This is the full, unedited, original article of my monthly column on the Kesklinna Sõnumid newspaper. Since 8th April 2021 when my idea for an eco-friendly platform of restaurant meal subscriptions, Meal Plan, was announced to be one of the top 50 in the Prototron business contest, I have been immersed in Prototron’s daily entrepreneurship workshops, while on my own learning how to code for variable subscription payments and API integrations for the first time in my life in order to find all necessary technical solutions for the platform. To submit the prototype as part of the assignments, I also learned how to make a mobile app UI design for the first time in my life. But after the sleepless 6 days of intensive graphic designing, movie editing and webpage building, my dear 11 inch MacBook Air from late 2010 suddenly ended its life with the black screen of death just 17 minutes before the submission deadline... How can this possibly happen in such a perfect timing?! But then I realised that I would not even have experienced all these technical learnings and struggles on my startup journey right now if I had still stayed in Tokyo. I can come up with new business ideas and also can explain them in English. That is why I could enjoy an exciting career as a legal and business consultant, serving international clients back in Japan. But I had never thought about starting a company with those inspirations. Why? Precisely because I was a young woman living in Japan. I remember people often made jealous comments about me being invited to the dinner meetings with lucrative international clients as “the flower on the table”, when in fact I was there to win their trust and sweep them from other firms by advising how they should modify their services or even suggesting a new service to better match with the local consumer needs within the Japanese legal framework. I also remember whenever I made inquiries to the authorities and potential business partners on my client’s behalf, I was always initially rejected with the same typical Japanese dialogue: “No one has done what you are trying to do, so you shouldn’t.” or “Will you bring an older guy like me so we can talk? You are just a girl.” Japan is clearly not the best place for startups, let alone for promising women. You may not have been able to believe what I am talking about, but thanks to the Tokyo Olympic Chief (now resigned) and the former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori who recently gained international recognition for his ridiculous sexism comments, now you have a better grasp of the situation. 10 years of working in Tokyo, I have had enough as a young dashing Japanese woman and I was also living through the winter of my personal life in 2019. So I decided to take a year of sabbatical in Estonia where I would say, the Bohemian spirit still shines onto us instead of sunlight in the wintertime. I totally liked my new life because Estonians see the value in what you can do (or potentially can do), not how old you are or what gender you were born with. I am convinced that Estonia is the place for me, so I have been trying my best to find a way to stay in Estonia past my visa expiry. As soon as I saw the ad of the business idea contest, Prototron, which “help you create a functional prototype and start a successful business” (quoted from its website), neurons sparked in my head and connected all my pain points and vague ideas in a second. Let’s submit my business idea, get help in making a startup company, and receive the residence permit as a startup founder! It was already the night of the deadline, so I quickly named my idea for an eco-friendly platform of restaurant meal subscriptions as “Meal Plan” and wrote up 2400 words of my business plan in 2 hours of adrenaline rush. I saw myself as the least hopeful to get into the top 50 out of 195 business ideas, but Prototron still gave me the chance to present my idea out of my head to the world. That is how my startup journey suddenly started, and I could see for myself why Estonia is known to be an ideal place for startups.
For entrepreneurial-minded people, Prototron offers free workshops on Zoom for the selected contestants and on their FB page for anyone interested, plus the maximum of €35,000 equity-free fund for the first prize winner. For innovative tech startups, Tehnopol offers a 6-month incubation programme on an equity option agreement without any monthly fees. For the production phase of funding in the absence of Kickstarters and IndieGoGo in Estonia, there are local crowdfunding platforms such as Fundwise and Hooandja. The government only takes 20% of the corporate income tax at the time of distribution (as long as the profits are retained or reinvested, no income tax applies for that portion of profits), the labour costs in Estonia are more affordable than those of other developed countries, and the immigration policy opens favourable gateways for startup companies. It seems to me that in Estonia, if you know what you want to achieve and are brave and committed, people help and give you the opportunities. It is not just about startups, but I also feel this in everything I do here. Are you curious about what kind of business ideas are growing up in the contest? You can support the emerging teams of innovative entrepreneurs on the Estonian crowdfunding community, Fundwise! The campaigns run until 18th June. You can also follow their startup journey on Prototron’s Facebook page! Comments are closed.
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