Student and entrepreneur: ‘PLNT The Hague is the place to find like-minded people’
Taking a Bachelor’s in Security Studies while starting and running two businesses: student Mohamed Sulaiman never stops. But he wouldn’t have it any other way. PLNT The Hague entrepreneurs’ hub is a source of help and inspiration.
Sulaiman fled the war in Syria nine years ago and found shelter with a Dutch family. They took care of him and helped him learn the language. It was while studying at Campus The Hague that he came up with the idea of doing something to do with his heritage. ‘I wanted to break the stereotype of Syria as a war-torn country. It is also the country where Aleppo soap comes from, a soap made from olive oil.’
Social entrepreneurship
With his company Olivscent he sells the handmade soap from his home country. ‘Social entrepreneurship is really important to me. The soap is made from natural products and is completely plastic-free. And it means I can say something about Syrian culture.’
His other company, Nexills, is a community platform that gives students the chance to grow their social and professional network. A handy way for new students to get to know people and to connect with businesses for jobs once they have graduated. ‘I’ve already helped several students find an internship, mainly at small IT startups’, he says.
New ideas and collaborations
PLNT The Hague is where Sulaiman can go to ask questions about his businesses and meet entrepreneurial students like himself. ‘It’s a go-to place for like-minded people. You meet other entrepreneurs, generate new ideas and sometimes a collaboration even ensues.’
Marta Gallego Garcia explains exactly what PLNT The Hague does. She herself came across the entrepreneurial hub when she was still making sustainable jewellery. She now works for this organisation that helps students, PhDs, lecturers and young professionals discover and develop their entrepreneurial skills.
‘We have been able to help around 30 students develop their entrepreneurial skills’
Unlike its Leiden counterpart, PLNT The Hague started just two years ago. ‘It obviously took a bit of time for us to get up and running but we’ve already been able to help around 30 students develop their entrepreneurial skills’, says Gallego Garcia. ‘We offer a perfect your pitch workshop, for example. Putting yourself out there and selling your product can be really difficult. That’s something we can help with as PLNT The Hague.’
Intensive programme
At the end of October a select group of students and young professionals will start a more intensive programme: the Ready to Impact programme. At the end of this, they get to present their business idea at ImpactFest, a networking event for startups, knowledge institutions, policymakers and investors.
Sulaiman went to last year’s ImpactFest and was impressed. ‘It’s a really huge event. I met lots of entrepreneurs and there were all sorts of successful businesses. You could show people your products. I did a few workshops and mostly did a lot of networking.’
Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur
He hopes to finish his degree in the near future but what will he do then? ‘I may become a full-time entrepreneur but you don’t have any security and are always working. I could also see myself working for a cybersecurity company and running my social enterprises on the side. Being an entrepreneur is in my blood.’
PLNT The Hague works with educational institutions, innovation hubs and the municipality to help students, PhDs, lecturers and young professionals discover and develop their entrepreneurial skills. This helps graduates stand out against the competition, makes them more future-proof in a rapidly changing job market and helps find solutions to urban and societal challenges. Want to join in PLNT The Hague’s events or programmes? Check out the site.
Text: Tim Senden