As the smart phones entered our lives, they brought along a thriving accessory market. Ece Gümüş, a graduate of Izmir University of Economics, who double majored in Department of Business Administration and Department of International Trade and Finance, turned her phone case designs, which she started as a hobby, into a business. While celebrities as Buse Terim, Sezin Erbil, and Bengü favour the brand “CINCO” by Ece Gümüş, some 17 thousand followers on the internet, choose her designs as accessories for their phones.
Ece Gümüş stated that she devoted time to her hobby during her studies at IUE, she said, “I was very interested in phone cases. I even had a collection of them. After a while, I wanted to create my own designs. When my friends liked my designs, I started to promote them on the internet. I had a small amount of followers. I worked with celebrities like Buse Terim, Sezin Erbil, Bengü. They also used my designs and shared the pictures of the accessories on social media.”
Gümüş stated that she currently has 17 thousand followers and her designs attracted a great deal of attention at online shops. She said that she opened up her own workshop and store. She said she started to manufacture the products she once imported from overseas. “We started to manufacture our own parts, own cases. I was manufacturing at home. Today, I own a workshop and a store with my own brand name. I continue to sell online. By this means, we can ship products to Van, Gaziantep, Konya, Ankara, İstanbul. I started to work with websites and stores,” stated Ece Gümüş.
Gümüş also mentioned that she attended Erasmus program while she was a student at IUE. She said people were amazed that she preferred to work on designs instead of her own profession. Gümüş stated the following:
“I did a double major in order to find a good job at private sector. I am working on designs and everyone is amazed. However, I do know how to communicate with customers, how to make a budget, how to manage my finances, or my business thanks to the education I received at Izmir University of Economics. I owe this all to my education. I helped me to create a vision, broadened my horizon. I enjoy creating a brand name from scratch and expending it.”
