"Building a self-managing company is the key to success." - Dušan Tašin

Every October, the Conference of Students of the Faculty of Organizational Sciences (KSON Conference) is held in Zlatibor, covering a certain topic from the field of management and IT. This year, the topic of the tenth consecutive conference was "Aim for the Top". It gave students the opportunity to meet great speakers from large corporations, but also brave individuals who have chosen the path of entrepreneurship.

This year, our CEO Dušan Tašin attended the conference and participated in the panel "How to Start Off Your Career: Corporations vs Entrepreneurship”.

Dušan has started three successful companies and been part of many different projects. He was also part of a few student organizations during his university years. At the panel, he spoke from his unique entrepreneurial perspective and shared his career path with the students. Other participants included Jelena Kanjuh (Communications Specialist at Elixir Group), Dragan Milić (Key Account Manager at Les Grands Chais de France) and Lazar Krstić (Founder of tradiconalizam.rs and Product Designer at DEVersity). The discussion moderator was Stefan Krstović.

After a brief introduction and presentation of TerraCore Technologies, Dušan was asked about the most striking difference between entrepreneurship and the corporate world. He answered:

"I can't really compare a corporate career with entrepreneurship or working in a small company because I've never been part of a big corporation, but I think everyone who wants to dabble in entrepreneurship should know that, in the very beginning, you probably won’t know a lot about your chosen field. You must be willing to adapt and do your best, especially if you don’t have the financial support and the ability to hire a lot of people at the very start.

When starting a new business, my end goal is always to build a company that can manage itself; a system that can function on its own. I have a bad example in my own family, and I have seen what it looks like when the entire business depends on one single person. On the other hand, at TerraCore Technologies, we like to think we are somewhere between a corporation and a startup. We are trying to create a company that will function without any of its managers, including myself.

We hire people we can trust, hard workers who know how to do their jobs. We give our team members the space to think creatively and come up with their own ideas. We let managers lead their teams in the way they think is best. After a while, we analyze the results and make changes if needed. So far, this has worked great for us. Also, it works better for me personally because it allows me to spend less time dealing with operational matters and more time to do my research, keep informed on industry trends and make strategic choices for the future.

As for money, the corporate world has strict limitations, but if you’re an entrepreneur ready to put in the work, the sky's the limit! It is certainly much harder in the beginning because it takes a lot of work and sacrifice, but if you have the drive and the motivation to be an entrepreneur, you will learn to enjoy the process and all the challenges it entails.”

Much like Dušan, many other TerraCore employees have experienced student organizations firsthand. We really appreciate volunteer work and value every effort invested in personal development.

"Every student should benefit from the opportunity to volunteer in a student organization, especially at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences. When you’re a student, you have a lot of free time and volunteer work is one of the best ways to use it! Later in life, as your to-do lists get longer, you begin to realize how much free time you actually had when you were younger. That’s why I always tell students to use this time wisely and join a student organization, apply for an internship or work on their own business ideas.

The Faculty of Organization Sciences offers a wide variety of student organizations, and you might need some time to find the one that best fits your needs and interests. Same goes for the business world – it is only natural to change projects and companies before you find something you really enjoy. Use your time at these organizations to meet people and make connections, because one day they might offer you a job or become your friends for life.

Each of these organizations is a company for itself. In each one of them, there are different departments, including logistics, marketing, and sales. These are the same departments you will find in the business world. Anything you learn in a student organization will certainly help you when you start your first job."

Conferences such as KSON mean a lot to students. Dušan had three important pieces of advice for them:

1. Done is better than perfect - “People often work too hard on an idea and spend too much time on trying to make it perfect. Only when they launch a product or service do they realize that their idea of perfect is not the same as the consumer’s idea of perfect, the latter being much more important. No matter what your idea is, you will have to work on perfecting it after you launch it, so start small. Work on the first version and develop it up to 50% of the end goal. Then, listen to the market’s feedback and create a plan for further development. "

2. Take risks - “I am always in favor of a calculated risk! Don’t be afraid of risking it, especially when you are young. Great things come to those who are brave enough to take risks. No matter which problem you’re facing, you’ll solve it better if you throw yourself at the heart of it than if you try to manage it from afar.”

3. Keep it cool - “This is one of my life mottos. When you’re a student, the only thing you can waste is time and you have more than enough of it."

In the end, Dušan shared how proud he is of his three self-managing companies that allow him to spend time with his biggest source of inspiration and motivation - his family. 

Many thanks to the FON Student Union (Savez Studenata FON-a) for the invite and for recognizing Dušan and the work of TerraCore Technologies as a relevant source of information and motivation for the students. As always, our company will continue to encourage student activism and support the work of student organizations in any way we can.