Ilijević (Sentimental Bikes): I do not think too much about instant success, I think about future projects

That it is easier to work when the job is created from a hobby, fun, and love for aesthetics is daily proven by Duško Ilijević, the founder and creative director of SentiMental Bikes. By profession, an educator who stands behind the vintage motorized bicycles from Daruvar, he emphasized in a conversation with Lider’s journalist Jozo Knez less than five years ago that he ‘strives to show the domestic public that it is indeed possible to live from working with one’s hands’.

And since then, he shows this every day. Because from the SentiMental Bikes factory today come completely Croatian, unique, and handmade bicycles. With the configurator option on their website, clients can design their vehicle (from model, tires, sticker design, lights… all the way to color shades), and each bicycle is assembled by hand. Bicycle parts are manually produced in a family factory in Dežanovac near Daruvar, at Ilijević’s colleague and partner Ivan Ignatovski‘s place, while finished bicycles are assembled and delivered at the facility in Daruvar.

How did it all start?

Unlike those who started in a garage, this story began from an apartment and, as it sometimes happens, without a plan for entrepreneurship. It was not, says Ilijević, his primary goal, but came as a natural consequence of what he was doing. Namely, it all started with a desire for a vehicle – a motorized bicycle – on which he would enjoy riding.

– Given that I do not have a category A driver’s license, and at that time I did not have a garage and had to be able to store my vehicle in my apartment on the 12th floor of a skyscraper, the technical limits were set by themselves. It was very important to me that the final product be in symbiosis with the driver, that the motorized bicycle itself, but also with the driver, be a visual aesthetic whole – Ilijević recounted.

After his own ‘prototype’, ideas started coming to him on their own! However, what was lacking was the courage to dive into a larger project.

– However, in that process, I created something that another person wanted to buy, and entrepreneurship happened, and the game turned into a business. For many years, I balanced between entrepreneurship and play, and I only started making bicycles for customers after detailed consultations, with countless details, and each was unique, and thus my own fun – said Ilijević.

And when he gathered enough knowledge and was ready to move to a higher level, with the help of investor Ignatovski, who is now the company’s CEO, SentiMental Bikes developed into what it is today. The company was launched with its own funds, and initially, while SentiMental was a small workshop, bicycles were created in agreement with the client, and the sale of each bicycle financed the survival of the workshop.

It does not go without challenges

However, given that the aforementioned ‘workshop’ was located on the 12th floor of a Zagreb skyscraper, and consisted of a balcony and the living room of the apartment where Ilijević lived at the time, he does not mention finances as the biggest challenge at the beginning, but logistics.

– Given that the first bicycle I made for my own needs already raised the question of where to produce that contracted bicycle/moped from the first order for a client, which was also the only obstacle, as creativity and persistence took care of the rest – said Ilijević.

Thus, logistical concerns remained in the past because a few years later they have over 1300m2 of production space in their hometown of Daruvar, which provides them with all the conditions for their current production needs.

However, entrepreneurship would not be entrepreneurship without constant challenges. But today they are somewhat different, says Ilijević. Instead of logistics, today’s challenges are more serious and in line with brand development – mainly related to the placement and distribution of products.

– Customers ‘design’ SentiMental bicycles through the configurator on our website, which allows them to input part of their personality and receive a completely personalized product, but this means that our workers manually adjust, paint, and assemble each individual bicycle. Therefore, having enough hands ready for assembly, when more orders and sales start, is the first challenge. The second challenge is related to distribution within our business plan, which is oriented towards the F2C (factory to customer) relationship, meaning that the bicycle is sent directly from the factory to the customer’s home address. Also, we are already gathering smaller boutique stores with lifestyle and cycling products into our SentiMental family, which allow potential customers to experience our bicycles firsthand. Thus, creating that network of showcase stores in the European Union is one of the current challenges. However, the previous positive experiences with the first orders from Praline and Noogata, as well as the support and help of everyone involved in our story from the very beginning, give us faith that these challenges will also be naturally surmountable like all those before them, when the time comes for them – emphasized Ilijević.

And although we cannot say that there are no bicycles on the market or that no one has worked on similar products so far, Ilijević proudly points out that they do not have many competitors. Because, although there are companies that make urban lifestyle bicycles of smaller dimensions that have dominated the market for several years, these are big players like the American Super 73, the German Ruff Cycles, and thus SentiMental with its personalized offer is not in the same category as them, he says.

Focus on new ideas

By the way, the company recently presented its bicycles at the world cycling fair in Frankfurt, which is attended by invitation from the organizers. There, among more than 1,900 exhibitors from 62 countries, says Ilijević, they once again confirmed that they have a unique product. For him, participating in the fair was the realization of a dream, while it created many new opportunities for their business considering that the electric bicycle market is a large global community, which is why they primarily target the EU market, but also much wider.

– We received quite a number of sympathizers who curiously follow the development of the brand and the company, which are turning into first clients as sales began right after returning from Germany – explained Ilijević.

And although for many, at the moment when the business starts, the idea of selling becomes tempting, and although there have been such cases, the future of SentiMental Bikes still seems to be in Daruvar because as long as there are their own ideas and goals they want to achieve, Ilijević does not want to take such a step.

– Just like with entrepreneurship, I do not think too much about instant success and excessive profit, I think about the design and details of future projects. In the future, we will certainly expand the offer and launch new models on the market, perhaps with more options. During the pandemic, we were forced to slow down the development of the electric moped and another electric bicycle, but they will certainly appear in the future. Besides them, there are sketches and some beginnings of prototypes for two more very interesting models. I am curious to see how our ball of yarn will unravel, for now, I am sure that with this team we can go far – concluded Ilijević.