How I Started a Book Exchange Platform

Kushnoor Patan

Kushnoor Patan

Founder
Zesummen

Team Size

2

Revenue

Not for Profit

Location

Luxembourg

STart Date

May 2020

Meet our female entrepreneur Kushnoor Patan, the founder of Zesummen – Let’s Exchange. Zesummen is a free platform created to help people of Luxembourg to sell, exchange and give away books. 

Kushnoor is an IT professional living and working in Luxembourg. During COVID-19 confinement she realized once more the importance of reading books so she came up with the idea of building a free platform for sharing and exchanging books.

I fully support this great initiative and hope Kushnoor’s platform will boost the habit of reading and spread the word for all to enter the magical world of books. Zesummen platform is currently focused on the area of Luxembourg, but Kushnoor’s goal is to expand to surrounding countries. Read below what she has to say and make sure to join her amazing platform. Let’s share and read books!

INTRODUCTION

PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF AND THE BUSINESS YOU STARTED.

I am a technical graduate in computer science. I have been working in IT services for more than 12 years. I started my career as a programmer with Tech-M, an MNC in India with a scholarship of approximately 150 euros/month. 

I am passionate about learning new skills and I have completed a number of training courses and I am certified in JAVA Programming.

I am not a bookworm but l always loved reading books in my leisure time. Being a mom of two kids it has become hard to find time for reading. Needs always keep changing for everyone. Before being a mother, I used to find books for myself but now I have to find something for my children to teach them. I love being creative and enjoy life with challenges.

WHAT DOES YOUR TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE AND HOW DO YOU STAY PRODUCTIVE?

I am not a special person, I am very much like everyone, my day starts at 5 am every day with some basic exercises, cooking and planning for the entire day.  

The rest of the day is not different from other professionals working in the office. Like every IT professional I stick to my desktop coding applications, meetings and other.

Between 9 to 12 in the evening I work on my project.

THE JOURNEY SO FAR

PLEASE DESCRIBE THE PROCESS OF LAUNCHING YOUR BUSINESS.

I always had the interest to work on startup idea but I was confused with lots of ideas I had in my mind and how to bring them to reality. 

Because of the COVID-19 lockdown, I realized the importance of books more than ever. The idea of sharing and exchanging books came into my mind so people can help each other to find books easily.

I started working on the concept to help locals to exchange books online for free. Currently, I do not have any partners or contractors. I have spent less than 100 Euros on implementing my idea apart from my hard work.

bookstore luxembourg

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT AND YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE SINCE YOU STARTED YOUR BUSINESS?

The biggest achievement is support from my friends and family. As a working professional, my biggest challenge is time management.

WHAT STRATEGY DID YOU USE TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS? AND HOW?

Social media marketing and word of mouth.

WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS?

My goal is to have 1 million books available on my platform and I would like to expand it to neighboring countries. I am hoping I will be able to work full time on this project.

RECOMMENDATIONS & FINAL THOUGHTS

ARE THERE ANY RESOURCES OR TOOLS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH OTHERS THAT HAVE HELPED YOU RUN YOUR BUSINESS?

Software: WordPress is very helpful for any startups going online. I recommend Google Analytics, Canva for designing, Pixlr for Editing photos and Pixabay for image gallery. As well, W3schools can be very helpful for entrepreneurs who want to learn some web designing skills.

New learners can also use Udemy to gain some technical and business skills.

WHAT OR WHO HAS BEEN YOUR GREATEST INFLUENCE IN BUSINESS AND WHY?

People around me are great influencers for whatever I do. I have learned that life is not about being rich and successful, but it’s all about being human.

“If people are not laughing at your goals, your goals are too small.”— Azim Premji 

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO OTHER WOMEN WHO WANT TO START THEIR OWN BUSINESS?

 

Give it a Try. Success or Failure. In both cases, you get something to learn and teach others.

WHAT BUSINESS IDEA DO YOU HAVE THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO SHARE WITH OTHERS?

Creating a social entrepreneur app for women to share and exchange business ideas that can help find business partners easily.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH OUR READERS?

Accept life as it comes. Don’t stop learning new things.

Violeta Semenova

Violeta Semenova
Founder
theBizLadies

Welcome to the Biz Ladies interview series!

If you’re new to these series, I interview women entrepreneurs on how they started their business, what was the idea behind it, how they got where they are, the struggles, the reality and more.

By sharing their stories, we want to inspire other women to get started.

If you are interested to share your own story on the Biz Ladies LET ME KNOW!