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Home  Success Stories An Entrepreneur’s Path to Success |
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An Entrepreneur’s Path to Success |
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“Hoti” & “Green Power” L.L.C.
Product: Fuels (diesel, kerosene), Bitumen, Electric Power
Location: Gjakove, Kosovo
BSCK Support: 7 Weeks of Training
With his entrepreneurial spirit, Besmir Grezda is about to introduce one of the biggest investments in Kosovo in the fields of recycling and alternative fuels
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After the initial idea to open a laundry service, Besmir changed direction completely to develop the mineral industry in Kosovo and recycling of waste products
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Besmir Grezda was in his second year of studies at the Faculty of Economics in Prishtina when he learned about the opportunity of attending trainings offered by the Business Start-up Centre Kosovo (BSCK). Knowing that to attend the trainings offered by BSCK, Besmir had to come with an innovative idea, initially coming up with the idea of a self-service laundry, a business that does not exist in Kosovo. With this idea, he gained entry into the Business Idea Competition and was rewarded 10 weeks of free training.
Although Besmir was a student of Economics he realized that attending the 10 different modules were of great importance to him, actually learning and training in unfamiliar areas of business.BSCK trainings helped Besmir transform his business ideas into reality. He was provided assistance in all aspects of developing the business, including creating a business plan, developing management and marketing strategies, and getting knowledge on human resources and entrepreneurship.
On how the trainings helped Besmir to get sufficient knowledge on starting a business, he remembers a comment from one of his trainers,
“You are different from those who have an undergraduate degree because they are taught how to do a certain thing and you are trained to do the same thing.
After acquiring several skills on Business Plan Writing and Business Skills Trainings, Besmir was one of the ten winners of Business Plan Competition. With this, he had the privilege of receiving micro-finance assistance designed for start-ups, free registration of the business and 100 hours of free consultancy to make his business sustainable. As he was still working on his bachelor’s degree, he decided not to start his business before completing studies.
Following a one year research on Mineralogy (Mining and Minerals in Kosovo and
Albania
), in July 2008 Besmir decided to start his own business, named “Hoti” Company. His business has been certified for exportation of different minerals such as silica, chrome and zinc to
Western Europe
. Next to this, he signed some agreements with companies that deal with exploitation of minerals and immediately started exporting of Kosovo’s and Albania’s minerals into
Western Europe
, especially to Benelux Countries.
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Besmir Greda’s second business idea is the production of bio-fuels from waste, an idea that is just starting to take hold in Kosovo today and takes advantage of a renewable product
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Even though “Hoti” Company turned out to be a great success, it was not enough to keep Besmir satisfied, as he had bigger ideas in mind. Knowing that in Kosovo that recycling of garbage and unused products is still in its infancy, he began to research and see how this industry has been developed in Western Europe and the
US
. At the end, he preferred the idea of starting a recycling business without selection of materials to be recycled, which in turn will produce synthetic diesel. In October of this year, Besmir got in touch with a manufacturer from the United States and agreed to implement a 360 million Euro-Project based on this type of recycling, with use of the most advanced technology. This project will fall under Besmir’s second Company, namely “Green Power”. To better understand how this idea is innovative and how much this project is welcome, the founder of this technology has received a ‘Gold Medal’ for alternative energy in
Chicago, Illinois
. By implementing this project, Kosovo will benefit in various aspects such as lowering fuel exports up to 80%, reduction of waste around the country, producing of 15 megawatt electric power, and taxes remitted back to the municipalities up to 750,000 Euro per year. What more, Besmir signed a contract with the manufacturer of this industry and agreed that “Green Power” to be the licensed holder in the Balkans.
Now, “Green Power” has tapped institutional support from various institutions in Kosovo such as Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, Ministry of Energy and Mining, and Ministry of Trade and Industry. A large show of support until now came from the
Municipality
of
Gjakova
, providing 0.66 ha of land for use up to 50 years. Green Power is now in the process of signing agreements with the government of Kosovo about the project and Kosovo’s Prime Minister has promised full support for this project.
Besmir also organized a conference in
Albania
on how to attract local partners about this project. Hearing about this, the Prime Minister of Albania, Sali Berisha was enthused about the project and promised his full support.
This project eventually will employ up to 1,000 people, composed of experts in various fields and will be sent to
U.S.
to be trained on production processes.
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July 2010 |
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