As many people at CBS knows, building a business is hard. Very hard.

But for Paw Wöhlk, a semester in Paris gave him an idea to not only start a business, but do it whilst studying. The idea was simple: importing French cider and selling it to the thirsty people of Copenhagen. Now, he is on the verge of opening the city’s first cider bar, but it hasn’t been without a strong will, certain challenges and a lot of extra working hours.

Once returning from exchange, Paw and his business partner founded their company Ciderrevolution. A bold business move, as the pair was just about to start writing their Master’s Thesis and time therefore would be limited. Though as off August last year, the company has been importing cider from France and selling it to bars and restaurants, to private customers, as well has hosting cider tastings for companies and private events.

Managing a business whilst studying has been tough, admits Paw, but also says that the environment at CBS and his fellow students helped and inspired him to continue.

“I got a lot of indirect help. One of my classmates co-founded Heaps and he has been very encouraging and generous with ideas and advice on what to do. Also, being surrounded by entrepreneurial students, who started businesses themselves definitely lowered the mental barriers for starting a business.”

For Paw, being a student at CBS seemed to be the perfect setting for his venture into the entrepreneurial world, as he adds: “Having been to CBS, I learned basic finance and marketing, which made starting a business a much less daunting task.”

Now, however, Paw and his partner have graduated, but that doesn’t mean that there is more time to spare his company. Having attained full-time jobs, Ciderrevolution is still being run on the side, as the company has yet to provide salaries for themselves.

Yet, this isn’t stopping the business duo, as they remain to invest plenty of hours from their limited free time, as Paw points out.

“At a certain point, you stop counting the hours. A rough estimate would be around 30 hours per week for the cider business, although I don’t consider the hours I put into it as work.”

And the hard work seems to be paying off, as Ciderrevolution is set to open a pop-up cider bar, which will be open throughout the month of July. It will be the first cider bar in Copenhagen and Paw is very proud of this achievement, explaining that only seven months ago they started experimenting with producing their own cider, and now they are opening a bar.

Ciderrevolution already has plans for a new product, which will hopefully launch soon. “You want to start this journey as quick as possible,” as Paw says.

When asked what advice he would give to other students dreaming of starting their own company, he gives a quick reply:

“Just get started” and encourages people to talk openly about their ideas and attend events and workshops, where you get the chance to discuss and brainstorm thoughts and perspectives within a network of qualified and like-minded people.

“It’s important to take your time to get inspired”, Paw adds and says that several books such as ‘Lean Startup’ and podcasts have helped him get more creative in regards to his business and entrepreneurship in general.

Paw and his partner have surpassed the first hurdle of creating a business, but ahead lies only more challenges. Though with the speed of things and the Danes’ big interest in the French cider, it seems that Ciderrevolution is here to stay. It’s only a matter of time before their first salary will arrive and the pair can devote all their time to this tasteful company.

Want to try the cider?

Stop by Cider Bar on Kingosgade 4, Vesterbro from July 6-29th 2017. More info on the pop-up bar on the Facebook event.

Entrepreneurship