Sasa Trivic, Owner of Krajina Klas: Challenges are Sources of Satisfaction

When you have a company which has gone from humble beginnings to having 600 employees, developing its business and expanding markets despite crisis, it is clear that there is a successful manager behind it. We are talking about the Banjaluka-based company Krajina Klas, which produces baking products and cakes and which is led by Sasa Trivic.

For the Diary of Success, we talked to Trivic about the development of the company, the challenges that the position of a leader entails, the way important decisions are made and the plans for the further development of the business operations.

Krajina Klas was founded 25 years ago and since then you have created the recognized brand Manja, reached the number of nearly 600 employees in 37 retail units. Also, you are at the head of the Association of Employers of Republika Srpska. How are you dealing with all the challenges in said positions?

– It is well known that, if you want to be successful you have to love what you do. I am lucky that, in my case, that is true, so the everyday challenges that these two jobs entail are not difficult for me. Good employers love challenges and they strive every day to prove that they can handle every problem, so challenges are sources of satisfaction in a way.

Behind you are two years of the ongoing pandemic, and there’s already a new crisis, the one in Ukraine, which has led to the lack of raw materials. To what extent have these crises caused business challenges for you?

– I usually say that, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we have had a crisis for 30 years and that there are no surprises for us. Whatever happens, we are back on our feet quickly. We went through the pandemic much more successfully than anyone had expected, all the financial results are much better, the salaries and the exports have grown, the number of employees has increased. So, it’s like there hasn’t been a crisis. Of course, we also had some luck, because our governments did not impose rigorous measures and they let the citizens and the economy live and work almost normally, while in many other countries that was not the case.

As for the Ukrainian crisis, I believe that it will be much more serious than the pandemic and bigger than anyone can assume, of course, if it goes on for a few months more. At the moment, the biggest problem, and, I’m afraid, also the biggest problem in the long term is the supply of raw materials, because the influence of Ukraine and Russia in the markets of energy, food, raw materials for the chemical industry and steel is so big that it is certain that there will be shortages of nearly everything that those two countries produce in the whole world. The fact is that, in the future, those who have the raw materials will be able to operate and that one of the most important tasks for employers at the moment is to secure a reliable supply of raw materials. I believe that, in some sectors, the state should also get involved in the process of securing the strategic raw materials.

Are knowledge and experience crucial when the time arrives to make big decisions in turbulent global periods?

– In addition to the knowledge and experience, in times of crisis, you also need to have an internal sense of what the right solution is. These times are so turbulent that you can’t rely too much on knowledge and experience, because no one has ever met with this kind of a crisis. What remains for us now, as the most important factor, is that internal sense of what to do and how, because it is apparent that it is precisely that which has been carrying us through all these years.

What have you especially learned about yourself and your team during the pandemic?

– We have learned that the most important thing is to be informed, to think and make judgments. Also, that we can’t believe everything somebody else says. There are no longer any authorities whose opinions we can rely on. Simply, we are forced to fight for ourselves. We have learned that we are, for the most part, left to our own devices and that, if we don’t give it our best, we have no chance of surviving.

I believe that the pandemic has also helped us build some other mutual relations of togetherness and dependence on each other and that this will help us in the future, and especially today, when we are looking at a long and difficult crisis that we haven’t seen in these areas since the 1990s.

When you look back, what has been the path of development of a successful company like Krajina Klas?

– When you’re doing something for nearly 30 years, it all seems simple and usual and without big problems. However, when we look back and analyze how we get where we are, the realization is that it is a difficult path, full of sacrifice and risk. It is also clear that, without a certain amount of luck, there would be no success. On the other hand, there is no progress without learning and acquiring new knowledge, especially in a job like ours, because there have been no experts in this field in these areas for a long time now.

I believe that our biggest values are the knowledge and the people we have and that, in BiH, the biggest obstacle is that, due to the war, we are at least 10 years behind the competition and it is only with extremely hard work and dedication that we can compensate for that delay.

What characteristics should a good leader have? Is there someone who is an inspiration to you?

– You first need to be a born leader, and then acquire the skills and the knowledge. We have various kinds of leaders, so we can’t say that there’s the best one, the most capable one or an ideal leader, there is simply no formula for it. Personally, I learned the most from Jack Welch’s books and books published by Adizes Institute and I recommended them to everybody who wants to develop their company management skills.

Whose advice and opinion do you like to hear in considering business decisions and moves?

– Employers are known for not liking to listen to anyone, so I also listen to myself the most, that is, my internal sense. A man never makes decisions alone and each decision involves numerous associates who, each from their own angle, make conclusions about potential decisions. So, it is important to know how to listen, but in the end the decision is your alone. Of course, the final corrective factor is my wife, who always contributes her advice when it gets difficult and they always lead to right decisions.

How would you like the company’s operations to develop further? You recently announced that you wanted to enter the market of Serbia. How close are you to realizing those plans?

– We are already present in the market of Serbia, but considering that we have, without false modesty, technologically surpassed all the Ex-Yu competition and that we possess the knowledge that enables a quicker expansion, as well as that the capacities in BiH are nearly filled out, we have concluded that, for our further development, it would be good to open a facility in Serbia, because it is currently the biggest market and a market that has a need for quality products.

In general, all of us who export are handicapped in foreign markets, because we are from BiH, so everybody expects our products to be of a lower quality and that prices need to be lower. This is another reason why we should build facilities outside BiH. Of course, that decision is partially down to the constantly bad political situation in BiH and the fact that a dispersion of risks by having facilities in other states as well is good for companies such as ours.

As for the construction, we are currently in the phase of looking for land and negotiating with investors, because we cannot finance investments of that size ourselves and in a traditional way.

Slobodana Subara

Krajina Klas Banjaluka

Association of Employers of Republika Srpska

Adizes Institute

Saša Trivić

Jack Welch

Manja

Manja bakeries

production of baked goods

production of cakes

challenges

managers

leaders

Diary of Success