One company in Krapina-Zagorje County is doing remarkably well...
As Ana Maria Filipovic Grcic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 12th of June, 2018, Marko Varga, the owner of twenty years of the QBen company from Zlatar in Krapina-Zagorje County, has been distributing no less than smart benches and various other modern, innovative products throughout Croatia for the last few months, his success in doing so has since enabled him to hire three young people, going one step further with the announcement of further expansion of the team. His benches have been set up and can be found throughout the country, from Krka to Slavonia, with several of them in Novalja on Pag, as was discovered during an interview with Poslovni Dnevnik.
"In March this year, we launched a crowdfunding campaign where we collected only about 30 dollars, but we don't consider that to be unsuccessful because a large number of interested buyers came to us from Croatia, as well as from Austria, Germany, and Sweden. We've currently got six permanent employees, with the number of outside cooperators stretching to thirty people, and we're especially proud of the fact that every product is originally Croatian,'' Varga added.
He also said that while being an entrepreneur in Croatia is demanding, he still managed to succeed. QBen's assortment has expanded since the last interview Poslovni Dnevnik did with Mark Vargo back in February this year, and the range now includes solar bus stations which were initially presented to the public this month and cost about 90,000 kuna, as well as bulletin boards and other such things, which are, according to Varga, street solutions.
The QBen Cycle smart bench is particularly well-suited to areas with developed cyclotourism, and a QBen bulletin board naturally goes hand in hand with it, created as a modern alternative to classic bulletin boards as we know them.
QBen was founded last year, presenting the QBen Silver smart benches costing 13,500 kuna, this was followed by a new, upgraded smart bench, the QBen Wave, in February, at a price of 20,000 kuna. Both work with solar panels, provide both wireless and USB charging for mobile phones, tablets, laptops and other electronic devices, as well as offering wireless internet access.
The materials from which they are made are steel and tempered glass, which provide greater resistance to vandalism. This feature proved to be quite important given that of the few smart benches placed in Croatia over the past year, two saw damage. With their special flame retardation method, Varga discovered that the benches were protected against corrosion and other external influences, distinguishing them from the others.
The range has built-in and customisable LED lighting that launches after sunset with self-regulating intensity that enables smart energy distribution and ensures that the bench doesn't lose its primary function, which is charging.
"One of our best-selling products is the bulletin board, and for the benches, we have a 3+1 action that has certainly made it easier for some to make their purchasing decision," Varga concluded.
Click here for the original article by Ana Maria Filipovic Grcic for Poslovni Dnevnik
