I am happy with the opportunity to work as a postman and to have income, but I have always wanted to start my own business. However, due to the situation in the country I was unable to start in Iran. After spending 2 years in the Netherlands, and learning more and more about the culture and society I got to better understand the needs of the society and a new business idea was born. I am currently looking to develop a service where customers can buy higher priced items sold on Marktplaats, especially electronics, with peace of mind.

I have done a 2–3-day Start-up Training in Iran, but I was still unsure about how to start a business in The Netherlands. After hearing about Itzinya through a friend I gave it a try. After applying and passing the intake process I joined the 2020 cohort of the Itzinya StartUp Academy. Looking back at this experience I especially remember the facilitators and the other entrepreneurs being nice and friendly. Everybody wanted to help and support each other. To Itzinya, every person and idea is important. The facilitators help build the ideas and then follow up on the progress as well. One of the most important aspects of the Itzinya StartUp Academy, facilitators and entrepreneurs alike, is that they are looking at your business idea from the outside. Since you are at the core of the idea, it can cause you to be subjective. Therefore, being on the outside they are able to be objective and can point out the problems in your ideas as well. This helps you view and develop your ideas better and prepares you for starting your business.

While Rasool is working long hours at PostNL, he is still very focused on his business idea. Convinced by the power of Lean Start-up, Rasool now tests every major assumption in his business model by viewing the data from an objective perspective.