Business Fit Magazine March 2019 Issue 1 | Page 34

Business
Your reaction will probably be “what?” and you
would ask us to explain in more detail. Don’t feel
like you’ve missed the latest business trends or
social media news if this term does not ring a bell,
in fact it is meant to be something new that gets
you thinking.
Compa(g)neur is a mix of the terms
company and entrepreneur and the (g) is
for pronunciation purposes and association
with companion. Pronounce it like you would
pronounce the word champagne.
Enough about the word, let’s talk about the
meaning and why we have developed the term.
As start-up entrepreneurs with corporate
experience we often felt that people – in
business and elsewhere - were making a
distinction and even rating one over the other.
Employees reminding entrepreneurs how
hard an entrepreneur’s life is: no security, no
vacation and no one to finance your sick days.
Entrepreneurs can counter by saying that an
employee lacks freedom, cannot work while
sitting on the beach and always works for
someone else (millionaire dreams remain a
dream).
Are you a
Compa ( g ) neur?
Maike Benner & Lilli Rohde
(MaLish)
We as MaLish on the other hand, believe that
having experience in both is our greatest asset
and that it’s a great opportunity nowadays to
combine both, transition from one to the other
and back.
We are thankful for having experienced the
“typical corporate stuff” like structure and
hierarchy. Vision, mission, strategies being
developed, implemented, discarded. Being
evaluated and formed and working with
colleagues from different departments and
countries.
What is great about entrepreneurship is the
autonomy and that we have to do everything
on our own, diving deep into topics unfamiliar
to employees: Acquiring customers, tax and
34
legal aspects, building networks, strategising,
implementing social media strategy for
branding and marketing, speaking in front of
people and the camera.
During our Malish journey we have acquired
so many skills to add nicely to our corporate
experience, which we can now give to other
(young) entrepreneurs, employees and people
in transition between both.
When you’re reading this, and you are an
employee – you may reflect on whether you
like your current job. Are you happy in your
position? Or are you thinking about changing
your job or even starting out somewhere
else? When you’re reading this and are an
entrepreneur – have you already started your
business or are you thinking about taking this
step? Is your business plan bullet proof or do
you have no idea where to start? Or has your
business already been launched and you want
to sharpen your market appearance or even
move to another market segment? Or do you
need a helping hand to develop new sales
strategies?
Whether you are one or the other or even in
transition between the two phases of your
life, many questions pop up; decisions need
to be made as well as investments – and this
is not only money, but also time, energy and
priorities.
What are the
first steps for
a successful
business?
35