Senad Mulabdic from Zivinice, with his desire to stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), bought a biscuit factory last year, which he saved from closing. During the coronavirus pandemic, he managed to preserve existing jobs and even hired new workers.
Twenty-nine-year-old Senad Mulabdic from Zivinice is one of those young men who never dreamed of leaving BiH. Although he had a certain opportunity to leave the country in which he was born, he still decided to create his most payable part of life in Zivinice.
Fearlessly, in the midst of the pandemic, he took his courage in August last year, and, with the help of his parents, bought the biscuit factory that was about to shut down. Its products called “Wifi biscuit” now have their place in BiH market, and most importantly six people live from this business.
“Despite various persuasions to go abroad, my greatest wish was to stay and work here in BiH. Due to the circumstances, production machines were sold, and I and my father liked the potential of the factory, so I decided to start this job. The coronavirus pandemic was not an issue for me because we are witnessing that it continues even today, but I know that one day it will be behind us,” told Mulabdic.
Because he had not faced this type of work before, running a biscuit factory was a big challenge for him. Aware of the responsibility that this job brings with it, he made every effort to succeed in all of it.
“In all this, you have to produce dough, raw biscuits that you bake, and then in the end when you pack it the job is not completed because you have to sell everything. Every day we all face a new challenge, but for now, we are managing well,” Mulabdic continued.
Currently, Senad employs six people, and they all operate as a family. They do all the work together, and currently produce twelve types of dry biscuits. The goal is to launch the thirteenth product on the market soon.
“Our biscuits are specific since they are made by hand, according to domestic recipes and from BiH ingredients. Due to the manufactory method of production, the job is extremely difficult, and on the other hand, it is very difficult to impose it on the market. Even if you get to some shelves, the work is not finished, because the result is important to us, more precisely the customer who will come to the supermarket to buy biscuits,” added Mulabdic.
Positive atmosphere
By buying the biscuit factory, which was one step away from shutting down, Mulabdic preserved four old jobs, including the job of Mirza Softic.
“I got used to this job and it is very interesting because something new happens every day. The team is great, we all got used to it. The new owners behave well and there are no tensions between us, as is the case in some other companies when it comes to the owner-boss-worker relationship. We all fight together for success, ” said Softic.
The young man from Zivinice did not ask for help from state institutions, which brings another, more positive note in the whole story. The environment in which he lives has a positive view of his efforts, and he notes that he does not intend to stay at his current level, in which it is possible to produce 50 kilograms of biscuits per hour.
He sees the future in the direction of expanding production capacities, sales network
E.DZ.
