He Turned $20 Million in Debt into a Leading Company

The cooperation agreement signed between Bahçeşehir University and TÜGİAD has come to life. Bahçeşehir students have begun taking entrepreneurship lessons from young businessmen and businesswomen in the course titled TÜGİAD. The first lesson was given by TÜGİAD Honorary Member and Baymak Chairman of the Board Murat Akdoğan.

I STARTED WITH 20 MILLION DOLLARS OF DEBT

Akdoğan began the lesson by telling his own success story, summarizing it as follows: "I was 23 when I joined Baymak. Within a year I became factory manager. At 26, I took over the leadership of Baymak. By 31, all my debts were paid off."

Saying that although he seems to have reached his goal within 8 years, the process was very difficult, Akdoğan described his experience as follows: "3 years after I joined Baymak, the factory owed about 20 million dollars to the market and the banks and could no longer operate. It was a turning point for me. I turned down a secure job and got to work."

THANK GOODNESS FOR DEBT

Pointing out how critical his decision was by saying, "Taking risks is like a coup: either you become president or you end up in prison," Akdoğan explained how he rescued Baymak from the swamp of debt: "Every night I couldn't sleep, thinking 'there is debt and nothing else.' Then, thinking 'what if I had no debt? Everyone has expectations of me,' I started working even harder."

Saying that there are 3 types of companies and that Baymak falls into the group of "revolutionary companies," Akdoğan explained:

"1) Leading companies: such as Koç's Demirdöküm and Alarko Holding's Alarko
2) Secondary Groups: companies that try to resemble the leader and will never be first
3) Revolutionary Companies: revolutionary companies that produce different business models and disruptive business models

Baymak has always produced different business models. When the dealer in Diyarbakır did not even have a computer, Baymak became the first company to start taking orders through an Internet system. And in '98 we were the leader. But we have not forgotten where we came from. We always look down to see whether new revolutionary companies might take our place."

GOALS THAT ARE HARD BUT POSSIBLE TO REACH

Akdoğan gave the following advice to young people: "Nothing is impossible. For me, strategy is not something measurable; it is a disruptive dream. When choosing goals, I never trusted my mind. I trusted my feelings. I chose goals that were hard but possible to reach. You will reach easy goals anyway," he said, adding: "To succeed, you need to tear down and rebuild. You need to get out of a revisionist mindset."

"BAYMAK NO LONGER NEEDS ME; I HAVE RETURNED TO MY DREAM"

Akdoğan described where he is now as follows:

"We saved a sinking company, we became free, we became global, we gained a strategic partner, we became the best production center in Europe. Now I no longer need Baymak, and Baymak no longer needs me. That is why I have returned to the dream I had at 13. I rolled up my sleeves to help orphaned children. I set up a foundation. I took action to provide jobs for children who leave care homes after the age of 18. I learned that there is job security in the health sector and founded a University of Health Sciences. Then I founded a hospital where those children will work. All the scholarship students will be children from this foundation."

STUDENTS WILL SET UP VIRTUAL COMPANIES

Students from all departments of the university can take TÜGİAD's entrepreneurship courses as electives. Within the scope of the courses, students will be asked at the end of the semester to set up a virtual company with virtual capital. Forming the company's executive board, students will present their business plans, balance sheets, and sales and marketing strategies to a jury of TÜGİAD members and academics. In addition to their course grades, students will also receive surprise gifts according to their ranking.