Mr Zuber participated in the debate “Stąd do sukcesu” held on 15 October at the Faculty of Environmental Management and Agriculture of the West Pomeranian University of Technology. The meeting was organized by the National Bank of Poland and explored mainly the subject of financing business activities and the situation of companies during the crisis.

“Poland is not the world leader in terms of the environment for business development, yet the situation is not hopeless,” said Marek Zuber at the meeting with students. In his opinion any idea is good to make money. One’s own business means constant development by gaining new knowledge and overcoming obstacles.

The economist encouraged the students to ask themselves what they would like to change in their neighbourhood, what they are missing. “It could be e.g. a student laundry service. The next stage should be “market analysis”, i.e. we should ask our friends whether they would use such services and after that we should check how much it costs. This is they way in which 90% of companies in the world are established,” said Mr Zuber. The economist advised the young to carefully observe what is happening around them. He said that it is a good idea to have a regular job and then set up one’s own business based on previous experience. Mr Zuber also pointed to the quality of services in our country. “It is still a serious problem. One does not need to think up a brand new business. It is enough to set up a company which will be competitive in terms of quality,” he said.

During the event, stands of the Tax Office, Social Insurance Institution and Academic Business Incubators provided information about the price of running one’s own business and how to avoid excessive expenditures.

“We should not start with buying good cars or pricy telephones, if we don’t have financial liquidity. Why not considering public transport as a means to get to the work at the beginning,” said Katarzyna Korpolewska, a business psychologist. In the opinion of Ms Korpolewska, to run one’s own company one needs more commitment than diligence. “If one was previously involved in organization of trips or student events, they should be great with managing business,” she said.

The meeting also dealt with the ways of financing one’s business. Experts pointed to the growing significance of the New Connect market which matches people with ideas and rather slim wallets with institutions that could finance such ideas. In their opinion, one should not bother too much about the crisis.

“It’s a good time for small companies. Crisis means confusion and a time when the largest companies seem to have feet of clay,” said Marek Zuber.

The conference was participated by roughly 200 students and graduates of higher education institutions in Szczecin as well as secondary school students from the region. It was organized by the National Bank of Poland and Polska Fundacja Społeczeństwa Przedsiębiorczego (Polish Foundation for Enterprising Society) and the West Pomeranian University of Technology. The debates were hosted by Joanna Osińska of TVP Info.

(ptr)