Our first business beginnings
PROSTOR - The leader on the Real estate market in Bosnia and Herzegovina
"Gathering is the beginning, sticking together is progress. Working together is success.”- Henry Ford *
Behind every success there is a story that inspires. In order to connect with each other and give meaning to the world around us, we need to experience and accept such stories.
These are not stories about overnight success, or the success that is measured with money or status symbols. These are stories about the ups and downs, struggles and not giving up. The most important thing is to find people who will encourage and inspire you, ones that share values and appreciate working in the same place as you. Every new business venture is hard, unpredictable and carries a lot of risk, so the launch of our company back in 2007 was marked by numerous challenges, especially because our model was significantly different from the previous established way of work for the real estate agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The idea of establishing a real estate agency that would bring to our market a safer, efficient and most professional way of real estate transactions in our country was realized by our director and co-owner of the agency, Maho Taso, together with the partners at the time.
They would say discipline, self-confidence, thinking outside the box, initiative, determination, social skills, but we will also say that there is that "factor x" - something that sets successful people apart.
Through the interview with our director, it is time to remember our beginnings.
-When did you actually want to start a real estate agency?
"Although I spent most of my adult life working for companies whose business was closely related to real estate, the idea of establishing the real estate agency came up after Pelak affair happened, which led the industry to a situation where even more serious agency become suspicious and clients started to avoid agencies. Shortly after that, there was a start of a notary office, which has a secure legal framework for the first time. I realized that it was an ideal moment to try to create a new, more transparent and professional way in real estate mediation. After I shared the idea with some of my friends and they wholeheartedly accepted it from the start, all that remained was to quit the bank I was working for at the time and start the first preparations for the company opening."
-Why did you decide that the first branch should be in Stari Grad municipality?
"Our wish was for the first branch to be located somewhere in a good location in the city center, but fate itself made sure that we started our business in such famous location as the place of the Sarajevo assassination, across the Sarajevo museum and close to the Latin Bridge. My workplace at the time was at HVB-Central Profit bank (now it is UniCredit bank) right across the Europe hotel and right around the corner from the location where our first branch was located. Since a friend of mine often visited his friend, the owner of the photography studio, which was located in the same street, we find out that the owners of the neighboring business premises had just decided to close the clothing store and were looking for tenant. My immediate reaction was to call one of the owners and arrange the meeting with her. That is how “”PROSTOR” got its first place where we will stay for over 15 years."
- What were the very beginnings of the business like, how did the growth go, how many agents did you start working with when you opened the first office?
"Although there were four of us owners in the company, the plan was that only the majority owners will be involved in the company's work at full capacity, so for the first month or two I was alone, and later there were two of us by the end of summer 2008 when we hired our first agent. One of the interesting things related to the beginning of the company was that in the first year out photographer was the owner of the pfotography studio, our first neighbor, through whom we found out about the place in Zelenih Beretki"
-Did you have any difficulties, what were the crucial moments in the process of developing a real estate agency?
"As I mentioned in the first part, the moment which, according to my logic, was ideal for starting something new and different, brought with it a series of challenges. Professional real estate photos, mandatory rough estimate of the market value, and exclusive contracts are just some of the features that have made us stand out in the market from day one. Approach to business, where you need to give a maximum attention to each individual sale and each individual client, required form the day one in addition to constant own engagement, significant investments in human and material resources, which, together with the coming global financial crisis, was a special challenge for all included and especially for us who were then active owners of the company.
Although we were a little bit surprised at how the market accepted us, I would say that the first crucial moment was the opening of branches in the municipalities of Novo Sarajevo and Novi Grad, which significantly "brought us closer" to our clients and made it easier for them to cooperate with us. After that, important development steps for us were certainly taking over the sale of the first new construction projects, while in my opinion, the most important moment for the company happened when the first former employees came into ownership, which ensured the conditions for the further successful development of PROSTOR as a leader in real estate market in Bosnia and Herzegovina. "
- What does success mean to you today, and how did you look at it before you turned the vision of the real estate agency into reality?
"Any career progress, especially when it happens in a foreign country, is a considered a success. This may have been especially true for us, the first generation of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who took our first business step outside our homeland. I remember how proud we all were of each other when we got our first serious jobs ( not counting the student ones, because we all worked while studying) let alone when the progress in our careers had already started for many of us. Still, the success we have achieved together over the past 15 years at PROSTOR are even sweeter to me in some ways, because many of them were pioneering steps in an emerging industry, at least in the form we know it today. Here I would like to single out our work with several generations of young people, who have gone through PROSTOR's "school", and most of whom today either work for serious companies or are business owners in their own real estate agencies. Finally, perhaps the sweetest business success so far is the Law on Mediation in Real Estate Transactions, which we, together with several colleagues from other agencies operating within the Association of Participants in Real Estate Transactions, and with the help of the FBiH Chamber of Commerce, brought to its final adoption at the end of last year , which, together with the parallel adoption of the same law in the RS, created a legal framework for the further development of our industry on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Success must be built step by step, with dedication and passion, it should be approached patiently, with joy, with enthusiasm, with pride. We have always worked as a team, united with the intention that our clients who are facing a major life transition get exactly what they expect. The energy that comes from bringing people together for a common mission motivates each of us individually to give our best in every situation. We enjoy watching our team members progress and grow. We are people-oriented and we are always looking for employees who have a positive attitude and the will to learn and progress.
We consistently maintain our position as a leader in the real estate market in BiH, where we serve through dedication, work ethics, knowledge of the market itself, creative problem-solving skills and achieving results aimed at client satisfaction."