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Croatian entrepreneurs Ivan Matuna, Danijel Babić, Marjan Novak, and Antun Horvat
Capable, diligent people in Croatia who have great knowledge, determination and skills
Marijan Ožanić in the studio of Croatian Catholic Radio, Zagreb, directing the program dedicated to Croatian entrepreneurship
Once a month, Croatian Catholic Radio broadcasts a live radio show directed by Mr. Marijan Ožanić, devoted to Croatian etrepreneurs. His guests Ivan Matuna (MATUNA Ltd) Danijel Babić (BYTE-LAB Ltd), Marjan Novak (MANOX Ltd), and Antun Horvat (DOHOMONT Ltd). The first two are both under 30 years old. Mr. Antun Horvat is one of the most respectable Croatian entrepreneurs. In 1989 he founded his company DOHOMONT Ltd, and it currently employs 250 people. The majority of their products are exported.
Marjan Novak and Antun Horvat, entrepreneurs from the Region of Međimurje Ivan Matuna (photo by Croatian business magazine Lider)
Jedanput mjesečno na Hrvatskom katoličkom radiju u okviru emisije Argumenti koja se emitira u utorak od 17.30 sati razgovaram sa zanimljivim hrvatskim poduzetnicima. U veljači (19.veljače), razgovarao sam s dva mlada poduzetnika Ivanom Matunom i Danijelom Babićem, a 19.ožujka 2013. s dva poduzetnika iz Međimurja, Marjanom Novakom i Antunom Horvatom.
Mladi poduzetnici
Ivan Matuna, direktor je i vlasnik tvrtke MATUNA d.o.o. (www.matuna.hr), a Danijel Babić je suvlasnik tvrtke BYTE-LAB d.o.o. (www.byte-lab.hr). Oba su vrlo mladi i nemaju još niti 30 godina.
Zašto sam pozvao ove mlade ljude u emisiju? Pozvao sam ih zato što želim pokazati kako pametne, vrijedne i briljantne mlade ljudi imamo. To su mladi ljudi o kojima malo znate, koje rijetko vidite u medijima, jer nisu zanimljivi, jer ih ne vidite u TV emisijama Big Brotheru, Red Carpetu, na tulumima tzv. zlatne mladeži ili na poprištu političkih prepucavanja. U hrvatskoj javnosti i medijima, nažalost, dominira slika mladosti okrenutoj uspjehu bez rada, bez napora, bez učenja. Uz njih se glorificiraju mladi biznismeni koji su se obogatili financijskim ili građevinarskim makinacijama ili uvoz-izvoz poslovima.
Zato u ovim našim emisijama na HKR-u predstavljam onu „drugu Hrvatsku“, kreativnu, pametnu, poštenu i vrijednu, koja je svoju kreativnost, inventivnost i poduzetnost usmjerila na stvaranje novih proizvoda i na izvoz tih proizvoda.
Moram reći da Ivana i Danijela poznam već jako dugo, od kada su bili đaci u srednjoj školi, Elektrotehničkoj školi u Zagrebu, na Trešnjevci. Ta škola ima jako dobre profesore, koji su djeci dali dobro stručno znanje, a uz to su poticali njihovu inventivnost. Tehnološki park Zagreb nalazi se u susjedstvu te škole i uvijek smo dobro surađivali. Najbolju i najinventivniju djecu smo kroz projekte poticanja inovacija i poduzetničke projekte mladih pratili kroz cijelo školovanje, kroz srednju školu i kroz fakultet (najčešće su odlazili na FER). Kada su diplomirali i postali inženjeri, osnovali su svoja poduzeća, postali poduzetnici i došli kod nas u Tehnološki park. Ivan i Danijel su odlični stručnjaci i kreativni inovatori. A Ivan je već kao srednjoškolac bio najbolji zagrebački inovator. Za svoje inovacije mladi Ivan Matuna dobio je nagrade na izložbama inovacija u cijelom svijetu, od Kuala-Lumpura, Pittsburgha, Londona i Moskve, do Zagreba.
Razgovarali smo o raznim temama vezanim uz njihov poduzetnički i poslovni život, o tome kako su počeli i kako su se i zašto odlučili za poduzetništvo, odakle im samopouzdanje za jednu tako značajnu životnu odluku, jesu li na fakultetu dobili dovoljno znanja za poduzetništvo i kada bi se u školi trebalo početi učiti o poduzetništvu, kako se njihovi prijatelji odnose prema njima kao poduzetnicima, razgovarali smo o njihovim inovacijama i kako sebe vide u budućnosti.
Emisija je bila zanimljiva slušateljima koji su se javljali telefonom i SMS porukama i postavlja razna pitanja.
Cijelu emisiju i razgovor s mladim poduzetnicima možete poslušati na snimci u prilogu.
Međimurski poduzetnici
U emisiji od 19.ožujka 2013. razgovarao sam s Marjanom Novakom, direktorom i vlasnikom tvrtke Manox d.o.o. i Antunom Horvatom, direktorom i vlasnikom tvrtke Dohomont d.o.o., poduzetnicima iz Međimurja.
Međimurje je izrazito poduzetnički kraj pa se jako dobro uklapa u našu emisiju. To je po površini najmanja, ali je najgušće naseljena županija u Hrvatskoj (ako ne računamo Zagreb), ima 113.804 stanovnika, Međimurci imaju oko 4.300 malih i srednjih poduzeća (zajedno s obrtima), među kojima je najveći broj proizvodnih. Svi ti poduzetnici zapošljavaju više od 30.000 radnika. Nažalost, na Zavodu za zapošljavanje u veljači ove godine bilo je 8.413 nezaposlenih osoba iz Međimurske županije i taj broj nažalost, kao i u cijeloj Hrvatskoj, polako, ali stalno raste.
Međimurje je vrlo lijep kraj, u kojem žive vrijedni ljudi. A ono što me posebno uvijek impresioniralo to je mnogo cvijeća na prozorima i vrtovima oko kuća. Vjerojatno zbog cvijeća Međimurje je počašćeno nadimkom Hortus Croatiae (Vrt Hrvatske ili Cvjetnjak Hrvatske). Neslužbeni grb međimurskog kraja su jedna nježna ptica grlica i prekrasan cvijet ljubičica (u dijalektu znan kao fijolica). I to mnogo govori o ljudima Međimurja. Vidi se da Međimurci vole i čuvaju svoj kraj, svoje kuće i svoje obitelji. Trebamo se podsjetiti riječi pape Franje – budite čuvari društva, vrijednosti, okoliša i Crkve. A društvo se nabolje čuva radom i ljubavlju.
Gospodin Marjan Novak je kroz cijelim svoj radni vijek povezan s gospodarstvom i poduzetništvom, najprije kroz rad u industrijskim poduzećima, a onda kao direktor Međimurskog poduzetničkog centra te nakon toga kao direktor MESAP-a, Međimurskog sajma. Poduzetnički centar koji je vodio gospodin Novak jedne je godine proglašen najboljim poduzetničkim centrom u Hrvatskoj. Sada je privatni poduzetnik i svoje znanje kao savjetnik prenosi poduzetnicima, u zadnje vrijeme najviše kroz suradnju na EU projektima. U slobodno vrijeme Marjan Novak svira trubu u Dixieland bandu Čakovec.
Gospodin Antun Horvat jedan je od najuglednijih hrvatskih poduzetnika. Prije 90-tih, 1989. osnovao je svoje poduzeće DOHOMONT d.o.o. koje proizvodi proizvode iz kovanih metala, metalnu galanteriju, ograde i dijelove za ograde. Napornim i upornim radom poduzeće mu je raslo i razvijalo se te sada zapošljava 250 zaposlenika, a većinu svoje proizvodnje izvozi. Zanimljivo je da je 2008. nekoliko desetaka tekstilnih radnica koje su izgubile posao prekvalificirao i sada rade na strojevima za obradu metala u njegovoj tvornici.
Gospoda Novak i Horvat u razgovoru su nam Međimurje predstavili iz poduzetničkog kuta gledanja, čuli smo i jedan vic koji dobro prikazuje marljive i radine Međimurce, razgovarali smo o tome kako to da je jedan kraj koji je prije pedeset godina bio jako siromašan, (Međimurci su tada najviše radili u zagrebačkoj Čistoći i na željeznici), postao izrazito poduzetnički kraj, razgovarali smo i o konkurentnosti na svjetskom tržištu i o tome što nas čeka, kada uđemo u EU. U emisiji smo poslušali i veselu svirku Dixieland banda.
Sada u ovoj teškoj gospodarskoj krizi poduzetnici s kojima razgovaram na HKR-u pokazuju da u Hrvatskoj ima sposobnih i marljivih ljudi koji znaju, hoće i mogu, koji otvaraju nova radna mjesta i izvoze svoje proizvode. Oni svojim primjerom pokazuju smjer u kojem bi Hrvatska trebala ići u svom gospodarskom razvoju.
Emisija je pobudila veliki interes i javilo se mnogo slušatelja s pitanjima i komentarima. Cijelu emisiju, razgovor s međimurskim poduzetnicima možete poslušati na snimci u prilogu.
Croatian Catholic Radio presents entrepreneurs
Once a month, Croatian Catholic Radio broadcasts a live radio show named Arguments on Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m., when I talk to remarkable entrepreneurs in Croatia. On Tuesday February 19th I had interviewed two young entrepreneurs from Zagreb, Ivan Matuna and Danijel Babić. Next month, on March 19th two guests, Marjan Novak and Antun Horvat, came from the Međimurje region.
The young entrepreneurs
Mr. Ivan Matuna is a director and owner of MATUNA Ltd (www.matuna.hr), and Mr. Danijel Babić is a co-owner of BYTE-LAB Ltd company (www.byte-lab.hr). They are both very young – not even 30 years old. So why did I invite these two young men to the show? I invited them because I want to prove that one can find clever, hard-working and brilliant men in Croatia. Such men you know very little about. They cannot be seen in the media, because the media has no interest in them. You cannot see them in reality shows on TV, or popular entertainment shows, partying with celebrities nor arguing in political debates. Unfortunately, the public and the media in Croatia prefer a picture of youth oriented to success without any hard work, without effort, without studying. They favor young businessmen who got rich overnight by means of financial or construction work underhand dealings or import-export trade.
That is the reason why I have chosen to present that “other Croatia” - the creative, smart, honest and diligent Croatia which has focused its creativity, inventiveness and entrepreneurial spirit towards making and exporting new products.
I have to say that I’ve known Ivan and Danijel for a very long time now, since they went to School of Electrical Engineering in Zagreb. This high school is famous for having great professors who offer excellent education and encourage inventiveness in their pupils. Zagreb Technology Park is nearby, so we have always had great collaboration. The best and most talented kids have been awarded scholarships through innovation encouragement projects during their entire schooling, and even when they entered college, most often Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing. When they graduated and earned an engineer diploma, they founded their own companies and became entrepreneurs who worked in Zagreb Technology Park. Ivan and Danijel are outstanding experts and creative innovators. Even in high school, Ivan was one of the best innovators in Zagreb, and won numerous awards in invention exhibitions worldwide, from Kuala-Lumpur, Pittsburgh, London, Moskva, to Zagreb.
We talked about numerous topics regarding their entrepreneurial and business life, about how they started, how and why they chose entrepreneurship, and where they found self-esteem for such an important life decision. We discussed about college education and whether it provided them sufficient knowledge about entrepreneurship, and when entrepreneurship should be learned at school. We also talked how their friends perceived them as entrepreneurs and of course, what their new products and innovations were and how they looked at the future.
The audience found the show particularly interesting, and actively participated by sending text messages or calling on the phone and asked many questions.
You can listen to the interview with the young entrepreneurs in the attached live recording.
Entrepreneurs from the Region of Međimurje
On March 19th I interviewed Mr. Marjan Novak, the director and owner of MANOX Ltd, and Mr. Antun Horvat, director and owner of DOHOMONT Ltd, both located in the region of Međimurje in Croatia.
Međimurje has always been a very entrepreneurship-oriented region, so it fits perfectly into our show. It is the smallest by size, but the most densely populated county in Croatia (apart from Zagreb) with 113.804 inhabitants. There are about 4.300 small and medium size enterprises in the region of Međimurje (craft enterprises included), majority of which are production oriented ones. All these entrepreneurs employ more than 30.000 workers. Unfortunately, this February the Croatia Employment Office registered 8.413 unemployed persons in Međimurje region only, and this number slowly, but constantly rises in entire Croatia.
Međimurje is a beautiful region where hard-working people live. The houses and gardens are full of flower decorations, which earned Međimurje the title of Hortus Croatiae (The Flower Garden of Croatia). An unofficial coat of arms represents one tender Eurasian Collared Dove and a wonderful flower of violet, which says a lot about its people and the entire region. One can tell that people of Međimurje love and take care of their land, their home and families. We should remember the words by our new Pope Francis, who encouraged us to become the guardians of society, values, environment and the Church. And the best way to take care of a society and community is through work and love.
Mr. Marjan Novak has been closely connected with economy and entrepreneurship during his entire working life. First he had worked in an industrial enterprise; afterwards he became a director of Međimurje Entrepreneurial Centre, and then a director of MESAP – Međimurje Entrepreneurial Fair. At the time of Mr. Novak’s management, The Entrepreneurial Centre was awarded as the best entrepreneurial centre in Croatia. Nowadays, Mr. Novak works as a private entrepreneur and an adviser, sharing his knowledge and skills with other entrepreneurs, and co-working on EU projects. In his leisure time, he plays the trumpet in the Dixieland Band Čakovec.
Mr. Antun Horvat is one of the most respectable Croatian entrepreneurs. In 1989 he founded his company DOHOMONT Ltd, which manufactures products from forged metal, metal accessories, fences and their parts. Thanks to hard and persistent work, the company grew and developed, so it currently employs 250 people, and the majority of their products are exported. It is interesting to mention that many textile workers who had lost their jobs in 2008 have gone through professional retraining to work on machines for metal processing in Mr. Novak’s company.
Mr. Novak and Mr. Horvat represented Međimurje from their entrepreneurial point of view. We heard a joke which portrays hardworking and diligent people of Međimurje, we talked about how Međimurje became such a distinctively entrepreneurial region when only fifty years ago it suffered great poverty (most of its inhabitants worked in Zagreb Sanitation Department and in railways). We discussed about being globally competitive, and what we can expect when we join the European Union. In between we listened to the joyful music of the Dixieland Band.
In this serious economic crisis, the entrepreneurs that I have been interviewing on Croatian Catholic Radio have proven that there are many capable, diligent people in Croatia who have great knowledge, determination and skills. They offer new employment and export their products, and they are an example in which direction Croatia’s economic development should move to.
The show aroused great interest for many listeners called, commented and asked questions. The entire interview is available in this attached live recording.
Translated from Croatian by Martina Ožanić
Listen to the interviews (in Croatian): Ivan Matuna and Danijel Babić [MP3] Marjan Novak and Antun Horvat [MP3]
Žene u Hrvatskoj ponekad rade i "muške" poslove
Antun Horvat i njegov Dohomont
Da je direktor Arteferro Dohomonta Antun Horvat moralan poslodavac svjedoči primjer Ivane Andročec (30) iz Goričana. Ivana je majka četvero djece, a kad je rodila svoju najmlađu djecu – danas trogodišnje blizance, nakon dugog rodiljnog dopusta, čekalo ju je radno mjesto. Ivana je superžena: po struci je profesionalna vozačica, radila je kao trgovkinja, a kad je ostala bez posla, objeručke je prihvatila ponudu u HZZ-u i došla u Dohomont:
- U tvrtki sam obučena za posluživanje robota za zavarivanje i ni po čemu taj posao ne doživljavam kao iznimno težak. Oduvijek su me “muška” zanimanja privlačila, a rad s alatima i strojevima jako me zanima. Ne smeta mi ni buka jer se štitim čepovima za uši. Nakon gubitka posla, na Zavodu za zapošljavanje provela sam samo dva mjeseca, a u Dohomontu sam naišla na veliko razumijevanje i podršku kao žena – majka – kaže Ivana Andročec.
Jeste li i u vlastitom domu majstorica za popravke?
- Surpug i ja dijelimo poslove u našem domu. Suprug je po zanimanju varilac, pa se oboje snalazimo i s alatima i s različitim popravcima.
Mr. Marjan Novak is not only a successful entrepreneur, but a fine musician, playing trumpet in the Dixieland Band Čakovec. Photo from Koprivnica.net .
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