Snežana PerovićHemomont

Nevenka RaičevićPerla Cosmetics

Alexandra AubertinZnuggle

ISSN

035

0-53

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Finalna konferencija S3

Pametna specijalizacija:

inovacije, preduzetništvo

i konkurentnost

Od male fabrike ljekova do proizvodnog lidera

Ručno rađeni prirodni sapuni od domaćeg bilja

Kvalitetni i lijepodizajnirani proizvodilako nalaze kupce

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Broj 9Septembar 2018.

Ručno rađeni prirodni sapuni od domaćeg bilja

Nevenka Raičević, vlasnica Perla Cosmetics

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Prava receptura je ključ kvaliteta naših sapuna. Sapune pra-vimo najviše od domaćih sirovina jer volimo da se pohvali-mo sapunom koji sadrži biljke iz naših krajeva poput žalfije,

ruzmarina, lavande, koprive. Upotrebljavamo i dodatke čija su bla-gotvorna svojstva po kožu već odavno potvrđena. Namjera nam je, prije svega, bila da djelo naših ruku, koje kupi inostrani turista, ostavi makar mali pečat u domovima širom svijeta i zamiriše na bilje koje raste u našoj zemlji. Bitno nam je i to što stranci ne bira-ju slučajno ovaj proizvod. Naprotiv. To čine sve češće što pomaže našem biznisu da raste. Većina naših kupaca kaže "Vidi se da vi volite da radite ovo” i obašnjavaju da primjećuju našu posvećenost i ljubav ugrađenu u ovaj posao, riječi su Nevenke Raičević, vlasni-ce "Perla Cosmetics".

Glasnik: Na bazi bilja ručno pravite sapune "Perla" i imate stalne kupce (domaće i inostrane). Kada ste krenuli u ovaj posao? Je li vam profesionalna orijentacija (dipl.ing. tehnologije) pomogla u tome? Da li li zadovoljni rezultatima biznisa?

N. Raičević: Posao je počeo prije nego što sam uopšte shvatila da mi to može biti buduće uposlenje. Prije tri-četiri godine sam pra-vila male probne količine sapuna za svoju porodicu. Sapune sam često poklanjala svojim najbližim prijateljima koji su mi bili najbo-lji kritičari. Osluškujući njihove sugestije radila sam na korigova-nju recepture i konačno smo dobili sapun koji ima kvalitet više i može se pohvaliti visokom ocjenom Instituta za javno zdravlje, već prepoznatljivim, neodoljivim mirisnim notama eteričnih ulja koje koristimo u izradi, neobičnom i originalnom pakovanju i ono što je najbitnije blagotvornim svojstvima koje imaju za kožu koju čiste i njeguju bez isušivanja.

Nekadašnji hobi i zabava, nastala iz potrebe da zaštitim članove svoje porodice od upotrebe agresivnih industrijskih sredstava za njegu kože u čiju prirodu, ni ja, iako tehnolog po struci, nijesam upućena, prerasla je prošle godine, u biznis. Naime, tada je osno-vana firmu pod imenom "Perla”, a nju činimo ja, tehnološkinja i Snežana Vidaković, inženjerka. Osnivanje firme je podržala Unija poslodavaca koja je u okviru projekta Evropske unije organizovala predavanja sa ciljem da se da podrška mladima i nezaposlenim visokoškolcima, a naročito ženama u započinjanju biznisa. Prateći uputstva i savjete sjajnih predavača koje smo bili počastvovani da slušamo u okviru ovog projekta krenuli smo u građenje sopstve-nog biznisa. Registrovali smo firmu, a potom aplicirali sa svojim biznis planom za podršku koju je omogućila Unija poslodavaca u okviru ovog projekta. Tom prilikom dobili smo podršku u vrijedno-sti od 1000 eura koju smo iskoristili za kupovinu sirovine, a potom smo takođe aplicirali kod Asocijacije poslovnih žena gdje smo do-bili pomoć u vidu izrade veb sajta. Sve ovo je bio "vjetar u leđa” za pokretanje naše male proizvodnje.

Svakako da mi je stečeno obrazovanje dipl. inženjera tehnologije pomoglo da brže postignem pravu recepturu koja je ključ kvaliteta naših sapuna. Pored toga, proizvodno iskustvo iz firme u kojoj smo obje radile 21 godinu nam je omogućilo da proizvod radimo, poštu-jući sve što je neophodno i zakonom propisano, da bi se našao na tržištu.

Nakon godinu dana postojanja, možemo biti zadovoljni postignu-tim – plasirali smo preko 6 000 proizvoda na tržištu, skrenuli smo pažnju korisnika i poslovnih ljudi u našoj zemlji i šire, a naše sapu-ni su turisti birali i kupovali kao suvenir iz Crne Gore.

Glasnik: Pored sajmova, u zemlji i inostranstvu, na kojima ste stal-no prisutni, kako još plasirate vaše proizvode. Interesantne su pri-če stranaca koji objašnjavaju zašto najčešće biraju Vaše sapune. Prisjetite se neke od tih priča.

N. Raičević: Pored sajmova na kojima smo i počeli plasman naših proizvoda, sapune, za sada, prodajemo i u objektima zdrave hrane u Crnoj Gori, a cilj nam je da što skorije proizvode ponudimo i ne-kim većim trgovačkim lancima i hotelima. Iskreno se nadamo da ćemo sklopiti neki od poslovnih aranžmana koji će biti od obosta-nog interesa. Međutim, sajmovi ostaju i dalje najljepše iskustvo na putu promocije naše firme i proizvoda. Naprije zato što na njima upoznajemo interesantne i kreativne ljude od kojih uvijek može-mo čuti nešto novo i korisno, a što može na neki način poboljšati i naš biznis, zatim možemo da ostvarimo dobre poslovne kontakte ili, da dogovorimo neki posao, i u konačnom sajmovi nam, naročito tokom sezone na Primorju, omogućavaju kontakt sa inostranom klijentelom, a što im otvara put van granica Crne Gore. Prekrasan je osjećaj kada shvatite da će djelo vaših ruku zamirisati u domo-vima širom svijeta i kada znate da stranci nijesu slučajno odabrali ovaj proizvod. Mi smo više nego ponosni na reakcije kupaca, po-put one najčešće "Kako kod vas miriše?”, na divnim riječima za-hvalnosti nakon kupovine i što je važno oni koji jednom kod nas trguju čine to i kasnije. Kupci prepoznaju našu posebnu odgovor-nost i emociju prema ovom poslu i uzvraćaju, komplimentima i pažnjom. Pomenuću samo jednu od neobično lijepih situacija sa sajamskih štandova. Ovog ljeta je jedan mladi Italijan, proveo sa nama gotovo sat vremena na štandu u Porto Montenegru. Izuzetno svjestan bitnosti prirodne njege tijela, divio se proizvodima, mi-risao ih i slikao kako bi ih pokazao svojim prijateljima i konačno trgovao. Nakon toga je ostao sa nama da razgovaramo o "zelenim trendovima” u svijetu. Rekao nam je da koristi samo prirodne pro-izvode za njegu kože, a mi smo odmah uvidjele da mnogo zna o tome. Na kraju je poželio da on prodaje umjesto nas na štandu. Mnogo je bio interesantan kada je objašnjavao razliku između industrijskog i ručno rađenog sapuna, a drugim kupcima, vidjeći njega sa kupljenim i upakovanim sapunima nije bilo jasno – ko tu kupuje, a ko prodaje.

Glasnik: Kako pravite sapune? Koje bilje i ulja koristite za proizvo-dnju? Najviše sirovina u vašim sapunima je iz Crne Gore.

N. Raičević: Izrada ručno rađenih sapuna je zanat i majstorstvo, za koji se zna da je postojalo još u drevnom Vavilonu.

Mi u izradi sapuna koristimo biljna ulja i to: maslinovo, kokoso-vo, palmino, ricinusovo i suncokretovo. Najprije se izmjere soda i voda u odgovarajućem odnosu, a potom se izmiješaju. Oko tog dije-la treba biti jako pažljiv. Dok se ta smješa hladi, vagaju se ulja koja trebaju da se zagriju. Kada se izjednači temperatura sode i vode sa temperaturom ulja počinje čarolija nastanka sapuna. Sapun je u toj fazi još uvijek donekle tečan, pa se može izlivati u drvene kalupe,

Sapuni "Perla" su izrađeni od sirovina iz naše zemlje čime se, uz kvalitetan proizvod, afirmiše domaće bogatstvo i kvalitet biljnog svijeta.

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koje zatim prekrijemo i ostavimo da odstoje 24 sata. Tako ušuškan, ovaj sistem odrađuje proces saponifikacije. Nakon 24 sata sapun režemo i uvijek nam je iznenađenje šara koja je nastala, koja nikad nije ista. Potom sapune pečatiramo po čemu su prepoznatljivi na tržištu. Da bi sapun bio upotrebljiv, mora da odstoji mjesec dana. Tek nakon toga kreće pakovanje i plasman na tržište.

U izradi sapuna, pored biljnih i visokokvalitetnih eteričnih ulja,upotrebljavamo biljke i dodatke koje inače koristimo kao ča-jeve ili začine, a čija su blagotvorna svojstva po kožu već tradici-onalno potvrđena, poput koprive, žalfije, cimeta, kurkume, zelene i bijele gline, aktivnog uglja i dr. Iako u procesu proizvodnje kori-stimo, ne samo sirovinu iz Crne Gore, upravo najviše volimo da se pohvalimo sapunom koji sadrži biljke iz naših krajeva poput žalfi-je, ruzmarina ili lavande. Tako na svojevrstan način promovišemo bogatstvo i kvalitet biljnog svijeta naše zemlje. Namjera nam je, prije svega bila, barem kada govorimo o inostranom kupcu, turisti, da kupujući naš proizvod sa sobom ponese i detalj koji će ga pods-jećati na Crnu Goru i po kome će pamtiti boravak u našoj zemlji. I konačno, ali nikako manje bitno, većina naših kupaca često ko-mentarišu: "Vidi se da vi volite da radite ovo”.

Glasnik: Nastojite da sapunima date i estetsku dimenziju pa je nji-hov dizajn, zaista, znalački osmišljen. Da li je to Vaše djelo ili Vam neko asistra?

N. Raičević: Cilj nam je bio da napravimo sapun koji ćeimati kva-litet više–izuzetno dopadljiv, opojnih mirisa eteričnih ulja i što je najvažnije da nam koži daje svilenkastu, nježnu teksturu, koju smo uglavnom narušili agresivnim industrijskim sredstvima. Kad je riječ o dizajnu nametnulo se karakteristično "šibica" pakovanje sa manjim otvorom u vidju djeteline koja je dio naše logo priče. Ideja za pakovanjem, logom i uopšte cjelokupnim dizajnerskim rješenjem je naša, mada smo koristili savjete ljudi dizajnerske struke. Ovo se rješenje pokazalo odličnim i neobičnim tako da svi na njega reaguju pozitivno i pohvalno.

Glasnik: Da li je ovaj posao isplativ ili je samo dopuna kućnog bu-džeta?

N. Raičević: Ovaj posao još uvijek predstavlja prihod koji je dopuna kućnom budžetu. Međutim, namjera nam je da i naredne godine promovišemo naše proizvode i sklapamo dobre poslovne aranž-mane što će omogućiti da prihod od ovog biznisa preuzme vodeću ulogu u kućnom budžetu. Već imamo nagovještaja da će tako biti.

Glasnik: Imate u planu da proširite asortiman proizvoda. Šta još planirate da proizvodite?

N. Raičević: Svakako da nam je u planu proširenje asortimana. Međutim, plasiranje novog proizvoda je dugačak put i nipošto nije nešto što se može raditi na brzinu. Potrebno je pribaviti odgova-rajuću sirovinu, zatim lično isrobati proizvod, nakon toga odraditi korekcije, osmisliti i uraditi pakovanje, testirati na Institutu za jav-no zdravlje, pa tek onda raditi na promociji i plasmanu na tržištu. Sljedeći poslovni korak bi trebalo da bude proizvodnja paste za zube koja će takođe pratiti zelenu, prirodnu liniju proizvoda.

Glasnik: Da li je teško raditi kozmetičke proizvode s obzirom da oni itekako utiču na zdravlje kože ljudi.

N. Raičević: Nije teško ukoliko koristite kvalitetnu sirovinu koju znalački ugradite u proizvod. Znamo da sastojci u našim proizvo-dima imaju izuzetno blagotvorno i kvalitetno dejstvo na kožu i onda nam nije teško, niti da ga pravimo, niti da ga preporučujemo.

To je sasvim prirodno i predstavlja pravo uživanje, naročito kada nam se jave zadovoljni potrošači koji se iznova vraćaju našim pro-izvodima.

Glasnik: Jeste li imali podršku državnih i drugih institucija u fi-nansiranju Vašeg biznisa?

N. Raičević: Za sada smo imali podršku Unije poslodavaca Crne Gore i Asocijacije poslovnih žena, tj. tamo gdje smo aplicirali, tamo smo i dobili podršku. Smatramo da je još nije vijeme za neku veću kreditnu podršku, prvo treba da proširimo asortiman proizvoda i tržište ili napravimo neki veći poslovni iskorak koji ne bi mogli isfinansirati iz tekućeg poslovanja.

Glasnik: Kozmetička industrija u Crnoj Gori bi tek trebalo da se razvija. Pošto imamo bogate prirodne resurse, dakle imamo osnov-nu sirovinu za proizvodnju. Koliko preduzetnice, poput Vas, dopri-nose tome?

N. Raičević: Ženama je svakako dato, da posvećuju znatnu pažnju njegi kože i uopšte ljepoti te da budu u toku sa savremenim tren-dovima u kozmetici. Pored toga, naša zemlje ima dobru sirovinsku osnovu, pa kreativnost i marljivost naših žena može biti dobitna kombinacija za neku prepoznatljivu kozmetičku industriju u bu-dućnosti. Mi smatramo da radimo jedan pionirski posao na pro-storu naše zemlje, a i šire.

Glasnik: Navedite neke kozmetičke proizvode koje žene rade u Cr-noj Gori. Srijećete se sa njima i razmjenjete iskustva.

N. Raičević: Postoji više žena proizvođača-sapuna, krema, mele-ma, stikova, dezodoransa i sličnih kozmetičkih proizvoda. Svaka od njih daje svojh lični pečat proizvodima po kome je potrošači prepoznaju i sve imaju svoju klijentelu. Svi mi , razmjenom među-sobnih iskustva, nastojimo da unaprijedimo sopstvene biznise. Do sada smo uspostavili divan i lični i poslovni kontakt sa proizvođa-čem prirodne kozmetike "Ana-Marija” iz Nikšića čija se kozmetika zasniva na medu i vosku. Naši i njihovi proizvodi se međusobno nadopunjuju, preporučujemo jedni druge, a i korisnici nas prepo-znaju kao povezane biznise. Nadamo se da će naši biznisi jednog dana prevazići granice Crne Gore.

Glasnik: Pričinjava li Vam ovaj dosao zadovoljstvo?

N. Raičević: I više od zadovoljstva. Ljubav je pokretač svega, to je ono što nadahnjuje, ispunjava i pomaže da se prepreke, kojih uvi-jek ima, što lakše prevazilaze.

Glasnik: Saopštite sve što nije obuhvaćeno pitanjima, a trebalo bi da kompletira priču o Vašem lijepom biznisu.

N. Raičević: Na kraju poruka za sve naše korisnike u vidu objašnje-nja na pitanje " Zašto koristiti ručno rađeni sapun?”

Zato što on ne sadrži vještačke aditive, parabene, niti sintetičke deterdžente koji su vrlo često izazivači alergijskih reakcija.

Zato što on prirodno njeguje kožu, ne isušuju je, a zahvaljujući iz-dvojenom glicerinu koji nastaje u procesu saponifikacije usporava se proces starenja kože.

Zato što ne sadrže bilo kakve sastojke koji mogu izazvati ekceme, psorijazu ili dermatitis koji su sve češća kožna oboljenja.

I konačno, zato što prirodi i prirodnom ne treba potvrda, a mi či-nimo sve da se vratimo njoj, poštujući je i koristeći najbolje iz nje. Vaše je samo da upotrebom prirodnog dozvolite vašoj koži da vam zahvali.

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Natural hand-crafted soaps made of local herbs

Nevenka Raičević, owner of Perla Cosmetics

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The right recipe is the key for the quality of our soaps. So-aps are mostly made of domestic raw material given that we prefer praising that we have soaps made of local herbs

such as sage, rosemary, lavender, and nettles. We also use other supplements whose beneficial influence on the skin has been pro-ven. Primarily our intention was to ensure that a foreign buyer, a tourist, when buying our products, takes with them part of Monte-negro. We want our soaps to stimulate their senses and fix in their minds as memorable experience by which their will remember visit to our country. Majority of our buyers notice our dedication and the sense of love which is weaved in this business, so they often say: "It is obvious that you love what you do", said Nevenka Raičević, owner of "Perla Cosmetics".

Glasnik: The herbal soups "Perla" are hand-made and you have re-gular customers (domestic and foreign). When did you start this

business? Does your professional orientation (B.Sc. in technology) help you in this? Are you satisfied with the results you achieved?

N. Raičević: The business started before I even realized that this can be my future vocation. Three to four years ago I was making small trial batches of soap for my family only. I was giving them as a gift to my friends who were my best critics. Listening to their suggestions I was making corrections on my recipe and finally we got a soap which is even more than that. It has got high qualifica-tions at the Institute for Public Health, and it is recognizable for its adorable aromatic fragrances of the ethereal oils that we use in their preparation, unusual and original packaging and what is most important the beneficial influence on the skin, which means that it purifies the skin and nourish it without drying.

Former hobby and entertainment, aroused from a need to protect

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members of my family from the use of aggressive industrial pro-ducts for skin care, of which composition even I, as a technologist, know very little, turned into business last year. Namely, the com-pany named "Perla” was founded, and it consists of me, a techno-logist and Mrs. Snežana Vidaković, an engineer. The establishing of the company was supported by the Union of Employers which, in the framework of the European Union project, organized lectu-res in order to support young people and the unemployed univer-sity graduates, especially women who are starting up their own business. Within this project we were honoured to listen excellent lecturers and following their instructions and advices we started establishing of our own business. We registered the company and then we applied with our business plan to get the support provided by the Union of Employers within this project. On that occasion, we received support in the amount of 1000 Euros that we used for the purchase of raw materials, and then we also applied to the As-sociation of Business Women where we received help in the form of web site development. All this was a "wind at our back” for laun-ching our small production.

Certainly, being a Graduate Technology Engineer helped me to come faster to a right recipe which is the key to the quality of our soaps. In addition, the production experience from the company in which both of us worked for 21 years enabled us to make a product, respecting all that is necessary and legally prescribed in order to be placed on the market. After a year of existence, we can be satis-fied with the achieved - we have marketed over 6000 products, we have drawn the attention of users and the business people from our country and abroad, while our soaps were chosen and purcha-sed by tourists as a souvenir from Montenegro.

Glasnik: In addition to trade fairs, in the country and abroad, where you are constantly present, where else do you place your products. The stories of foreigners explaining why they usually choose your soaps are very interesting. Can you remind us of some?

N. Raičević: In addition to the fairs where we started placement of our products, so far we have been selling our soaps even in the healthy food markets in Montenegro, while our goal is to offer our products as soon as possible to some larger retail chains and ho-tels. We sincerely hope that we will conclude some of the business arrangements that will be of mutual interest. However, fairs will remain the most beautiful experience in the way of promotion of our company and products. First of all because there we meet interesting and creative people from whom we can always hear something new and useful, and which can in some way impro-ve our business. Secondly, we can make good business contacts or, arrange a business, and finally, the fairs, especially during the season on the coastal part of the country, provide us with a possi-bility to get in touch with foreign clientele, which opens the way beyond the borders of Montenegro. It's a wonderful feeling when you realize that what your hands made will spread its fragrance in many homes around the world, when you know that someone’

hands will touch the seal "handmade soup” and spend a moment of their lives admiring this beautiful small product from Montene-gro. We are more than proud of customers’ reactions, of the won-derful words of gratitude after purchase and what is important those who trade with us once they always come back. Customers recognize our special responsibility and the emotion towards this business and in return they give us compliments and their atten-tion. I will mention only one of the unusually beautiful situations from the fair stands. This summer, a young charming Italian, spent almost an hour at a stand in Porto Montenegro with us. Extremely aware of the importance of the natural body care, he was admiring the products, smelling them and making photos to show them to his friends and of course he purchased some of them. After that, he stayed with us to talk about the "green trends” in the world. He told us that he uses only natural skin care products, and we imme-diately realized he knew a lot about it. In the end he wanted to sell products instead of us at the stand. It was very interesting when he was explaining the difference between the industrial and hand-made soap, while other customers, seeing him with the purchased and packed soaps, were not sure who was a buyer and who was a customer.

Glasnik: How do you make your soaps? Which herbs and oils do you use in production? The most of raw materials in your soups are from Montenegro?

N. Raičević: Making handmade soaps is a craftsmanship and skill, which is known to have existed in ancient Babylon.

Our soaps are made of the following vegetable oils: olive, coconut, palm, castor and sunflower oil. First, we measure the sodium and water in an appropriate ratio, and then we mix them. From that moment, one should be careful given that the reaction produced is followed by heat release. While this mixture is cooling down, we are measuring oils that need to be heated. When the tempera-ture of the sodium and water becomes the same as the one of the oil, the miracle of soap making starts. The soap is still somewhat liquid at that stage, so it can be poured into wooden molds, which are then covered and left for 24 hours. This system represents the saponification process. After 24 hours the soap is firm enough to be cut. We are always inpatient to start cutting in order to see the pattern that was created, since it is never the same. Then we seal the soaps by which they are recognizable on the market. Before it is ready for the use soaps are put aside for a month. Only after that, packaging and placement on the market begins.

In the preparation of soaps, in addition to vegetable and high qua-lity essential oils, we use herbs and supplements that we usual-ly use as teas or spices, which beneficial effects on the skin have already been traditionally confirmed, such as nettle, sage, cinna-mon, turmeric, green and white clay, activated carbon etc. Althou-gh in the production we do not only use raw material from Monte-negro, anyway we prefer to show those soaps made of herbs from

"Perla" soaps are made of raw material from our country by which, in addition to the high quality product, we are affirming national wealth and the quality of local flora. Tourists very often choose and buy these soaps as souvenirs from Montenegro.

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our region such as sage, rosemary or lavender. Thus, in a certain way we promote the richness and quality of the flora in our coun-try. Our intention was, first of all, at least when talking about fore-ign buyers, tourists, by purchasing our product to bring with them part of Montenegro that will remind them of our country and the fragrance of our soaps to impress deep in their minds and always remind them of their stay in Montenegro. And finally, but not less important, most of our customers often say: "It is obvious that you like what you do”.

Glasnik: You are trying to give your soaps an aesthetic dimension, so they are really well designed. Is a design a result of your work or you have assistance?

N. Raičević: Our goal was to make a soap that will be even more than that – an extraordinarily attractive, so fragrant that we wish an intoxicating scents of essential oils to overwhelm not only our bathrooms abut also our bedrooms and most importantly, to give our skin a silky, gentle texture, which we have mostly damaged with aggressive industrial products. When it comes to design, the accent was put on two things, first to be available so that everyone can enjoy its scent and the uniqueness of its handmade seal, befo-re they decide to buy it. In order to meet these two requirements, a characteristic "matchbox” package with a smaller hole in a form of clover which is part of our logo story. The idea of packaging, logo and in general the whole design solution is ours, although we used the advices of many people from the design profession. Although we did not have enough experience in that area, this solution tur-ned out to be excellent and unusual so that everyone responded positively and with praise.

Glasnik: Is this business worthwhile or is it only a supplement to the home budget?

N. Raičević: This job is still an income that adds up to the home budget. However, our intention is to promote our products next year and make good business arrangements, which will enable the income from this business to take the leading role in the home budget. We already have a hint that it will be so.

Glasnik: Do you plan to expand the range of products. What else do you plan to produce?

N. Raičević: Certainly we are in the process of expanding the as-sortment. However, placing a new product is a long process and it is not, in no way, something that can be done that quickly. It is necessary to obtain the appropriate raw material, then personally try the product, then make corrections, design and make the pac-kaging, test it at the Institute for Public Health, and only then work on the promotion and placement on the market. What presently occupies our attention and what we plan to place on the market in the near future is toothpaste that will also accompany the green, natural product line.

Glasnik: Is it difficult to produce cosmetic products given that they really affect the health of people's skin.

N. Raičević: It is not difficult if you use a high quality raw material that you incorporate into the product. We know that the ingredi-ents in our products have extremely beneficial and high-quality effect on the skin and it is not difficult for us to make it, nor to re-commend it. It is quite natural and it is a real enjoyment, especial-ly when satisfied customers return repeatedly to buy our products.

Glasnik: Did you have a support of the state and other institutions

in financing your business?

N. Raičević: So far, we have had the support of the Union of Emplo-yers of Montenegro and the Association of Business Women, that is, where we applied, we got support. We don’t think it is time for some major credit support, at least until we expand our range of products and the market or make some major business step for-ward that could be financed out of the current business operation.

Glasnik: The cosmetics industry in Montenegro is yet to be deve-loped, given that we have rich natural resources, that is, a basic raw material for production. Do women in business, like you, con-tribute to it?

N. Raičević: It is in the women’s nature to pay more attention to skin care and beauty, and to keep up with modern trends in co-smetics. In addition, they are mostly very creative. Therefore, a good raw material base, the creativity and diligence of our women can be a winning combination for a recognizable cosmetic indust-ry in the future. We personally feel that we are doing a pioneering work on the territory of our country, and beyond.

Glasnik: Can you name some cosmetic products that women in Montenegro produce. You are meeting these women and share experiences.

N. Raičević: There are several women who are producers of soaps, creams, balms, sticks, deodorants and similar cosmetic produc-ts. Each of them gives their own personal seal to their products by which consumers recognize them and all of them have their own clientele. All of us, more or less, meet each others at fairs and exchange experiences, trying to improve our own businesses. So far, we have established a wonderful personal and business con-tact with the manufacturer of natural cosmetics "Ana-Marija” from Nikšić whose cosmetics is honey and wax based. Our and their products are complementary to each other, we recommend each other, and users recognize us as related businesses. We hope that our individual business stories will one day cross the borders of Montenegro.

Glasnik: Does this job bring you pleasure?

N. Raičević: It is more than pleasure. Love is the driving force of everything; it is what inspires, satisfies and helps removing obsta-cles, which are always present.

Glasnik: Is there anything else that you would like to share with us in relation to your wonderful business and which is not covered by our questions?

N. Raičević: At the end there is a message for all our users in a form of an explanation of the question "Why one should use a handmade soap?”

Because it does not contain artificial supplements, parabens or synthetic detergents that are very often cause of allergic reacti-ons. Because it naturally nourishes the skin, which is our largest organ, they do not dry it. And thanks to the extracted glycerine that comes out of the saponification process, the skin aging pro-cess slows down. They do not contain any ingredients that can ca-use eczema, psoriasis or dermatitis, which become more frequent skin conditions. And finally, it is because nature and what is natu-ral do not need confirmation, and we are doing everything possible to return to nature, by respecting it and using its best. It is up to you to choose natural products to let your skin thank you.