Chiara's Cat Café | #3 Can we skip to the good part

Chiara's Cat Café | #3 Can we skip to the good part?

Chiara Palmeri studies English Language & Culture at UU. She is currently trying to open a cat café in the USP. From the start, the UU Centre for Entrepreneurship has supported Chiara by 1-on-1 coaching. Here she is blogging about her entrepreneurial journey.

Something that is not discussed enough in the entrepreneurial world is how badly we secretly wish we could skip all the hard work and directly see what the "good part" looks like.

Believing in yourself and your project requires a lot more energy than you can imagine and can be sometimes draining… but the marvellous sensation that you feel once something works out just fine is indescribable. You feel like you are walking on clouds, dancing tip-tap at the top of the world! I believe that having a good team is the secret not to give up during tough times. You do not want to disappoint them, or disappoint yourself, and it gives you the kick you need to keep going.

I believe that having a good team is the secret not to give up during tough times.

In the last months, we have been raising awareness for our project: we jokingly called it the "getting famous part". Might be a bit boring at times, especially repeating everything you have been telling everyone each time somebody new asks what your project is about, but you will notice that it will become easier and more concise each time. You can change your explanation skills depending on people's reaction: if they seem genuinely interested, you are doing a great job.

Lately, our fantastic Yoanie [Editor's note: fellow student & PR manager of Chiara's cat café project] has been active looking for funds which might allow us to pay for the most basic stuff we need, and we are currently awaiting news. Could be worse, to be honest. It is the end of the school year; many people are busy with exams and many others are going back to their native countries.

Me? I am staying here, as I live here full-time. I will spend my summer working hard on finding a room and starting renovation so that we can aim to open as soon as possible. The room we looked at in Utrecht Science Park turned out to be extremely expensive, therefore we are still not quite sure we will be able to afford it. It is a very nice and spacious room, so I am hoping we will find a way to rent it either way.

I have such big dreams for this project and I would love to see them come true.

At the UU Centre for Entrepreneurship, we encourage students to try and be entrepreneurial. Being entrepreneurial is all about being creative and action-oriented, to create something new that has value for others. This blog is part of our news & events series 'For & By Students', where we give the floor to students that are part of our entrepreneurial community.