Dominika Repcikova, whose start-up, The Iron Bar, aims to address chronic iron deficiency in women, says the other strand of her professional life, as a PhD candidate in biopsychology and immunogenetics at the University of Luxembourg, is teaching skills that are valuable for successful entrepreneurship.
What is The Iron Bar, and how did you come up with the concept?
At The Iron Bar, we are developing functional nutritional snacks for women that contain 100% of the recommended daily dose of iron. This idea came from a personal story – I was struggling with recurring iron deficiency, and stuck in a cycle of being diagnosed, being treated, and developing anaemia again. I knew that I was not getting enough iron in my diet, and wondered how to replace snacks with something that was loaded with iron, but there was not anything I could find in the supermarket – so I created a product. There is a lot of iron in spinach, but you would have to eat a great deal to get the 15 to 18 milligrams of iron that an average woman needs in a day. Or you would have to eat between five and eight steaks, which is obviously not possible for most people.
How do you combine your PhD work with your entrepreneurship journey?
It can be a challenge in terms of time, because you only have 24 hours in a day, to have two major things happening in your life at the same time. At one moment I am in my scientist mode, working with data, writing a manuscript or brainstorming on my research project, then I have to switch into business mode, which in some ways is a different world. I find it exhausting at times, but I have got better at it as time goes by. But at the same time, my PhD work at the University of Luxembourg not only teaches me how to be a scientist and to do research, but provides many other valuable skills such as time management and people management. My PhD is very much in my own hands, I am in charge of the process, which comes with a lot of responsibility, but you can extrapolate it to whatever else you are doing. I would advise anyone else to launch a business at the same time they do a PhD – it can be intimidating, but also the best experience you will ever have.
“Basically you just really need an idea.”
What role does the university have in encouraging entrepreneurship?
A lot of universities have incubators, as does the University of Luxembourg, and it also has a separate entrepreneurship curriculum, as well as holding panel discussions – I was a panellist last week. You hear from others who are doing their degree or have graduated and learn from their experience, as well as more hands-on support. You share your idea, and they will walk you through every step of the way. Do you already have an idea? Do you need to start conceptualising your minimum viable product? There are programmes such as the summer school, where you bring your idea or whatever you have. If you have a rough business plan already, that is great, but basically you just really need an idea. We have already produced our first bars, but to go to mass production for the market, we had to take a loan from a business development fund. One thing I must stress is that what we are producing is not a medicine, but a fortified food. You can get iron supplements in capsule form, but many people find them difficult to swallow and it is not a very pleasant experience overall. We are providing iron as a tasty, easily available lifestyle choice snack.
