TechTalks is an initiative taken by Innovation Directorate part of DPTIIDH, featuring local entrepreneurs helping to strengthen our ecosystem. By inviting founders to answer some questions, we want to highlight the most inspiring stories and patterns of our ecosystem. We hope that by giving startup founders a space to share their knowledge and experience, we will all learn and grow together.
How has your career helped you with setting up your start-up?
I can say that my “career” started when I was in the 6th grade. I say this because at that time, I started to be active in some non-profit organizations and from that moment I learned the process of “problem solving”. I was always curious to learn different things and when I looked at everyday problems I thought about how to solve these problems. In high school, without realizing it, I started to deal with designs and video editing which gave me some income to use on a daily basis and then focusing on the field of multimedia, I went deeper learning new things In the first two years of university I started working as a Multimedia Designer in several companies and there I learned a lot about the operation of a creative company. Being a person who walks every day with the thought of “problem solving”, I used all my bad experiences in these companies to come up with an idea for a creative company and here we are today with Dora Creative Space. So to summarize, my career has helped me understand the ecosystem where I work and come up with something new.
What have been some of the biggest challenges for you?
Some of the biggest challenges I would say have been market entry, customer management and financial sustainability. Entering a market full of marketing and IT services was very difficult, but this difficulty made me realize that I had to compete with something different and helped me in the way the company offers these services. Customer management is a key aspect in the development of a company. This has been a challenge in itself as apart from bringing in new clients, you always have to consider managing existing clients and then managing all projects and deadlines as best as possible. Financial stability has also been a big challenge. This is because not everyone has the opportunity to have savings that they can invest in a business. Everything I have invested in the business has been working and investing at the same time making it more difficult to grow the business as I had to meet my financial needs first and then the business.
What have been some of the biggest wins of your engagement?
I think that creating a network of professionals dedicated to their work has been one of my main victories, but also the growth of the company’s clients only through referrals has been a huge victory for the company. Having these two main aspects that are ultimately the basis of the company’s creation, I believe that the company moves and grows itself every day.
What are some of the specific needs of Dora Creative Space?
Expertise in some fields such as legal, financial or business development I think are some specific needs of Dora Creative Space. I say this because in order not to have problems in the company, the legal and financial aspects must be regulated and coherent with every law. While expertise in business development is about the need that businesses in general have to grow further with the services or products they offer.
Why did you choose Tirana to establish and grow your business?
In fact, at first I thought of establishing the business in my hometown, Elbasan, but seeing the ecosystem where Dora works, I was convinced that the company would grow more in Tirana. The services that the company offers are closer to the needs of businesses in Tirana since the business climate is more developed and being so, our services are more requested by different businesses and individuals in Tirana.
What are the objectives of Dora Creative Space for the next 3-5 years?
We intend that in the next 3-5 years we will have created the right experience and expertise to enter the market of the Balkans, Europe and then all over the world with the services we offer.
If you want to share your history with our local ecosystem, you can contact us by email: digital@tirana.al
