While Bozkurt was studying, he used to dream about setting up his own business. To achieve his goal, he thought he should first gain work experience in the marketing industry. With the help of the Bilkent Career Development and Placement Center, he received job offers from well-known companies like Arçelik, Beko, RAM, İktisat Bank, and Pamukbank.

Bozkurt Yılmaz, in the middle

Bozkurt chose to work for Arçelik of Koç Holding in the Marketing Research and Advertisement Department. "Koç Holding was a very professional environment to work in and it provided me with such valuable work experience. I built up a good network of contacts at Koç which later helped me in my own business."

After working for one and a half years and then doing his military service, Bozkurt had many ideas, a lot of enthusiasm, but not much money. Although lack of starting capital was a serious obstacle, he was convinced that he had to act immediately. Selling his car provided enough funds for him to take the first steps in setting up his own advertising and communications company, Sinerji İletişim.

Bozkurt's timing was off, however. Very soon after he founded Sinerji, the Turkish government announced currency devaluation, and as a result the advertisement sector experienced a temporary slowdown. He received his first pay check exactly one year after launching the business! He says, "I received a lot of support from my family, friends, and my girlfriend" (whom he has since married!).

Based on his experience, Bozkurt says that setting up a new business requires taking many risks. "You should be ready to deal with the worst scenario. Be ready to share half of your profit with the government, and be ready to be frustrated with some of the new laws and regulations you might have to deal with," he says. On the other hand, he adds, "If you have a clear sense of purpose, good social skills, and a strong motivation to succeed, succeed you will."