TechTalks is an initiative taken by Innovation Directorate part of DPTIIDH, featuring local entrepreneurs helping to strengthen our ecosystem. By inviting founders to answer five 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 graduated as an Italian language teacher and translator. Then i studied psychology for 3 years and during the pandemic i started my master’s in Business Administration. I am a person who wants to learn and i am constantly in the “Learning and Doing” method.

Since the age of 19 I have worked an average of 12-14 hours a day, even two jobs. This is because i always want to go much deeper and i dont like shortcuts. Professionally I took another journey when I started working in an Italian corporation that did business service for foreign companies, from Shkodra (Business Process Outsourcing BPO). There i went through all the hierarchical steps and i think that the experience and professional growth i got in that company has marked the pillars for my further development.

I have practiced the profession as a teacher and translator very little. But it served me because I have a passion for training and mentoring and therefore i transformed it into new and innovative methods of education, which the school system did not allow me. The development of Business or commercial products for a company has come very spontaneously, from experience. As a person i am very practical and i do not like only theoretical solutions. I have learned to provide practical solutions that are easily and quickly applicable to the business, which has also rewarded me with the credibility we have created in the market.

What have been some of the biggest challenges for you?

I am someone’s daughter, sister, friend, wife and mother, and besides when i started my journey in this business sector that i still operate today, the management, business technology industry had male dominance and being a female has made my journey really difficult. The biggest challenge is finding the balance between career and personal life. But I already understand that i have to create it because balances do not have a formula for how to find them and since i am a creative person, i believe i will find it soon.

What have been some of the biggest wins of your engagement?

I have never stopped educating young people for professional and personal development, also especially women who want to integrate in the world of entrepreneurship and not only. The methodology I follow is not easy, but it works and it is long-term. We have a traditional saying from the city i come, Shkodra, that says “I don’t want to teach them to eat fish, I want to teach them how to catch fish”, So i call it a victory that i have trained over 6000 people in the last 5 years alone and many of the young people i have mentored have developed and opened their businesses. We have a Startup incubator inside Vigàn where we mentor young people to get them ready to enter the market and influence the way the service industry in Albania is perceived today.

I am also very proud to represent Albania and these young people in many countries around the world so that they can manage to predate the business climate here fixed by those standards as the world loves its collaborators.

Vigan Group has been in the market for years, What are the achievements and challenges of this company?

Our achievement i think is market education in the business services sector, but not only. Vigàn Group has directly and indirectly influenced the government instance to increase the assessment and raise awareness on the economic, legal and managerial needs of business services, technology, digital capabilities, as an opportunity for economic development. This is a process that we continue to do even today, in close cooperation with the business organization in Albania for: R&D, ITO, BPO and SCC (ABSL Albania) and its members.

I have always believed and continue to believe that Albania has all the capacities, being a dynamic, energetic population with an average age of 36 years. This is a great opportunity because business technology and services are already proven, which can lead us to keep pace with the world. Also of international partners and never left in oblivion of the people who work in this industry, which was once called “shame” or “unworthy profession” and today is the most sought after profession in the market.

The challenges we have encountered as a company belong to all the links in the processes mentioned above, including:

  • Educating the business climate on the services sector.
  • Management and evaluation of staff in the service industry.
  • Continuous improvement itself as a company to be in line with the demands of the global market.
  • Quality assurance in every commercial intermediation act that Vigàn Group participates in, maintaining excellent relations with foreign clients and bringing capital to our country.

Why did you choose Tirana to establish and grow your business?

Before coming to Tirana, i, like many young people at that time, only saw salvation abroad and until 2010 i had a dream because i thought it was easier there. I did so, fled and worked for some time outside Albania. I was successful there too, they offered me a job with a very good salary. But for the public, that those who know me know, I am a nationalist and I really love my country. There I realized that we should not run away from difficulties, but face: “The heavy stone weighs in its place!” and so I decided to go back.

Opportunities in Shkodra for the profession i had were almost zero and so looked for a job in Tirana. I stabilized here. From the beginning i understood that it takes visionary faith and tireless work to walk and this city gives this opportunity: “Where is Tirana like tulips!”. Tirana is the place of great opportunities. It has evolved a lot since we founded the first Evolve business in 2014 until today. Human capacities, investments and being the most developed center of the economy for Albania, facilitate the process of any business. Without question, for this reason we have a headquarter here, because from here other centers can be developed very easily, such as: Shkodra and Korça or in other countries where we have offices today. Especially after the pandemic, when digitalization was given the importance and attention it deserved, it became more evident to everyone.

If you want to share your history with our local ecosystem, you can contact us by email: digital@tirana.al