Ljubomir Jelić: EU Funds Are the Only Area That Has Not Stalled

Consulting firms, as well as the entire economy, are facing changes brought about by the crisis. How to confront the new situation is discussed by Ljubomir Jelić, owner of Jelić Consulting, who identifies problems in the conversation with Lider but also offers solutions not only for his clients but for all business entities.

What do clients ask of you during this crisis period?

– A major problem for them in recent years has been finding quality personnel, and anyone who values their employees has put in significant effort to create competitive staff that they are now trying to retain. Across the country, we cover the area of developing tourism projects, the manufacturing industry, information and communication technologies, research and development projects, innovations, agriculture, winemaking, projects in the food industry… and we see that large, micro, and small enterprises are coping differently with the new situation.

In what sense?

– A major problem in Croatia is the focus on current issues, leaving no time for further development, which is evident from the level of investment by our entrepreneurs in research and development projects. Moreover, in this situation, many entrepreneurs have utilized our services in preparing documentation for government support, not because it is currently necessary, but out of fear of the unknown – they do not know what tomorrow will bring. Given that our core business is the preparation and implementation of projects funded by EU funds, it was necessary to inform clients about the availability of measures amidst a forest of new regulations, which quickly emerged with a series of changes, further burdening all of us who provide consulting services. Especially since we know that EU funds are currently the only area that has not stalled; on the contrary, considering that we work the most on them, I can say that it has even intensified.

Do companies need to implement crisis management?

– We do not have a so-called state crisis management system modeled after Germany and other Western European countries. Namely, financial aid is only a short-term measure that, unfortunately, has a shelf life, and therefore we must gather the best experts from various fields into a body responsible for early crisis detection and providing expert assistance to preserve prosperous branches, while financial help would only be provided to companies that need restructuring.

I believe that such situations will occur more frequently in the future, and therefore we must learn right now how important crisis management is and establish a mechanism within each company. Unfortunately, risk management is not part of our business culture, and this will definitely open a new area and a significant challenge for us consultants.

You also provide services in the field of business consulting, finance, and education. How is your business performing?

– Jelić Consulting has grown by 124 percent in the last three years based on revenue achieved, and in these seven years since we started operating, we have implemented more than 160 projects worth 1.5 billion kuna, and we have over 250 clients, from small and medium to large enterprises. We believed in ourselves and built our own staff who have become top consultants, and we can confidently say that we have become a real small incubator from which strong experts in the field of EU funds emerge. Within the company, we have formed our own human capacity development, and every new employee undergoes internal training because it is still almost impossible to find ready-made personnel.

How did you utilize the crisis?

– We strive to become a paperless company, successfully going through this transition, and today we have many more satisfied employees who can track and measure their performance at any moment. We have implemented JK Wiki – our own ‘encyclopedia’ that will contain all the questions and answers we encounter in our daily business. With this, we aim to create a base for future generations going through the learning process, so they can find answers to any of their questions from anywhere and at any time without involving a mentor. Thanks to the label of a reliable partner, we have not felt the consequences in terms of newly contracted jobs, but we will certainly, like everyone else, feel the problem of illiquidity, for which we have prepared in time.

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