Dina Bahrami
Dina Bahrami
2018/19
MSc in Medical Biotechnology and Business Management
Nationality: Iranian
First Degree: BSc Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Current job: Starting her own business, NutriBeauties.
I decided to come to the UK for my Master's degree on a course which was a combination of Science and Business. I applied for three universities, the University of Warwick, Nottingham University and Birmingham University. I received an offer from all three universities but eventually I chose Warwick due to its reputation, rank, and beautiful campus. I still remember the first day that I arrived on campus, I just said, "It's much bigger than what I was expecting"!
I really liked my course because it allowed me to see different perspectives of each product or service including the science behind the product, and also the business side of it. My favourite module was Entrepreneurship and Commercialisation because it allowed us to develop a business plan related to the biotechnology sector. Now this business idea is my start-up business and I am working full time on it. My startup is known as "NutriBeauties" and concerns beauty supplements which are beneficial for skin health.
As an international student, who was not aware of the way she should run a business, I needed support from several mentors and my lecturers. That's why I joined different societies such as Warwick Enterprise and Warwick Incubator. I had many panels to go through, such as the Student Enterprise fund, Graduate Accelerator Program (GAP), and TrepCamp but the benefits that I received from those panels were £5,720 to work on my new product development, an office and many mentors who supported me at different stages. The most important benefit was the startup endorsement letter from the University of Warwick which allowed me to switch my visa from Tier4 to Start-up visa. Now I can stay in the UK and work on my business for two more years.
I can say the most important lesson that I have learned was "Building a better and bigger networking circle".