The training “Empowering BIH’s Young Entrepreneurs” concluded last month. The main purpose of the training was to inform young entrepreneurs from Bosnia and Hercegovina on start-up entrepreneurs, to present them a supportive environment in Slovenia and to encourage young people to develop their business ideas.
In cooperation with the initiative Start up: Slovenia, more than 20 young people have been invited to Slovenia to attend the Podim conference. They have signed up nine different business ideas at the competition Podim Challenge and one of them was also Loren, our guest today. We have asked him how he felt in Slovenia and how useful his visit was. Namely, the idea was that all participants meet various investors during the two-day conference and get the opportunity to present their ideas and learn from tips and questions from the mentors.
The project was part of CEP program activities funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Slovenia, from the funds for international development cooperation and with cooperation of British Embassy in Slovenia.
1. Please, introduce yourself and explain your idea shortly.
My name is Loren Keserović and I am a first year student at the University of Sarajevo, School of Business and Economics. I am also a project manager at
the NGO Giro di Sarajevo, which promotes urban cycling and calls on the government to build necessary cycling infrastructure in Sarajevo. Apart from these activities, I also spend a lot of time riding my bicycle and training for cross-country and road racing competitions as a member of cycling team GIRO. My business idea arose from my involvement in the world of cycling from different aspects and which enabled me to recognize a rising need for specific type of bicycles on the market. This type of bicycle is a perfect solution for the problem of stressful traffic jams and lack of parking spots in the cities. We are talking about the bicycle that is very light, folding and which provides electric pedal assist. This type of bicycle can be combined with other means of transportation for longer trips thanks to its small size when folded. The idea is to establish a folding electric bicycles manufacturing in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to sell them in EU and later in the rest of the countries that need this type of product.
2. How did you come across idea that you would develop something on your own, not trying to just ‘find a job’?
There is one quote I really like and it says: “It’s hard to say if warriors are born, or made by circumstances.” I believe that I was born with entrepreneurial spirit which was sharpened by the circumstances. During my high school education and summer vacations I worked in one bicycle shop here in Sarajevo and that was really important experience for me for two reasons. The first reason is that I was working there pretty long and hard for a low salary and I found out that if I put the same effort in doing something for myself, for my own company, I could accomplish much more and build my own dream, not someone else’s; and the second reason is that through the conversations with our customers I found out about their real needs and the problems that existing bicycles don’t solve. Then I enrolled to the faculty of economics and I found that I am not really going to get a lot of valuable knowledge there and that university degree is simply useless if you don’t combine it with something that is from the “real” world, such as a start-up company. And at the end of the day, the best thing in life is to find a thing you are passionate about and then find a way how to make money out of it, not the other way around, and I realised that my “thing” are bicycles.
3. Did you attend any entrepreneurship programs before?
I did attended some entrepreneurship programs in my country. The most important one is Bizoo start-up accelerator, which is lead by one successful entrepreneur, and we can really learn a lot from him.
4. Where did you learn about our course? What got your attention?
I found about this course through the advert and I recognized a great opportunity for meeting people and spreading my business network, which is one of the most important things for running a successful business.
5. What was most useful and beneficial for you attending the course?
As I mentioned in the last answer, the most useful for me was meeting the people who are just like me and who want to do something different, not to be just another brick in the wall and I believe that we can help each other to accomplish our goals.
6. Have you before attending our course ever considered looking for investor abroad? In the UK?
I considered looking for investor abroad even before this course, but it was almost like mission impossible since I live in a country that many people from abroad cannot even find on the map and this project offered me that possibility to meet and talk to some of them.
7. What kind of support would you now most need?
My bicycle project is at the prototyping stage now and so far, I financed the development with my savings. To build a couple of prototypes is going to cost a bit more than I can provide by myself and in order to cover those costs I will have to find small investment. After that stage, my project just as almost all the others from Bosnia needs support in promotion in target countries.
