🥈 Thrilling Update! IMP PUMPS proudly clinches the second spot among small and medium-sized Slovenian enterprises for EBITDA, as recognized by Podjetna Slovenija Magazine.
This achievement ignites our pride and drives us towards even greater triumphs. Massive applause to our exceptional team and partners for their pivotal contributions!
🎉🚀 Check out the interview with IMP PUMPS’ owner and CEO, Mr. Damir Popović, in the same magazine:
GN: Did you believe that you would be this successful when you decided to purchase IMP PUMPS?
DP: I believed that it was possible to do better than what was in place before my acquisition. I believed that the company’s boundaries were relatively “limitless,” considering its current size and the overall market size.
GN: What has had the biggest impact on the company’s growth and success: sustainability trends, the “automotive” operational organization of the company, or something else?
DP: During growth, numerous factors must align at a given moment. The greatest contribution came from our persistence in exceptional development, fanatic commitment to quality, market diversification, and above-average responsiveness. All of this was aided by an organization based on methods from the automotive industry and continuous personnel efforts. Sustainable trends prompted the world to restructure. Many companies recognized our hard work in the mentioned areas.
GN: What’s been the best entrepreneurial decision in the last 3 years?
DP: Consciously increasing the inventory of raw materials.
GN: What are your plans for the next 3 years?
DP: To build the company and employees as one would build a family.
GN: What’s your goal for company growth?
DP: Average growth of 20% per year.
GN: Do you already know who will succeed you in the company?
DP: I wish for it to be my son.
GN: What would you be doing if you weren’t an entrepreneur?
DP: I would be a jazz musician and a writer.
GN: Which woman has helped you the most in business and how?
DP: My spouse is the best organizer I’ve encountered in life. She is a sensitive person for working with people while being a very strict production expert.
GN: What should Slovenia do to catch up with the most developed countries faster?
DP: Slovenia should follow its own path and focus on finished products and its own brands as much as possible. However, the current structure of the Slovenian industry is not conceived this way, as it largely produces components for other finished products (supply chain). As such, it will never catch up with the most developed, as the products it makes in this way compete with low-cost countries. It’s quite simple to say that we need to create products with higher added value. There are excellent companies with a lot of knowledge in what they do and they have no other option but to do what they know. They need the state’s help for actual restructuring, as they won’t be able to do it on their own. Just look at examples like Adient and Magna. What is the reason for their departure? How many such companies are still in Slovenia?
GN: What has been the biggest obstacle for you in Slovenia in recent years?
DP: Uncertainty regarding legislation with the arrival of a new government.
GN: What has helped you the most?
DP: The very good state of Slovenian banks has helped us the most.
GN: Do you have a good suggestion for a better entrepreneurial environment? Which one would you choose as the most important?
DP: The first thing is undoubtedly the issue of labor shortage in Slovenia. We need to get used to becoming a multinational and multiethnic environment, just like practically all European countries. The procedures for obtaining work permits for foreigners are unacceptably lengthy. The goal should be to obtain a work permit within 15 days. The second thing is the burden on wages and the general issue of raising the minimum wage, which is set so high that our GDP per capita cannot withstand it or afford it. This is a very serious issue that would require a lot of debate and is connected to one of the previous answers related to the structure of the Slovenian industry. How will such a government strategy survive?
GN: Where or when do you regenerate best?
DP: While reading and playing music.
GN: Do you ever regret dedicating so much of your life to entrepreneurship?
DP: I don’t regret it because, from my perspective, entrepreneurship can be very creative, and that’s what excites me.
