Sara Sigurdson – BIGHEART
Download our app at Google Play:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.bghrt.bigheart&hl=sv
Website:
If any questions about BIGHEART, what we do and stand for: please email me at sara [at] bghrt [dot] se (sara[at]bghrt[dot]se) and I’ll tell you more!
Sara Sigurdson - BIGHEART #1
Describe yourself and your project. How did you get the idea?
I love challenges, and through BIGHEART, I can challenge myself with new ideas and perspectives of the world. BIGHEART is a mobile application that enables anyone to donate money to charity without spending your own money. The app converts the screen on your locked phone to an ad, and for every ad that shows you collect money on a personal account, which you then can give to charity without donating your own money.
Who are you? Previous education/jobs/ experiences etc.
For two years, I have now studied economics in Helsinki and in Lund. However, as I realized my passion for organic farming and my entrepreneurial mind is a great combination, this fall I will start studying to become a Gardening Engineer. Otherwise, I have experiences such as working with specialty coffee and being a surf instructor. I have now worked for BIGHEART for a year and I am very excited to see our company grow.
What will you do during these three months? How will you spend the time?
These months will be very exciting! BIGHEART will be launching nation wide and there will be a lot of user recruitment, problem solving and new things happening all the time. My job this summer is to work in communication, to have a dialogue with the users of BIGHEART and to make their voices and suggestions heard. I will also spend my time working with social media, internal ads and with recruitment of new advertisers.
What do you expect to achieve during Leapfrogs?
During Leapfrogs I expect to build a communication platform that makes it easier for BIGHEART to receive and act on the feedback we get from our users, which is key for the development of our company. Also, as a team we expect to reach our 500 users goal, have an increased retention rate and a successful launch nation wide.
Sara Sigurdson - BIGHEART #2
Tell us what you have done on your project so far during the Leapfrogs time.
Mostly I have concentrated on collecting feedback from our users. Through phone interviews and emails I have gathered information needed to develop BIGHEART to becoming even more user friendly. Also, I have focused on communication through social media such as Facebook, Instagram, blog posts and more. I have also been in contact with a variety of newspapers and potential ambassadors to open new channels where we can spread the word about BIGHEART. Furthermore, I have focused on recruiting both users and advertisers.
Has everything gone according to the plan? Has anything unexpected occurred? Has something been easier/harder than expected?
So far, most things have gone according to plan. One issue that I have stumbled upon is to reach out to our users during the right time. A lot of our users are students that work during the summer, while a lot of our advertisers go on leave. This leaves us with the difficulty of reaching the right person at the right time. However, persistency is by no doubt the key to success.
What will you focus on during the remaining time? Will you follow your original plan or has anything changed along the way?
With a start up the original plan is never set in stone, which is also the case with my plan. I have seen that there is a bigger need of focusing on feedback from the users and understand the flaws in our service to be able to make it even better. Therefore, I am putting more time into collecting feedback and talking to users than I expected at first.
If you have any website associated with your project that you want to expose provide the link below:
I love all Leapfrogs ideas and I think we are a great group of people making amazing things happen. However, we need to help eachother! Therefore I provide this link, where you can advertise your products for free through BIGHEART while helping us make the world into a better place.
Also, if you want to read up on what’s happening at BIGHEART right now. Don’t hestitate to check out or blog http://bghrt.se/blogg/ or send an email to sara [at] bghrt [dot] se (sara[at]bghrt[dot]se) to find out more.
Sara Sigurdson - BIGHEART #3
How did you experience the three months?
I had a wonderful experience with Leapfrogs! I have met a lot of new, inspiring people, learnt how to spend my time wisely and together as a group we have come a long way with our project.
What has been hardest/most enjoyable?
The hardest have been to allocate the time wisely, but this has also been one of the most enjoyable things as I have succeeded with the planning that I have made. Another incredibly enjoyable thing has been to see the progress with our company, the way it has developed and the team spirit that we have had during this summer!
Did it go as expected? Will you continue working on your project in the future?
It has absolutely gone as expected, if not better. We are launching our iPhone-app very soon, we have recruited a lot of new users, communication has been good and all of our advertisers have been very positive!
What would you say is the most important lesson learnt while working on your project?
The most important lesson for me has been to see my strengths and weaknesses and be focused on my strong points instead of always learning new things. Of course, I have learned new things on the way – but as we are quite a big team with a big range of skills it has been nice and important to lean back on the skills that you already have. For me to trust those skills have been a very important lesson.
Do you have any tips to other ”new” entrepreneurs?
Hard work usually pays off. There are so many challenges that one cannot predict, therefore hard work and trusting yourself will always be the best thing in the end. However, do not be afraid to ask for help. Help is essential for starting a new business.