What do you need to know before starting a business, and what advice would you be grateful to have received? These questions have been answered by entrepreneurs Javier Ábrego, founder of Tweet Binder; Agustina Rodríguez, inventor of Protesalpic; and Roberto Aguirre, of IAR Industrial Augmented Reality during a session that took place at the University of Navarra Museum on the occasion of the Startup Europe Week 2018 organized by the Enterprise Europe Network of the University of Navarra.

Under the degree scroll "History of my failures, what would I have liked to know before starting a business", the three entrepreneurs from Navarre have spoken in first person about their experience after starting business projects that have not been very successful or have been forced to pivot.

Roberto Aguirre currently works at IAR Industrial Augmented Reality, where they develop and implement industrial solutions through advanced Augmented Reality (AR) applications, but since 1998 he has founded and developed three technology companies which he had to close.

In his speech, he advised to "choose the right partners, take into account the bureaucracy and know that financing is everything". It is also important "not to take anything for granted" even if you have an idea "ahead of your time", since you have to take into account "that the surrounding ecosystem (users, customers, suppliers...) may not speak the same language as you and may not understand what is obvious to you".

On the choice of partners, he said that when there are many, it is very difficult to make bureaucratic decisions, as the bureaucracy is very inflexible. "Unequal engagement with the other components of the business leads to frictions that can lead to rupture in difficult moments."

He also stressed the importance of financing, which means that the product and competitiveness must be perfectly calculated: "Costs are often higher than expected, and this means that the adaptation time is longer than desired.

The importance of equipment

Likewise, the inventor of Protesalpic, a product that protects the kitchen wall from splashes by means of a paper "blind" resistant to high temperatures, highlighted several positive and negative aspects of her experience. Among the positives, "everything learned," since in the world of industry "there are many things we don't know." "The bad thing is to realize that it costs a lot to get all the project forward," he stressed.

He also pointed out the importance of communicating correctly, since "if you have a good product but nobody knows about it, you have nothing", as well as the importance of attitude: "Optimism as a way of life is the best thing a person can have, whether in entrepreneurship or in their field staff".

Finally, Javier Ábrego, founder of Tweet Binder, a company that has launched a tool that analyzes information from Twitter, offered three pieces of advice. Firstly, the importance of sharing the idea and not being suspicious of others: "At the beginning I thought I was the greatest expert in my field, so I did not let myself be advised and I did not want to make my idea known, thinking that they could steal it from me". He also emphasized "not to think we are smaller than we are", as many entrepreneurs underestimate their potential, as well as the importance of the partners' agreement, knowing how to choose your traveling companions and "putting it in writing".

The event organized by the Enterprise Europe Network of the University of Navarra was also attended by the main institutions that promote and support entrepreneurship in Navarra, such as the Government of Navarra, the Society of development of Navarra (SODENA), the European Business and Innovation Center (CEIN), Innovation Factory of the University of Navarra, core topic Mayor or ELKARGI.

The event, which was attended by around 50 people, ended with a workshop by Jesús Jiménez Juango, founder of navarracapital.es, partner , on how to do good networking.

10 keys to start a business:

1. It is necessary to choose the right travel partners and to reflect this in a good partnership agreement.

2. Bureaucracy is very inflexible: patience.

3. Financing is everything. You don't live on air.

4. Work collaboratively: share the idea to receive feedback.

5. Not to believe we are smaller than we are.

6. Work a good network of contacts.

7. Let yourself be advised and be open to criticism.

8. To take into account the needs of others and not be blinded by our own.

9. Be passionate and do what you love. See beyond the numbers.

10. Create your luck and be optimistic as a way of life.