Elvez, d.o.o.

Badges from the basement 

The beginnings of Elvez date back to the 1980s, when Marjan Petrič, the founder and Manager, started pursuing afternoon crafts in addition to his regular job. He converted his family garage to a workshop, bought a machine and began producing badges. Later on, he imported a wire cutting machine from Germany and extended his production to making simple cable harnesses. “We began as a family business in the garage and basement. Then we slowly started to employ others, while expanding the workshop,” explains Marjan's daughter Simona, Director of the company. Due to the success of the crafts, Marjan left his regular job to become self-employed, and at the end of 1991 he established Elvez.

An important milestone followed two years later, when they acquired part of the business premises and production range of Iskra Videomatika, a company that had gone bankrupt. They left their original working environment in Višnja Gora, and in 1998 moved their entire production to Ljubljana. Here they extended production from simple cable harnesses to the manufacture of technically demanding plastic products. In 2007, they built a plant in their hometown and returned to new office and production facilities in Višnja Gora. Over the years they have recorded growth and received two Gazelle awards for therapid growing companies. In 2013, they set up their own research and development department. Their successful performance in recent years was recognized in 2014 with Simona Petrič’s nomination for the Slovenian Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Fifteen new jobs in a single month 

The core of their family business remains manufacturing, involving technologically demanding processes and products. Currently, the majority of revenue comes from the plastics program, although the combination of the two production programs has its benefits in terms of market and customers. Their customers are mainly from the automotive, electrical and mechanical industries, but also from the home appliances sector. So far they have not manufactured their own complete, finished products; instead, they make components for finished products, the majority of which are exported to foreign markets. This year they recorded almost 25% growth in revenues and expect to generate EUR16.5 million of revenue by the year end, compared to EUR13 million recorded in 2014. “We learn, grow and upgrade our technology on a regular basis,” says Simona, explaining their rapid growth. “This year, in just one month, we hired 15 new employees and now employ a total of 165. 

From blue collar to a managerial post 

“Family businesses are considered the most reliable. We are a family business, and this is our life and work,” describes Simona. The management of the company is currently composed of her as Director and her father, the Acting Managing Director. Although he is already retired, he remains very active. “As our company has already outgrown the framework of a family business in Slovenia, we are aware that we are in need of additional key managerial staff. It is very difficult in today's environment to attract people to a family business who will invest as much of their effort and commitment in the company, as do the family members. Expectations of the owners are high, as people have an excellent opportunity that may not be available to them elsewhere,” says Simona confidently.

“A family business is a project for life. Through the generations, family members jointly create history; both that of the family and the company. Because family and business roles are so closely intertwined, it is sometimes difficult to avoid slight differences of opinion here and there,” frankly admits Marjan, who has from the very beginning ensured his children's involvement in the business. His son Borut always had a remarkable talent for technical science and over the years also developed excellent sales skills. He had enormous potential and was very committed to the company. After his father's retirement, he took over the leadership and had many plans for the family business. Then, unexpectedly and suddenly, the family lost him at a time when they were making plans to build a new plant and the foundations had already been set. Despite the loss of a key family member and colleague, the father and daughter team managed to join efforts to build the plant, and despite the economic crisis, which began in 2009, successfully steered the business forward.

Simona has been active in the family business since she was 13 and has worked and gained experience from all the different business areas of the company, from production to management. “Those were the key years during which I gained experience and accumulated knowledge so that today, both management and ownership of the family business are that much easier to bear,” she explains. “Ownership is first and foremost an exceptionally large responsibility and can also be a burden. The key factor for further development is how successfully the next generation will be integrated. Safety is first and must be guaranteed,” she says, explaining the generational difference between those who have grown with the company and those who join subsequently. “In a family business, the young generation should learn from the experience of their seniors, while exercising a modern business approach,” adds Simona. 

A few years ago Borut's children Rebeka and Marcel began to get involved. Starting work  in administration and marketing, Rebeka familiarized herself with various functions, to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the company and the business. “You realize that you have this great opportunity to enter the adult environment in a family business, which I would not have anywhere else. In addition, the family is there, offering their full support whilst I am learning about different aspects of the business,” she explains. Marcel is mostly interested in the technical fields of production and quality. While he is a musician at heart, and a talented one at that, he strives to balance his love of music with his business aspirations. He is aware that there is much in life he needs to learn and the family business provides a great opportunity. Borut’s partner Regina is also involved and over the years Marjan’s wife Ana has provided her unwavering support, although she has pursued her own professional career elsewhere. 

Small steps towards development of their own technology 

In 2003 and 2006 Elvez was nominated for Gazelle awards and the second nomination won them the title for Central Slovenia and the award of a Silver Gazelle. The company is actively growing and in doing so, faces sizable challenges. These are met by a strong team, with  the greatest burden falling on the management, as the director explains: “Training the right team of colleagues is essential. We began with small steps in our development, but have made great strides and are currently at the stage where we are planning our own technology. Today, this is the main chance for success. When you fail to invest sufficient assets into furthering knowledge, in-house development and continuous advancement of the business, products and processes, the resulting added value is much too low.” 

Old school for the new generation

“I feel a large degree of responsibility to my successors, because I know that in addition to the succession, they will have to assume a significant amount of worries and responsibilities,” says Marjan, sharing his thoughts about transfer of the family business to the new generation. They hope that the young generation is interested and strong enough to take on this challenge and successfully adapt to it. In the future they plan to invest heavily in knowledge and cutting-edge technology. Most of the products the company manufactures are aimed at the automotive industry, and the family members are actively improving their own skills while looking for closer integration with external academic institutions.

Simona summarizes her thoughts: “While working, it is possible to exploit the best knowledge and experience. We learn while working and we also learn through mistakes. So we need to safeguard against major mistakes that could significantly jeopardize the business. I have been told that the way to ensure progress is to make small steps. We never took risks or did stupid things that could jeopardize the existence of the company. This is how I was brought up and I believe that it is the right philosophy, so we follow it closely.”