Below is a Q&A session with Sinisa Rudan, the founder and owner of Magic Wand Solutions Studio, an IT consultancy and outsourcing company. Sinisa is also the multimedia editor of InfoM, a journal of information technology and multimedia systems.
Sinisa has been heavily involved in GEW, both globally and in his home country Serbia. His main contribution was creating an amazing quiz for entrepreneurs. The quiz was launched as part of GEW and is available at http://www.magicheads.info/preduzetnopolis in Serbia, English and Spanish.

What do you do at Magic Wand Solutions – what is the business?

Magic Wand Solutions (http://www.magicwandsolutions.com) is an IT studio, with expertise in offering innovative IT solutions (Information systems, Web/CD presentations, Internet marketing campaigns), driven by everyday research, enriched with multimedia approach. We are also developing our own online business ideas and finding ways to make those ideas appeal to investors and customers. We like to bring the stuff that is new from the technological point of view or/and is attractive visually or in its purity as an idea.

Small and medium business is highly influenced by the interests of its owner and that is the best of it, because you still control it. In my case, I come with scientific research background and inclination to Arts, thus my business is driven by that.

When was this launched?

Magic Wand Solutions Studio (in further text MWS) was officially registered at the beginning of 2007 but existed several years before.

Was it difficult to set up?

In my case, it was not. As I said, the set up was just formalizing my business that was already going on. Actually, opening the business is not the hard part, keeping it from closing is the difficult one! So what you mostly should think of is when the right moment to do it is. IT people can go on without official company, just as a freelancer, and when you feel the shortages of it, that is the moment.

Also to add, Serbian administration regulative relative to entrepreneurship is not complicated.

Who did you get support from?

We were not looking for any (official) help to set us up, but we got support and advice from our business partners, mostly the company Diyomisoft. The help from partners is the most appreciated one, because they have usually already passed the way you are stepping on.

How successful is the business?

We are very excited with the results we made up. We have partners and clients in several countries in the world and we are intensively growing right now. Not just that we have clients that bring us profit, but they bring us excitement and make us proud of projects we put in our portfolio.

Tell us about the quiz you created for GEW Serbia?

In cooperation with Sasa Rudan and his HeadsWare studio and "Budi svoj čovek" (the host of GEW Serbia), we have developed an online viral campaign EntreprenePolis (http://www.magicheads.info/entreprenepolis) in the form of creative multimeda quiz-game. The game is in the process of continual development and new illustrations and questions are being added. It is being translated to English and Spanish to be widely accessible.

Designers on the project: Dragana Nikolic, Boris Stanimirovic and Tamara Djuric
Ideas team and GEW Serbia representative: Jelena Kaurin

Translator: Bojana Djuric

What is the quiz’s purpose?

For the first time young people have the opportunity, by playing the game and based on their knowledge, to gain and promote a sense of the successful entrepreneur.
Players win the badge 'Entrepreneur Outfit Certified by GEW', which is created through the game playing; the badge that shows their avatars stylized by their answers.
By placing the badge on their personal or company presentations, blogs, social networks, they define themselves as a part of GEW, becoming virtually certified and they promote GEW and participate in the contest.

How does it help entrepreneurs?

By playing the entrepreneur creates his passport for even richer continuation of the trip through EntreprenePolis during upcoming years. Thus, our aim is in creating GEW online community and the sense of beeing the part of GEW movement through out the year. It helps GEW too: the GEW is finished in the offline world, but by this campaign we extend the awarness of it.

What do you think about Global Entrepreneurship Week – how does it help aspiring entrepreneurs?

What can entrepreneurs get out of it?

I see two big challenges that GEW adresses and that we also try to address with the GEW viral campaining:

Entrepreneurship is not always easy-going and you need the sense of being the part of a bigger community. Networking in general gives great push to businesses.

Secondly, people that try to enter entrepreneurship need some encouragment from the experienced ones.

What are the challenges for young entrepreneurs?

People keep talking of problems and challenges, but after all, the biggest challenge is a good idea, good product or good service. If you do have it, customers come to you, partners come to you; other ideas come from the first one. You will admit that these are not the challenges that entrepreneur would run from. Thus, a challenge is not to rush out with the bad idea - it is much easier to throw away some sketches, than the whole business already started.

What advice would you give aspiring entrepreneurs?

Before you start your business, create a good team. Team of enthusiasts – enthusiasm is needed in entrepreneurship more than in any other kind of business. Also, to be successful and to enjoy your days, and that’s the reason you are an entrepreneur (Right?), don’t always be calculated; instead of a reason-driven approach, practice the Hearth-driven business: do projects you feel good about and clients will feel your passion! And to be able do it from the heart, choose the business you love!

What sort of opportunities are there for entrepreneurs in Serbia?

I could talk mostly about the IT field, but because of the position of Serbia and labor force of a great quality here are great opportunities for outsourcing of various types. We also have creative people that are multidisciplinary educated and experienced, thus being good base for integrating complex projects here.

How could this be improved?

More practice is needed during studying. Also, at least one electoral subject of management/finance at studies for those who want to be their own bosses.

And most of all, more successful stories of the entrepreneurs, to bring the faith to the people!

tags: profile