Believe in your idea and be willing to take a risk!

Elisabeth Mayer: “Make quick corrections – don’t wait until your business goes bust.”

– Being able to spot an opportunity and be willing to take the risk to realize it is key, says Elisabeth who always knew that she wanted to become a business owner.
– With a family of entrepreneurs, it was completely natural for me to want to set up my own company – it was only a matter of finding the right idea and the right time.

Combine your passion with the needs of the market

The same thinking guided Elisabeth in selling parts of her Hungarian assets, and move to a new high-growth country: Montenegro.

– When the downturn of the Hungarian economy began, I felt that there were more interesting places for me. Croatia was already too “crowded” business-wise. So I first spent some months in Bulgaria, evaluating different opportunities. But corruption seemed too heavy and I continued my European road trip along the Albanian coast, finally ending up in Montenegro.

Given its booming tourism and property markets, Montenegro offered many business opportunities and Elisabeth decided to open up a couple of companies within real-estate.

– But starting up a business isn’t all about the money. Everything you do, you should do with passion and love. Making money is always a good side effect, but there should also be something
else, says Elisabeth, who is clear about what has always motivated her.

– The independence and creative freedom to make my own strategic decisions – and to be completely responsible for them – is invaluable to me. Spending every day in an office, taking
orders from somebody is totally against my nature! So even though having more money is great, it is even more important not having to stick to given borders.

Listen to yourself, not to others

Starting up a new venture is always a risk and Elisabeth tells of sleepless nights with uncertainty as to whether or not things would work out. But to her, risk-taking is also part of the charm.

– Of course starting your own business means that you have less stability and you have to be prepared to lose. But I never wanted stability. To me, it has always been interesting to take
the risk – without doing so, you can’t win.

But there are ways to reduce risk. Elisabeth has always had the ability to identify good opportunities; she has built a strong personal network in the region; and she follows her own intuition rather than listening to others.

– It’s important to believe in your idea and to have the drive to realize it. Whenever I forgot to listen to my intuition and let myself be convinced to do something else, it always turned out to be a bad decision.

Flexibility and optimism help deal with challenges

Elisabeth’s major challenge has been to manage the difficulties of doing business in post-communist countries, including finding good staff . She’s convinced that a person’s attitude is what
creates success or failure.

– Your approach is always important. When your attitude is positive, problems will get solved – with a negative attitude, negative things will happen to you. Even my toughest challenges have turned out to be great learning experiences. I’ve always had a trust in fate and that all works out in the end – I’m convinced that this has helped me a lot.

Another success factor is flexibility

– In this global market, you have to be prepared to move to where the opportunities are. You can’t be too locked into one specific market or life situation. You need to be able to make decisions – and to make them quickly.

But flexibility is also one of the great advantages of being self-employed.

– Many people have this idea that they need to be in one location, just because their main business or property is there. I’m based in Montenegro, but I also manage my other businesses from here. As a company owner you have much greater flexibility in organizing your life the way you want it.

Business and country development hand in hand

Elisabeth’s next business ventures include a project within agriculture and one to promote a better business environment – both underdeveloped areas in Montenegro.

– When living and doing business in a country, it’s important to give something back. Targeting these business opportunities also means that I can help to develop the country I currently live in.

Looking back at her 15 years as a business owner, Elisabeth summarizes her experiences as both challenging and rewarding.

– Being self-employed has meant that I’ve had to work harder than I ever did as an employee – but it has been well worth it. Today I can combine my business interests with doing the right thing in a market. I have a great network in place to support me, and I only do things that I feel truly passionate about.

Elisabeth’s advice to the business owner

• Identify future needs of the market.
• Trust in yourself and believe in what you do – a good sales person can sell anything.
• Be concrete and clear about the essence of your business.
• Do the ground work and be focused on your goal.
• Believe in a positive outcome and a good future.
• Work with peolpe with attitudes similar to your own – stay clear of the “bubble-talkers”.
• Evaluate the risk and be realistic – when you fly high you fall deep!

MONTEREAL D.o.o. was founded in 2007 and is located in Tivat on the Montenegrin coast. The company does property development and focuses on restoration of original stone houses.