.
After my coaching session, I head to our weekly team meeting at Mercator Launch where we discuss current affairs such as upcoming events and workshops, regional (network) developments, marketing & communication and – last, but certainly not least – a team building activity. By the way, did I already tell you that we have a beautiful new office with a lot of space for entrepreneurs to work? 😊 Don’t forget to visit us!
After finishing our team meeting with a lunch, I travel to Arnhem for an Orion meeting. Orion is a collaboration with regional partners that support early stage entrepreneurs. During the meeting, we discuss how we will align and improve our support of regional innovative entrepreneurs. At Mercator Launch, our ambition is to provide entrepreneurs with the best support possible, tailored to their own specific needs. We are not equipped do this all by ourselves but luckily we don’t have to because we have such great complementary partners in our region. We are very happy to be able to work with them side by side to help young regional entrepreneurs create a successful business!
Driving back over the Waalbrug always feels like coming home. In Nijmegen, I re-join my colleagues at our office. It’s already four o’clock and one of our frequently visiting entrepreneurs – Eef Lamers with his startup Micro-Cosmos – asks me for a favour. He needs help recording his pitch for the Philips Innovation Awards. We set up our finest recording gear to shoot a perfect 2-minute-pitch. After some trial and error, we assembled the perfect content and thought of a great angle for the pitch. We eventually shot an amazing video for the jury to watch.
When the clock strikes half past 6, it’s time to call it a day. As always, this was a very interesting and great day to be a business coach at Mercator Launch!
Do you want to get in touch with me? Call me on +31 6 15 30 60 45 or email me!
