True Rules

The beginning of my notes on little rules that I found to be consistently true, or little tidbits of wisdom. Some are from my experience, and some i have taken from books that I have read, some were told to me by friends or people I have met.
I would be interested to hear if any of you have some true rules for yourselves, send them to me

If you are willing to take the blame, people will give you responsibility

Whenever possible, choose vegetables (I know this sounds wrong, but i was thinking in a nutritional way)

The things that go wrong, often make the best memories

Accidents are exciting stories (I always feel happy during and after an accident... that happens to me of course... I wouldn't feel happy if it was happening to you. I just love to tell people about the dangerous things that happened to me)

Flawed can be more perfect then perfection 

Always pack a sandwich for a long trip, you will be hungry

You can never buy too much toilet paper

Believing in yourself comes through experiences where you do not believe in yourself

A soft answer is better

A person who talks to you about others, also talks about you to others.

Adventures answer questions you didn't know you had (this one is a kind gift from Josh)

You don't regret the things you do, only the things that you don't

You will feel differently... soon

Fear will always be there, no matter what path in life you choose

Treasure your treasures

You do not know what will happen to you, neither does anyone else

Someones advice or criticism is still only their opinion

What is right or wrong look different to different people

Anger and hunger are best friends, eat before you get very mad at someone, you won't feel as upset.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination (we all know that one isn't mine.. it sounds too smart)

How low can you go...

hmmm this is an interesting post
I wanted to tell you about some of the embarrassing things that I have done over the course of my life, but then i realised i would probably be able to write a series of novels on that subject... with a 'to be continued' at the end of each one... because the embarrassing things don't seem to stop happening.
They always make for good stories during parties, so as soon as the initial phase of red cheeks and clumsily leaving the scene of the verbal or physical accident, I do enjoy to look back at some of the ridiculous things i have done and retell them to others with great enthusiasm.
Ok I need to start this article with a real starting point...
So I was talking to someone recently about... someone... who was in a new country, and who was very discouraged because they couldn't find a job, they couldn't fit in with the local people and they were quite alienated and feeling depressed. However this person had been offered some jobs in kitchens or lower kind of positions and had turned them down because they didn't want to do such a lowly job. Then they complained that there was no opportunity.
I really believe that opportunity wears many different clothes when it comes to knock on your door and whether you recognise your much wanted visitor is only dependant on how much you want to see it.
Before we started Culture Exchange, i had done so many humiliating, strenuous, low-paid, crazy and interesting jobs. Did I see my future dressed up as a french man on the streets of Birmingham selling magazines? (this needs further explaining) Did I really want to take care of that baby for 100 din an hour? Did I want to spend my life cycling around Novi Sad to every far flung corner to teach my private English lessons?
Well of course not...
The point was not what I was doing, but where I wanted to go with what I was doing that was important to me. I had to believe that all those little seemingly meaningless tasks and jobs that I was scraping the pennies for, was going to take me to a place where I wanted to go.
What would you seriously do to achieve your dream? How low would you go to follow your ambitions? How crazy and desperate would you be to make it?
I think that I have absolutely no dignity when it comes to getting what I want. When I see the goal in front on me, I fix my gaze on it, i struggle in every kind of way I might need to, to get there.
So what did I do when I came to Serbia as a 21 year old with very little skills, qualifications, money, possessions or friends?
Well soon after I arrived, I intended to be financially independent. I wanted to earn my money in Serbia and live in Serbia.
I had no idea what to do or how to get a job here. I started by scouring the local papers and also requesting jobs from any of my friends or people i met.
I found ads in the local newspapers and considered all of them, from cleaning houses and business spaces at 4 am in the morning to working on a cruise ship. It was a challenge for me to call the business to ask them to hire me, because i spoke such bad Serbian, and they spoke little English. There were many misunderstandings and long phone calls with google translate at my side.
Seeing as I wanted to get bar experience as we had the grand plans in the works to open CE, I also looked for work in a bar. I remember seeing the ad for a waitress at a Kafana and eagerly headed there to talk to the manager. He was very confused and asked me how i could serve the customers without speaking Serbian properly... i never got the call back.
In the end I worked several jobs at the same time. I placed an ad as an English teacher and started to get students, I charged a really low price and would cycle to their homes, 300 din an hour (about 2 euros) would get you an hour of me struggling to translate and teach English. I also worked as a dance teacher for some schools, I worked as a kindergarten teacher and took care of babies, I worked in 3 English schools some hours each week. I took every job opportunity I could, regardless of the pay. Why did I do this? because i knew my goal... to be financially independent and work as hard as I could in this new country. Every new task was a joy to me, and I learnt a lot from this struggling, though I was very tired. I made some great friends in this time and many of the people i taught and the businesses I worked for later helped with CE.
I remember seeing an advert for a cruise ship job and an address, i headed to the place only to find a huge apartment block with many different buzzers to get into the building, I had forgotten the number of the apartment, and I didn't have enough money to put credit on my phone to call them. I rang every buzzer, someone answered, I stumbled through my Serbian to try and explain what I was looking for, someone answered and led me to believe it was on the 11th floor. Up I went, waiting for me was a very old man covered in tattoos and wearing his underware, i wasn't alarmed yet (not the brightest girl in the school). I went in, his apartment door closed and locked, there were several unnerving facts about this scenario, one was that it was obviously not a office for a cruise ship (a little late to realise) the second was that his house was covered in children's teddy bears.... I had no credit on my phone, but needed to bluff. I pretended to call my boyfriend and said it was an emergency and i must leave, I left rather in a hurry without time for tea or coffee and sat on the outside steps very discouraged and shaking with fear. I eventually found the office, but did not get that job.
After we started CE, I had to stop doing my other jobs, as there wasn't enough time, and by then i was working on what I really wanted to do and was able to support myself with something I was really passionate about.
When you feel that you are nothing and no one, you have nothing to lose, so you try everything. This is a freeing and beautiful mentality that opens you up to people and experience like a dog racing out of the cage in hunt of its first meal of the day. If you are really hungry, you will find food. If you want it... go get it, in whatever way you need to.
I honestly think that If I had to clean the streets wearing a green and orange jump suit in order to get the money i needed to open CE or to fulfil any of my dreams, I would do it (I also like the idea of that jumpsuit). I would do anything that I need to do to get to where I want to go, and this is the point I wanted to make with this article.
Guys, don't hold back, there is really no point. The place where you start the race from is so different from the finish, and you cannot waste time sitting back and wondering if something is good enough for you, or if you are good enough for something.
Every day you are alive is one less day that you are alive.. do you know what I mean... it is going to end someday for each one of us, don't you want to know that you really gave every task your all, that you fought in every battle that you could find, regardless of its size or beauty. Try or die... and i don't mean to go to meaningless jobs for the rest of your life, just think about what you want and take any little steps, but take them thinking about your goal. You can't look at a big oak tree and be like.. yeah I want to be like that tree, but i don't want to be a seed. Its a painful, embarrassing, tiring and difficult procedure to get through the many steps that growth is, you also have to know when to say NO to things that are not going to go in the right direction, but I really believe that we mainly regret the things that we didn't do, not the things that we did. So go for it:)

Lot's of people all over the world, just like you and me, just ordinary little people.... are doing great things to change the world. Living where I do in Novi Sad, living the way I do, I have the pleasure of meeting some extraordinary people, adventurers and inspirational world changers. Being a cyclist myself, I love to open my home to other cycling enthusiasts, I am part of the warm-showers network (I know what it sounds like) its actually a network for travelling cyclists where you can find people to stay with, sort of like couch surfing but for the bicycle community. In my home in Novi Sad, I have a constant stream of people visiting, even though they always thank me and my roommate at the end for our kindness, I actually feel like thanking them. I need to meet these people to remind me just how beautiful life is, and to see that the four walls that I live in, the little cafe I own and all that I have physically around me are not all there is out there. The world is open to be embraced by arms that only need to let go of what they have in order to be able to hold it all.

In May last year I met 4 amazing guys who were cycling from Sweden to Muang Mai, Phuket. It is a journey of 16,000 kilometres, spans 18 countries and took them 9 months. Not only were they doing a brave and challenging thing, but they were doing it to support and orphanage in Phuket, they got donors to sponsor the trip and raised money for it (I am not sure how much). You can see more about their adventure here http://happytour.se/

I don't think anyone reading this who is not a cyclist can imagine cycling just that far. When I rode from Serbia to Istanbul it took me 13 days and in the end I wanted to throw my bicycle off the mountain (just for a couple hours, then i loved it again). For me it seemed that 13 days felt like a year.... I don't know how long 9 months felt like... but I hope one day to find out. The best way to make your life longer is to do something different every day, to take on adventure and risk as your two greatest friends, hold them close and go everywhere with them. You will understand when you try it.. they are truly the best friends you can ask for.

Now I can just imagine what some of you are thinking, you don't have money, visa's, equipment or any of the necessary things to take on these kind of adventures. This kind of thinking will most certainly land you in a 9-5 job everyday, living in a very boring way, and keep you safely inside your very sweet little home or apartment. You must think big before you can act big, If you want a really good story, start from nowhere with nothing. Most good adventures I believe should start with just that and nothing more. Your ideas are the very strongest thing you have, don't let them go, your faith in them, is the next strongest... keep believing. Plant the little seeds to get where you want to go.. they will grow.

I interviewed Fredrik Jessen, one of the travelling swedes. I found his answers so inspirational, funny and cool. I hope you will too. I am so happy we got the chance to meet these great people, and I hope that we will meet again soon... for now here is his account of their journey

What made you want to do a trip like this by bicycle?

My mate Calle sent me an email asking me if I wanted to join him on an epic journey across half the world to raise money to an orphanage in Thailand. I must admit I was a bit drunk when I read it but I think it took me like 10 seconds to decide that "Fuck yeah, lets do this!" so I called him and told him "I'm in!" because I knew I would hate myself if I'd turn down this once in a lifetime opportunity. This trip was a great way of combining an adventure with doing something good for others, not just doing it for myself.

How did your friends, family and other relationships react when you told them what you were doing?

My mom were a bit upset when I told her about which countries we would travel trough and I don't think she realized how determined i was to do it at first. But as we came closer to the starting day she kinda accepted the fact that it was going to happen. After showing her a few blogs about other people that peddled pretty much the same route she became a bit calmer about the whole thing.

I guess most of my friends never thought I would make it all the way since I'm not really famous for being an athlete, more the opposite, and everyone told me we would get killed in Iran and the stan-countries which turned out to be the friendliest countries we traveled trough.

What was the best part of the trip?

It's the question that everyone asks me and it's also the hardest one to answer. I don't have a specific place or country that was the best all countries were great in different ways. If I have to choose one I would say Kyrgyzstan cuz of the breathtaking nature, a country I'd like to go back to and see more of. Meeting all the great people from very different cultures and realising how nice and friendly people actually are, people like you!

What was the hardest part?

Not killing the ginger kids i was travelling with, surviving the heat in Turkmenistan, climbing the mountains in northern Turkey, not dying in Uzbekistan from the very nasty stomach bacterias, not freezing to death in the mountains of China, not killing the gay guy that molested me in Iran, eating kebab and köfte with dry rice everyday for a whole month, Headwind, always having to say good bye to the people you get to know, Sidewind.

What was the funniest part of the trip?

Meeting all the awesome people along the way. And crossing the finish line it was such a happy moment for everyone and it was so cool to finally meet the kids that we raised the money for.

How do you feel it changed you?

I'm definitely more patient and I've learnt to compromise, travelling and living together this close for over 8 months isn't easy. I'm more appreciative for the little things . One thing I realised is that I shouldn't complain about anything in Sweden. Sweden is a very functional country and there is few places in the world where everything just works as it is supposed to work like here.

What advice would you give to other people who are considering doing something similar?

Go alone, that will give you the freedom to stop where you want and see whatever you want and eat whatever and wherever you want. Get a Brooks saddle not a racing saddle as I had, your ass will thank you. Buy a proper bike with good gears and good brakes it doesn't have to be a touring bike a MTB will do just fine. Don't bring to much stuff you will just end up sending it home or leaving it behind. Save up more money then you think you'll spend, It's a cheap way of travelling but the money has a magic way of just disappearing anyways! Get a free standing tent (one you don't need to attach to the ground)!

What do you plan to do now that the trip is over?

I had to borrow money from my mom and dad to be able to finish the trip so now I'll just have to work and pay em back. My plan was to move back to Australia but I'll think I put that one on hold for a while. I kinda realised living here in Sweden isn't to bad for now. I dint think I'll do another cycling trip in the nearest future but I'm addicted to travelling and seeing new places so who knows where I'll end up next time.

All of them at our house in Novi Sad

At the finish line, after 9 months of cycling

Steps you can take to prepare yourself for your Next BIG Challenge

Whenever I know I have a big challenge ahead of me, I do everything possible to prepare myself for what is ahead of me. This is normally because I mostly know NOTHING about the different things I have tried to undertake.The feeling of being completely clueless and the impending thoughts of failure because of my lack of knowledge force me to seek everywhere to know and learn more about the things that I want to do.

The real truth about preparation is that you will never be fully prepared for what is up ahead of you, but there are certain things you can do to work on your skills and knowledge. If you think about it in the way that you are preparing for a long race, you don't just turn up on race day and be like 'oh yeah I'm here' and expect to do well. Well maybe you do. Most people take time to train their minds and bodies to be ready for what is ahead of them. Everything in life can run along with these same principles.
Before I even arrived in Serbia, as soon as I knew I was going, I studied Serbian language and culture from every angle I could. Although I didn't have much time before I would arrive, I studied an online Serbian language course and read everything I could about the history of the country. I watched a series of documentaries on Yugoslavian history and I also watched lots of movies about people which up and changed their lives. 
What can you do to prepare for opening your new business, here are some things that I did, maybe they will be helpful to you
1. Read about it
When I knew for sure that we were with a green light to try to open CE (Before we even had one penny of money towards it, or knew much about anything) I bought two books on amazon about setting up coffee shops. I even made a short video on my camera, with my talking about how this was the first steps of preparation. I unfortunately cannot find that video, otherwise I would post it here. Reading about opening a shop really helped me to see the experience of others who had done the same. I also read some very uninspirational articles, such as one called 'how opening our own cafe ruined our lives', which did make me a bit afraid, but yes they were right...it kind of ruined my life in the beginning, as everything else went to pieces and the only thing I could think about and work on was the new business. It also, like most challenging and difficult tasks, made my life amazing. Every situation is different and no book can really charter your journey or tell you what kind of weather conditions will be going on in the sea of business you will sail in. Research is an easy and fast tool to use to your advantage, google the things you want to know, get some books and it will give you a slightly clearer picture of what to expect.
2. Ask Questions
There is no way that you can come from a position of knowing nothing to knowing everything in a short amount of time. So many things about business can only be learnt from experience, but some things can be learnt from the experience of others. Ask questions wherever you go, to whoever you meet. I remember going into a bar in Serbia and asking the owner if I could go behind the bar to take a look at the kegs of beer to see how much space we needed. I asked my friend who owned a coffee machine to let me have a try to make a coffee on his espresso machine. I asked the owners of another place to show me their cash register. I asked my friend who worked for a bar to help me decide which drinks to order and what a bar's first stock list should look like. I asked every kind of question I could think of, sometimes i think I came across really dumb and annoying (I've dealt with this before). There is no point of being shy when you need help with a big task. I love it when people come to the Cafe and ask us for advice on our business and other people are normally more than happy to share with you the things they have learnt. You can also gain good friends this way as you bond over business and progress, rather then gossip and useless things. 
3. Learn the language as much as you can
If you are trying to open in a foreign country, it is a matter of respect to learn the language and to try to understand the people. Even if your business will be operating mainly in English, as CE is, people really appreciate the effort and time it takes you to learn and study their language. When we arrived in Serbia we went through a year of Serbian school, we all studied the language together. In my spare time I studied our workbook and worked hard on my studies. Even though I am not perfect at Serbian, I do understand a lot and use it every day when I serve people or when people come to talk to me inside CE. I don't really understand when people say that learning a language is hard so they don't do it. OF COURSE ITS HARD... aren't all things that are worthwhile kind of difficult. I think when you learn a new language its kind of the same as when a baby is learning its first words, it takes a few years to get a grasp of it and understand and a really long time before you can learn it fluently (unless you are talented with these kind of things). For me, it has been heard to learn Serbian, but I cant describe how good I feel when I can talk to people and also understand what they are saying, it makes me feel closer to the whole community and also smarter ( I don't get that feeling much)
4. Help others for free
If you want others to help you and be part of the new community you are building, you must be willing to take the first steps into the new country and be a genuine helping hand and a friend. Your deeds of unpaid kindness and going out of your way to be of assistance in every area will not necessarily be reciprocated right away, but they will be. I have seen so much bad business policy from owners who are very stingy, and don't reach out to do anything that they are not gaining from for the community. I think that this is a very bad way to run or start a business. You must be willing to give before you receive, cultivate a giving attitude in your life and business and it will come back to you 100 times over. I learnt this so many times, I couldn't possibly name to you the amount of times I have seen this rule of the universe go into effect at my life. One example, when I arrived in Serbia my friend told me that her mom had been fired from her job as a seamstress, this had put the whole family in a tough situation as they really needed the money. Her mother could continue to work if she had her own sewing machine, but they had no money to buy it. Even though at the time I was saving money to open CE, I put the money in an envelope and dropped it into her hands. I never expected a return in any way and I felt good to have helped. This friend repaid me the money 2 years later (even though I never asked for it back) she also became one of my best friends and helped us with one of the ideas that gave us the finances to open CE. She was the friend that told me about indie-gogo (an online crowd funding site) and encouraged me to make the video and put it out there. The video raised 3000 dollars for our opening. If you give you will receive.. keep that in mind and keep your heart and hands open to help those around you.

Travelling home for Christmas

I am going to England for Christmas, I will be gone for 10 days.

Its been an interesting end to the year with so much happening on every side, travelling, meeting new people and lots of new experiences. With so much going on back here, I thought it was important to make some goals for my time back at home with my family. Sometimes when I go there, I think a lot about the Café and I sort of don’t give my family as much attention as I could. On some trips I have been so beset by worry that I have spent much of the time there looking on the computer at CE and checking my messages. I always feel I have to be on call and ready to jump to help if there is any problem. So far on every trip away, no one has died.. Living by the principle of living in the moment, I will be trying on this trip to enjoy every second with my family.

I left home when I was 15, since then I have hardly seen my parents and brothers and sisters, let alone the extended family of cousins and other relatives. When I stop to think about that amount of time, 10 years is a long time to be gone. So much has happened to me in 10 years, I am not surprised that we sometimes feel distant. I want to be as close to my family as possible, I can see that each of them has grown to being such complete people, with so many wonderful qualities.They are all smart, accomplished and lovely people. I am immensely proud of my family, not one of my brothers or sisters is in serious trouble, without a job or is depressed. It’s such a gift to be surrounded by inspirational people on every side. 

My goals for being at home with them are 1. Have one deeper conversation with each member of my closer family 2. Do one activity with each member of my family that they enjoy 3. Compliment and encourage them each at every moment I can find. 4. Find out 3 new things that I didn't know about each of them

Last year I also had a lot of travelling goals that I didn't accomplish, such as going to Nepal, climbing a mountain, doing a 1000k bike ride. I wasn't able to fulfill all my expectations this year, however I have realized that every day is an adventure if seen in the right way. I will be on this trip treating it as if I was going cycling to India… no I won’t be packing my saddle bags and wearing a helmet on the flight, but I will be

1. Talking to as many new people as I can 2. Exploring everything 3. Eating new foods and trying new drinks 4. Looking at the country like a new cultural experience

Over the time away I will be writing my blog and filling out the details of what happens on the journey.

Survive or Thrive

Making a profit in Serbia

Is is possible for you to become more then financially stable in Serbia? Can you with your start-up project have massive gain and financial success in a country with a poor economy?
The average salary of a person in Serbia is about 250-300 euros a month. This is considered to be a good salary and if you have a job that can pay you that much, over here, its a really good thing. In other countries that I have visited or lived in, that kind of money for a month of hard, daily work is laughable. Of course the living costs here are lower, but they are really not that much lower if you put it all on the scale and see what the real costs are to live comfortably here for a month. The financial situation in Serbia is the reason why so many people live with their parents for so long. With such little money coming into the family piggy bank, you can see why it seems to be smarter to put it together and be able to live to a higher standard.
When I think about the money CE earns in comparison to the amount of actual work that it takes, it really doesn't make sense. Even though I am not an expert at calculating costs and figuring the financial details of our company, I can see that the income always just manages to make CE and me survive. It pays the bills, for improvements, my living costs, the staff that work there, and there is nothing left over. Even if I did try to be more frugal with my spending on CE, I don't think the difference would be that great. I have a continual need to reinvest into the space, to add new things and to re-spend the money earned to make CE better and more comfortable for the customers who come here.
Whenever I return home to the UK for Christmas or another occasion, I am struck with the same feeling many of you have I am sure. I feel poor... :)
I really cannot afford to do stuff with my friends there, to eat out, or to buy expensive gifts for my family. Sometimes I get down about this and worry about the future. I wonder if my family is disappointed in me, as I am always on a shoestring budget with no extra frills.
There are very successful businesses in Serbia. Obviously every country has the rich and the poor, the middle class and the imbetweeners. There are smarter ways to make money, to save money and to spend money, these are all lessons I am learning.
To be perfectly honest, I took out the answer of money from my requirements of success in Serbia. Being financially wealthy and seeing the profit margin soaring would be somewhat exhilarating for a time. However because I don't see Culture Exchange as a place where big money can be made. I chose to focus my attention on the other aspects of success that I wanted to see from the business.
For me success in Serbia... thriving in this country is..

1. Customers happy and satisfied with their drinks
2. People always feeling comfortable and welcome in CE regardless of race, age or style.
3. New artists having their art displayed and musicians able to perform.
4. Bike kitchen running and people making their bikes and learning about bike mechanics.
5. The staff being happy, having jobs and feeling productive.
6. The business running on a moral standard I am happy with. Honesty, love and care.

My goal for Culture Exchange in Novi Sad is not to get rich, I am happy with the money that I get, and I am always searching for ways to improve, change and make the project better. As long as I feel that this is what I want to do with my life, I wont be thinking towards my first million euros... but rather towards the people that the project can reach. I want Culture Exchange to be the best it can be, financially and in every other way. But before the question of if I am earning enough.. I think more about If I am really living the life I want to live.

I am sure you can be financially very successful in any country, the right idea, the right people behind it, the right circumstances, and the right timing can all play to your advantage. However I think we need to worry less about if we will have money and think more of the other things that we want for our lives that are so much more vital to happiness. Having money does bring you happiness of in many ways, it gives you freedom to make the other choices that can make you happy. I found that the chase for financial gain is never ending, you can never really have enough until you are truly satisfied with yourself and your own life choices.
I believe that if you do what you love, it will pay off, maybe not immediately, but one day it will. Its almost like we are all running the wrong way towards the goal. If we want to be financially well off and we continually do the business choices of putting money as the main goal, we become kind of stressed, because of the stress we cannot be happy, and because we are not happy we are not good at what we do, and because we are not good at what we do, our business does not run well, and because our business does not run well, we do not earn well.
So the horse in front of the cart is to follow the things we are passionate about and follow your heart with financial choices. Striving to be the best we can be and to make our projects the best they can be will in turn bring us closer to our financial dreams as well.  (well this is just my opinion and my experience, and I hope its all going to turn out to be true in every way)

Just Give… Novi Sad

Don't be discouraged if you don’t see immediate results for your projects, with time, things grow.

After I came back from Graz in November, I was feeling very inspired and active. Change is good for me, and I get very restless and discouraged if I have to do the same things every day. In Graz there was so many new things to do, so many new challenges and new people to talk to, I felt very revitalized and had plenty of new ideas and creative thoughts. Something I found very cool over there was that they had a page on Facebook called ‘Share and Care Graz’. I know this is not a unique idea and they do have it all over the world. The idea is to create a giving cycle for the things we have in our homes and closets that we no longer use. I thought it would be cool if Novi Sad could have a similar thing and I made the Facebook page.

Here is the description of what it is:

'Just give Novi Sad is a free page to give all the extra things that you don't need to people who might need them.
We all have so much useless stuff in our homes that we don't know what to do with, instead of throwing it away.... why not give it away it someone who will use it?
You can use the page for two purposes
1. Post pictures or descriptions of things that you are willing to give away
2. Post about something that you need to request if anyone in the group has it to give away.
The page is not to be used for selling anything, no money requests may be made
It is the responsibility of the person who recieves to pick up the item or items, unless you agree on it otherwise'

Here is a link to the page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1505455439720066/

After I put the page up, I didn't have much immediate response. My friends joined and we shared a few items on the page, but it felt slow. I sat one night and complained to my friend how no one wants to do anything here in Novi Sad. I was really frustrated and said that I didn't see the point in trying anything, as nothing was really appreciated or used.

The next week there was a drastic change in the reaction to the Just Give page, I got called by 4 reporters to do stories about it. Everyone showed much enthusiasm and support for the idea. In just one week we got 1000 members. I was so surprised and happy and it showed me how sometimes we underestimate each other and think that no one is really helping, when actually all it needs is some time and patience. The use of the just give page keeps growing, as people keep sharing more and more items, picking up things and also being very thankful and helpful. Novi Sad is such a lovely place to live, and to put ideas out, even though it sometimes feels hard to push the doors of opportunity open, when you do, there is a reaction. Action always creates reaction in some way, I am just waiting with great anticipation to see you all get involved in some of my other ideas (The ugly jumper competition to name one).

I hope you all enjoy using the page and continue to use it 

One article about the page: http://www.24sata.rs/novi-sad/vesti/vest/ne-bacajte-stare-stvari-javite-se-njima-mladi-organizovali-akciju-poklanjanja-nepotrebnih-stvari-preko-fejsa/160031.phtml

In the Newspaper

The Passion list

  I am reading a book called 'The Happiness Project' by Gretchen Rubin. I am really enjoying reading this book and I recommend it to everyone as a good idea for something to read as we are coming into a new year, and we are all probably thinking more about our lives and our levels of happiness... Aren't we? :)

  One thing she suggested in the book was to write a list of the things that you are interested in or that you would like to know more about. This year in the summer, I was going through a hard time, my close friends suggested that I got active with something new. The thing was I was feeling so down that I couldn't think of anything at all that I was interested in, every idea I had, I thought that it didn't catch my attention so much. I took some council from her book to mind and sat down to think about what I was really interested in. Instead of calling it my interest list.. I called it my passion list... because I can.

  Something in the past that stopped me from exploring my areas of interest was the feeling that I wasn't very talented in some of the things I wanted to do. For instance, I am fascinated by making bikes and bicycle design, but I have a horrible memory when it comes to putting the pieces of a bicycle together. I always have to ask for help, and this makes me feel dumb. One of my friends told me that I always try to do something that I am bad at and don't focus on the things I am really good at, he considered this a waste of time. For a year or two I shied away from the bike side of the business.. and left it up to the professionals. However I took upon myself the challenge this year to learn to make my own bike, although I still needed help, I learnt a lot of things, I designed and made my pink fixie bike. Since then I started working on another one, and have in my brain at least two more design ideas, it might be a few more bikes away till I can do it completely on my own, but I certainly made progress.

  So I learned that no one should discourage you from trying for something you want to do, regardless of your skills. I mean, how can you learn anything till you try. Yes my hand painted gold bike has some paint streaks and isn't perfect, but the personal satisfaction I have gained from painting it and the experience was really confidence building and made me feel good.

My Passion list is

Making and designing bikes

Writing my blog

Stand-up comedy (this is not funny)

Vegetarianism

Design

Tattoo's

Coffee art

Creating new drinks and exciting products for CE

Dance (Lindy-hop and jive)

Flash mobs

Playing guitar and writing songs

Playing Ukulele

Languages (German and Serbian for now)

Relations with people, customer service

Business

Hosting people in my home from all over the world

Travel

Asia and Asian culture

Long-distance biking and randoneering (cycling long distance over a short period of time)

Human rights

I know these are all broad topics, and not precise goals or anything like that, but I wanted to share them with you, and encourage you to make your own passion list. I look over my list when I am bored and want something to do, I see the things I am passionate about and try to work on improving in or exploring one of these areas.  

Making a new bike

Business start-up basics!

Enough is enough with the personal posts I have been writing on my blog. I have been talking too much about feelings, and not enough about business... I guess for me the two go hand in hand.. you see... there I go again :)

SO I promised a Serbia start up talk for all those who want to start a business in Serbia (I know that this post might be read by no-one)

SO in order to cover this is an orderly way, I divided the main areas to discus in a few sections

1. Financing and accounting

2. Preparations and time frame

3 Ownership responsibilities

4 Staff

5.Distributors and suppliers

Lets go through it one by one.

1. Financing and Accounting

Financing your business in Serbia is of course the first thing you need to think about. You need money to make money. The business in Serbia was started with around 15,000 euros. This includes the paperwork and administration fees, stocking the bar, stocking the bike shop, building materials, promotion and marketing. We saved up all our money for around one year to have the starting funds. I know many businesses that started here for way less, and some that started for way more. Calculating your costs is a lengthy procedure, you can do this by simply asking other business owners for their costs, checking product costs online and adding the amount. However it cannot be accurate because of fluctuations in the market. You also need to have a buffer of one or two months rent and bills prepared for the initial phases of the business when it is just starting to get off the ground.

What licences do you need to start your business? The papers for starting a business in Serbia are fairly simple, but you cannot do them alone, you will need the help of an accountant (especially if you do not speak Serbian very well) A lot of the running around to get different papers can be done by you, but you will need the help of your accountant to know which papers you need and to guide you through the process. I really depend on my accountant when I need help to get any kind of paper associated with CE, he usually knows which office to go to (because there are lots of different ones). If you feel confused with the business structure here, the best thing to do is to ask lots of questions... but to the right people. If you know someone who already has a business like the one you want to set up, or at least some knowledge about it, be sure to ask them for their advice about which accountant you should choose, someone here always knows someone and the connections between people are extremely important.

Also your accountant can give you advice on which kind of business you should set up, there are two main structures for the tax system of businesses here

1. D.O.O is for a bigger company, this because the taxation system is much stronger, it also allows for export and import (we set the bike shop up as a D.O.O because we were importing parts, not because we were making a lot of money) The cost for opening this kind of business is 1-2 hundred euros, If I remember right.

2. Preduzetnik: this is for entrepreneurial businesses, with one main owner, you don't get heavily taxed until you reach over 40.000 euros a year in profit (that means after you take out salaries, your monthly wage and company expenses) You can see that for a small business this is impossible, so its better to be a Preduzetnik. As soon as you are extremely successful and get over that amount (we haven't yet) you can transfer your company to a D.O.O

The taxes for opening a Preduzetnik are around 3-4 hundred euros, if I remember correctly, it is not more.

Can foreigners take out a business loan? As far as I know you cannot take out a business loan without having sufficient credit in the country, meaning owning property or having some security. You would need to ask for this at the bank, I am not entirely sure.

Visa? You need to set up the company before you ask for a business Visa, as you need the starting papers to fill in your application. Most of the paperwork here in Serbia can seem kind of confusing in the way that you don't know what comes first, the cart and the horse trade positions regularly. For instance shouldn't you have your visa (permission to stay) before you can begin a business... but then again how would they know you will set this up without the papers.

Visa's are another subject all together, and I will have to cover this in another post.

One question I get ask is if it is more difficult for a foreigner to set up a business in Serbia, then for a local person. The answer to this is No, its not more difficult. The paperwork is almost the same, you just need some additional information on your stay in Serbia, you need no university qualifications to set up a Cafe or bike shop. No special education is needed or proof of previous employment (I am including this because it is different in other countries)

The licences you need for a Cafe

1. Business licence in your name (this takes about one month to be finalised)

2. Music license, if you will have music played on a laptop or other sound system, or live shows and bands(I have to cover this in another post, its a big subject).

3. Fire and safety check (You need to do a short training with your staff, which they organize, its really funny)

You do not need an alcohol licence to sell liquor here

The licences for a Bike shop

1. Business licence in your name

You do not need a separate licence for repair or sales of bike parts, this should be written in your original paperwork, specifying the kind of sales you will make and the kind of services you offer

How much work is the paperwork? Well if you have an accountant, and some perseverance, its not that much work. It does take running around to a few different offices to sign this or that. Going to the bank a few times etc. but in general all can be done in around a month or a month and a half.

2.Time frame and preparation

This is dependent mainly on you and your resources. For us we spent a year saving for the finances of CE, we spent another 3 months looking for the right location (though we were doing this the entire time) I will cover in another post the process we went through to find the CE location in Novi Sad. We spent one month exactly on building the interior of CE. We did have a big work force, all of us joining in and working together, plus the help of many, many friends. We put a poster on the window with the date we would open, so we really couldn't change it.

As for the time frame for the paperwork, it is mentioned above.

3.Ownership responsibilities.

 The owner of the business on the paperwork (me) is responsible and held liable for everything that happens within the company. Anything that is found illegally is held to your name. You will have to at the best go to court for any infractions, at the worst case, go to prison. Also your signature is needed for every decision, unless you sign the power to another person within the company, which is what I will have to do, as we expand the company in other countries (I cannot always be here). Every week you have to bring the income for the business to the bank, see the form below.

It is written out like this, your signature needs to seal the deal, also to pay any bills, you must be the one to sign, employees signatures will be noted as a forgery and could cause problems. If you have a question about this, you should ask your accountant.

Your taxes for the business will be paid monthly, to do this, you will get the correct forms from your.. yes you guessed it.. accountant. You need to sign the papers and bring them to the bank, the amount will be subtracted from your account.

The bad news is that there are many laws in Serbia covering every area of business.. the good news is that no one keeps them. One of the most confusing areas of being an owner is that there is really so many grey areas in the law. Things that are written that you must do, but if you ask your accountant or other business owners they will tell you that its not necessary and that no one does it. If you are confused and wonder if you can get into trouble for this, they will always tell you in the very Serbian way... 'don't worry, nothing bad is going to happen'. Not always true, but yes very optimistic.

There is also a list of requirements that every business must have before it opens. You can obtain this from the inspection office (ask your accountant where it is). Before we opened CE, I heard a lot about the merciless inspections that happen here. I went to the inspection office before we opened and talked to the main lady in charge, I explained that we wanted to set up the business to fulfil every expectation. She was friendly and gave me the list of things they check for in a Cafe. Such as the smoking signs being correct, the fire escape signs, the correct number of seating for your licence, the amount of bathrooms you need. (Your accountant can tell you most of these things as well, and you will need to know them before you build anything, but it can help to find out exactly what infractions they look for)

4.Staff

Staffing your business is going to be different depending on the size of your operation.

The taxes for one staff member is roughly 120 euros a month. You pay this to the government through your bank account. Not all the staff who work for you need to on a permanent legal basis at your business (check this with your accountant) there are loopholes.. that's all I will say. Every business in Serbia has people working on black, whether you choose to do this or not is up to you. Your immediate family can work in the business without taxation.

Also all employees whether legal or on black must do a hygiene test, to see if they are healthy enough for the working environment.

To do this, you must go to a building on Futoska Street where they do a few tests, they ask you for a poo sample (in a small bottle which you get at the pharmacy) I still remember that me and Suzy brought ours on the wrong day and had to keep it in the fridge overnight.. disgusting. Also one time I got a very official letter stating that one staff member had not given enough poo in her sample, really funny. They also stick something in... wait for it... your nose and mouth, you sort of line up and they just attack you with two cue tips. After this you wait for a week and you get the results, almost everyone passes, but its best not to go if you the flu or are sick, wait till you feel better. The cost of this test is about 10 euros. Everyone must do it, including you as the owner, if you are working within the business of course.

The normal wage for someone working in Serbia is about 900 din per working shift, incredibly low, the minimal wage I think is 850 din, this is for 8 hours of work.

If you are employing legally, you will have to take their salary from your bank account, if they are working on black... well you figure it out.

5. Distributors and Suppliers

The suppliers from the companies that give you beer or other drink products will most of the time supply you with the fridges, glasses, promotional material etc. You need to call them to set up a meeting and discuss what you are doing. They will come to the premises and suggest to you what they can give and what they need from you. You can find their contact information online.

You will have to sign some contracts with them.

They will come regularly to check on your sales and to also maintain the equipment.

You can choose to also get your coffee and machine from a supplier, in that case you are bound to use their blend, and a certain amount of coffee per month. We chose to get our own machine (second hand) because we wanted the freedom to change our coffee suppliers if we wanted to have different blends. ( I will cover the subject of coffee in another post, also where to source some of your equipment from, as in second hand or new, will have to be written another time)

Ok so also when it comes to your business you will be pleased to hear that there are many inspections that frequent Cafe businesses. I will talk about our experience in this, in yet another post.

I hope I covered the main areas for business start-up in Serbia. Unfortunately I cannot verify my figures exactly because its been 2 and a half years since we started and some taxes might have changed. This post took me about 4 hours. I hope its useful. To re-cap the first things you should do are

1. Find a good accountant (preferably who speaks English, because a lot of things are really hard to explain in Serbian, they are complicated legal terms)

2. Find out what the requirements are legally for your kind of business

I hope this helped you :) write me if you need more help

the fire escape plan in CE, you need this to be in a visible place legally, no matter how obvious the exits are

My draft for this post :)

When the dog barks.

I heard a saying today

'the dog barks at the caravan, but the caravan just keeps going'

I believe its a Serbian saying, I guess the meaning is clear. Something I have learnt during my time at CE, working passionately towards my goals and life in general, is that people always have a lot to say. They have some things to say to you about what you are doing in life, and they have a lot of things to say about you.

The best way to keep away from strong hurtful criticism and gossip is this little formula.. are you ready for it?.. DRUM ROLL...

'Go home, sit in your room, play a computer game, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing... and do that for the rest of your life'

Sounds easy doesn't it? so why don't we do it? Why don't we just go sit in a corner and fold our hands, and smile and wave... (actually you cant fold your hands and wave at the same time... didn't think about that one)

I am speaking in this post to all of my friends all over the world who are brilliant, active, honest, passionate, loving, caring, emotional beings. If you do anything at all in this world to try to make it better, if you try your best to be good, to show love, care and concern, if you try at all, you will be subject to many people's opinions.

As the saying went that I mentioned earlier on, you must roll on with your goal in mind.

If you wanted to be loved and pampered, held dear by everyone you meet, never stir the water and never rock the boat, then the life of an entrepreneur was not the best choice for you.

What really matters is not what others think about what you do, but what you think about what you do. If you are not sure how you feel about what you do, ask yourself these three questions

1. Is it right?

2. Am I being true to myself?

3. Am I being as loving and honest as I can be to those around me?

Dare to be different, dare to not care and when you do care... try not to care, wipe away the tears, remove the bitterness from your heart, and just roll on.

Ruyard Kipling wrote a poem, I posted this on my wall during the time in 2013 when someone wrote an article about CE that felt very hurtful and damaging. It is a clear reminder of the attributes we strive for daily.

Please read it and think about the words... live them

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Interview with Zeljana Jurkovic
Owner and co-founder of Zanart design studio, Novi Sad

 In this blog I want to talk about some inspirational people I have met. I am especially interested in entrepreneurial or adventure minded people, who choose to work for themselves and do things their own way rather than work for someone else. This is not to say that working for someone else is bad, the world wouldn't function without the many roles that each person plays, we can't all do the same thing, and that is part of what makes each persons story beautiful and moving.

However I am curious, what is it exactly in a personality that makes someone strive completely towards their own vision and goals? What brought them to that path and why do they stay on it? Is is hard for them to work in any other way? Did they always have this in mind? or was it by chance or luck that they landed upon fulfilling their own personal dreams in a very active way.

SO back to the interview. I first met Zeljana, she had just opened her own shop Zanart with her partner Marco. It is a beautiful little creative space. She is a designer of many of her own innovative products and Marco is an architect, who designs many creative ideas for furniture and interiors. Inside Zanart they feature their own products and also the designs of many other artists from all over Serbia. There is always something creative and inspiring to see in there. The two of them are also incredibly lovely and active people, who are always up to something new.
 Novi Sad is a tough market for new shops and especially for designers (I know this myself) This is because people here do not have much money to spend on things that are personally designed but perhaps a little more expensive. Its understandable but at the same time, it can be a daunting prospect to bring a new idea to the frontier of the market and to wait with patience to see success or growth in any way.
Me and Zeljana often chat about the different businesses we run, we face so many similar set back's and mentalities. I am so happy to call her my dear friend and person whom I respect greatly. Below is the interview that she gave us

Why entrepreneur?

What made you want to start your own company, Why not just work for another design shop?

The main reason is because I wanted place of my own, first gallery exhibition space in which I can promote my work and later on other designers and creatives join in.

Would you ever work for someone else company?

If there an interesting opportunity, why not, you should always learn from different experiences and different people.

If you didn't set up your own business what would you have done?

Certainly it would be my creative work no matter of form.

What changes did having your own business bring to your life?

Little bit of stress, a lot of experience and a lot of interesting people.

How did your friendships, family and other relationships react?

People often do not understand this kind of work if they themselves are not doing it,  they should be given time to realise the benefits and beauty of working on your own project.

What about your business is unique and gets the attention of the market
how much money did it take and did you have support from other sources of financing?

We started with very little money, we tried to get through the first few months without minuses, later the situation got better, and we had learnt how to better dispose of money and adapt to the market.

We did not have financiers.

Where do you see it going?

I would love to make Zanart as a multifunctional space, where the creative and cultural energy permeate.