Daniel Jensen is the humble native of Funen with a brilliant and innovative mind, whom we had to convince to outlay his inspiring achievements. On his curriculum one would find accomplishments such as being CEO & co-owner at SIE-Hunting.com, SIE-Group – Outdoor distributor, and at Ziqmon.dk.
Additionally, he has participated in International Case Competition for CBS, is an active member of Future Entrepreneurs of Denmark and is a judge in the Venture Cup Idea Competition. In the following sections, you will meet a dedicated, warm-hearted and prosperous young CBS student, who faithfully stands by his personal values on the road towards becoming successful.
Tell us a little about yourself and how you spend your time
Currently, I am studying BSc international Business at CBS while running a firm parallel to my studies. In addition, I like to meet people, in particular other entrepreneurs, who inspire me through their stories. When speaking to other young entrepreneurs, there is nothing better than sharing constructive advice and experiences. Despite putting many hours into my academics and work, I also strive at pursuing other passions in life with close friends. For instance, I have lived abroad for two years to gather as much experience as possible. Keeping up to date with updates from various learning resources, such as covering new business ventures and technologies, is also essential to me. My eagerness to meet and talk to other entrepreneurs is materialized in my choosing to join the Stardust organization and the F.E.D.
How did you manage to develop several companies in Denmark?
I have always been a dreamer. It has been crucial for me to have the right input from an early age. I always dreamed of creating something. Luckily, for me, my dreams became my passion and ambition. Determination and stubbornness have been essential to develop businesses and keep working for a final goal inspite of facing challenges along the way. Determination eliminates problems and makes it more difficult to be demoralized when you meet resistance. In time it becomes easier to navigate in high seas and you become a true problem-solver. I used determination both when I failed with a company, but also when managing high-growth in others.
The desire to create something sparks from feeling the need for change. We as humans are essentially optimizers. We optimize existing structures, improve them or change them completely to hopefully lift them to new standards.
In what way is Denmark able to facilitate innovation and to reward determination?
Denmark is one of the most optimal environments to create businesses. The Danish business sector and politicians are constantly in fights for reforms that will make it easier to start and run businesses in Denmark. There is room for improvement, but it is important to notice how accessible it is to start and run a business in Denmark. In 2012, Denmark was the easiest place to do business in Europe and number 5 in the world.
Denmark offers great opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurs. Student organizations and incubators give students the opportunity of proactively challenging the potential entrepreneur within ourselves by providing capital, facilitating knowledge and connecting experience.
I believe that the student organizations hold a part of the hidden gem. They can inspire innovation by creating a bond between like-minded people with diverse backgrounds in a safe space.
What is your idea of success and how do you know when it has been achieved?
One thing I learned is that success cannot be measured in monetary terms. At a young age I thought business success was defined by becoming wealthy. Through developing companies, I quickly learned that money, as a motivational factor is not what keeps you going when times are tough.
Some years ago, we launched a new business on an exhibition. We made an online announcement that our shop would be ready at the day of the exhibition. The day arrived and the shop was not ready. We lost the traction during the exhibition and the following months were without any turnover what so ever. It would take a lot of work before we got traction and business began. We did not make money and several times we thought that we would have to close the company. If money was the motivation at this point, we would not have existed today. Our motivation, of doing something in a new way and providing better service, was what kept us going.
This experience changed my perception of success. I found that success is not a fixed criterion at the end of the road, but rather, spread over many small paths along the journey. The true experience lies in the journey to one of many goals – and when you achieve that goal, you will set off for the next. It is a success to learn something new and truly master it. I believe I succeed when acquiring new knowledge, developing that knowledge into a skill and applying that new ability in a real world context.
Accomplishments and realization of ones own potential are therefore the true success factors for me. Money, cars and houses will fluctuate – the measurement stick should be your own skills, competencies and abilities.
Work-life balance is essential. To me, I’m not successful if my business is doing great, but private life is failing. Success is to do something you like while having great friends, family and people in general around you. When I started working as an entrepreneur I thought it was about working 15 hours a day to become the best. But the problem was that all the factors in your life besides work is also your fuel. You have to fuel up, by not forgetting to truly live your life while working on your dream.
If success is not measured by wealth, is money then not a fuel to you?
The thing is, that I am unable to run a business passionately if money is my only goal. Of course money is an indicator as to how well your company is doing, however, I would not consider myself successful solely based on my accomplishments in terms of money. No one is capable of working their entire life with something that is tedious and uninteresting to them merely to earn money. Success is what comes from being able to balance your work life with the things you love, your fuel.
I am convinced that I will be better skilled to act altruistically or philanthropically, when I consider myself successful. While money is to some extent a means to goals, curiosity and energy is something I posses and something I strive to incorporate in all of my doings. To me it takes curiosity and energy to be courageous. And it takes courage to stand out from the crowd and do, what the average person does not, whether that be fighting for high academic merits or doing something extraordinary outside of school.
Which of your experiences do you find the most valuable to you as an entrepreneur?
I learned a lot from working with people who have greater expertise within a specific area than I do myself. The most important element of studying at university has been the people I have met. Most of the people I have met during my studies have two things in common: Passion and ambition – they strive to do more; to do better. This is something I always look for in people I meet. The passion of an individual is interesting; whether that being soccer, journalism, the environment, post stamps or private equity.
Do not try to fit in
If you try to fit in, then stop. Rethink. You already know who you are and what your true passions are. They are just challenged by others’ dreams and passions. Stick to the dream; your passions already chose you a long time ago – not the other way around. Be your own motivator and stop comparing yourself to others. From my experience, money follows passion and not vice versa.
Friends, Family and Fools = Failure
Not succeeding with a company was an important lesson. I once started a jewelry company. I figured I would do everything “right” by hiring big agencies, having everything done by professional companies from the start. I prepared everything for the big launch. And nothing happened. I learned what I did wrong. First, I thought it was right to have everything prepared down to the smallest details before launching a company. Second, my peers were the people closest to me. Third, all the experiences I gained in the previous two companies, which went well, I completely disregarded. I found that a quote from Bob Klein, chief engineer of the F-14 program, was a great summary of what I did in the other ventures and forgot to do in this: “The best way to do something ‘lean’ is to gather a tight group of people, give them very little money, and very little time.”
I did not talk to potential customers. My primary source of inputs was from friends, family and fools. Although the three F’s can be very supporting, they are also biased and far from objective. They do not always tell you what you need to hear. Furthermore, they (hopefully) like you and therefore also support your idea. I failed and lost most of the investment. I chose the wrong people, products and target group. Today this lesson is scratched down in my personal handbook of how not to start a company and I would never want to be without it. This being said, I would not have been where I am today if it was not for friends, family and fools.
Don’t get discouraged because someone else already did it
Everything and anything can be changed. All you see around you while you are reading this; that being your school, a street, the library, the park – have all been made by an entrepreneur at a given time. If it has been changed by an entrepreneur before, then it means that the standard and thereby the norm has been challenged once before and hence can be again. If it happened before, you can do it again.
Before the start of my outdoor gear company, there were many competitors on the market. None of the established suppliers were willing to work with us, because they tried to protect their existing retailers and because we were only an online shop at the time. This did not discourage us. Today we are one of the leading companies in Scandinavia within our field. We did not fear entering the market, despite the competitors and being turned down consistently by distributors, agencies and existing retailers in the market. Fearlessness and determination became our ultimate advantage.
Do not fall in love
Avoid becoming emotionally attached to your idea because your emotions will not always be reciprocated. Never protect your idea from inputs. If it holds, it can take a beating. Stay curious. Your idea deserves that.
Do you have any advice for students aspiring to become entrepreneurs?
Become a master of uncertainty. Learn to enjoy uncertainty. When living with uncertainty, it is when you will be learning most in life. When I moved to San Diego, California, I arrived at 11 pm at night without having been in the city before nor knowing a single individual there. I was outside my comfort zone and I had to act proactively to succeed.
You master uncertainty by becoming accustomed to getting out of your comfort zone. The activity of getting out of our comfort zones is provoked by situations that make you nervous and anxious; nevertheless, these are the exact same situations you subsequently will share most frequently. Why? Because it feels good to challenge yourself outside your comfort zone. Your steepest learning curve and greatest degree of evolvement are not found within your comfort zone. I dare you to challenge it. If you can steer in high waters of uncertainty, there are no limits to what you can do.
I aim at traveling as much as possible. I always leave things to the unknown and do not take the sure choice when traveling. This is uncertainty and I have come to find that traveling is one of the activities that push personal growth the most.
Do not wait
Some people keep waiting for the true great idea. You have to start somewhere. You might be lucky to hit the idea of the century and make that a successful business. You might wait and still talk about it with regret when you turn 50. Or you might just start out by selling underwear, potato chips or even outdoor gear!
The journey starts somewhere, and that place is now.
Pivot and Persevere
My first venture as an entrepreneur was an import and export company. First we were importing vases, electrical bicycles and various other things to sell to Danish retailers. After a short period, we changed and started helping companies sourcing manufactures in China. Then we started to import binoculars and scopes and changed our vision to become an optics brand. After learning that it was not really possible with our budgets, we started an online retailer shop and the import company eventually became a distributor of over 20 outdoor brands in Scandinavia. The same company went from selling vases and electrical bicycles to being a distributor of outdoor products and having an online retail store dealing more than 190 brands.
We changed our vision and dream as we went along.
It is important to know when to pivot or persevere. Know when to let go of the old and let in the new – both personally and in business. Never repress anything and do not let pride be your downfall. I met a lot who were not curious or willing to change their initial vision just because they fell in love with their own business plan. They become blind to the obvious. Even your dreams and goals need to be able to adapt quickly.
One-way ticket
I’m not a fully made man, nor do I know all the answers but I learn constantly.
It is about having fun and creating the life you want instead of waiting around for it. Things will be tough at times. Do not expect them to be anything less.
Sometimes you have to see life as a traveler with a one-way ticket knowing that this ticket is the ticket for your very last trip. In that case, you would make sure to get in the cockpit, talk to the flight attendants and have an amazing time. You would not lean back and sleep, would you?
– So don’t do that with your life.
The entrepreneurial act comes in many forms. For you, the beginning of your journey might be to become a member of a student organization. You might already have started a company. Maybe you choose to be an entrepreneur within the corporate sector. Whether you like it or not, you have an entrepreneur hidden inside yourself – so now, it is just up to you what to do with it.
Should you have any questions, you are more than welcome to contact Daniel, who is always willing to help out or just to have a professional chat.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/danieljensen1