November the 7th, 2023 – The Croatian Skill Box platform was born from the curiosity of two women from Zagreb who have personal interests in the back stories of those who have succeeded in their ideas and concepts.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, looking at the situation globally, knowledge has long been a capital value and a quality investment in any conceivable business concept. However, in the current world dogged by the inflation of data, sources, institutions and platforms of all kinds, it’s sometimes difficult to recognise human excellence.
The fact that the Republic of Croatia also has a “horse for the race” in this particular segment has been shown by the entrepreneurial venture of two women from Zagreb who launched an interesting project a year ago – the Croatian Skill Box platform, which functions as a regional digital knowledge platform.
The Croatian Skill Box platform is a central place of sorts that gathers professionals and experts from all different fields of activity, who, through their lectures, use their own concrete examples to convey their knowledge and experience in their respective fields of expertise.
The idea behind the Croatian Skill Box platform is simple and unrelenting among us all – curiosity
As the co-founders of this project, Lida Hamar Paladin and Ivana Radovniković Marković, explained, the idea for Sill Box came from their own curiosity because they’re personally interested in the backgrounds and “origin stories” of people who have succeeded in their various ventures, ideas and concepts.
“Nowadays there are so many different occupations in the world, some of them may not be so popular, but it’s very important to know about them all. We want to broaden the horizons of the younger generations. We hope to open up their eyes and convey the message that knowledge is still very, very important, mentoring is crucial, and that one should continuously try and that every failure is a step closer to cracking it and achieving success. Knowledge should be available to everyone,” Lida Hamar Paladin stated.
Inspiration as a driver for success
Some of the experts who will share their knowledge through the Croatian Skill Box platform are: Krešimir Macan, Miroslav Varga, Marijan Palić, Aleksandar Stanković, Ekrem Dupanović, Dalibor Matanić, Tomo Ricov, Larisa Lipovac Navojec and Marina Bolanča, just to name a handful.
The initiators of Skill Box explained that they cover various fields, such as entrepreneurship, art, sports, gastronomy, technology, design and so on. Their goal is to transfer knowledge, to network lecturers, subscribers and followers. They recently celebrated two years of existence, and during that period they created a base of almost a thousand subscribers.
“Our subscribers are individuals and companies of all sorts of different profiles, at the minute, we’ve got equal representation of men and women, their age is on average between 25 and 55 years old, and they’re interested in different fields. Marketing and entrepreneurship do have a small advantage for now. I must mention that all areas are still being filled with content, we’re continuously filming and we’re just opening up certain more specialised topics that are within each area, so I believe that our audience will change and supplement accordingly.
A platform for all those willing to learn
We’re aware that in the modern day, it’s crucial to meet targets, but this platform is really intended for everyone who wants to learn and expand their knowledge. Whether they’re just starting out with a career or changing careers, they’re going to be looking for encouragement because they want to express themselves in a field they thought was out of reach to them previously.
The idea is to inspire people in the aspiration to upgrade their knowledge, and listen to first-hand experiences from those who are successful in their chosen field. That’s why we focus on the best lecturers, because their motivation is to pass on knowledge and experience, and at the same time to make it a kind of legacy,” said Ivana Radovniković Marković.
B2B and subscription models
Her colleague Lida added that although they were originally focused on the B2B model, the Croatian Skill Box platform also works on a subscription model, semi-annually and annually. “If we’re promoting the idea of a platform in such a way that knowledge is available to everyone and everyone has the right to learn from the best, then we have ensured it in the best way by doing it this way.
Our other users are various companies that have recognised our content as one of the quality tools on which they can hold various workshops with their employees. This is most often used by departments closely related to digital marketing, employer branding, self branding and so on. Then, we’ve got companies that have decided to reward their employees with certain subscription leases and thus motivate them in their further work. The platform is being used for many reasons, and that’s exactly the goal, to spread knowledge”, stated Lida Hamar Paladin.
Regional ambitions
After launching Skill Box here in Croatia, they recently took their first serious steps towards neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina. “As ambassadors of the Womman.Comm Club here in Croatia, we had the opportunity to present the Skill Box at their second international conference called “Power of Communication” in Sarajevo together with lecturers Ekrem Dupanović and Irena Miličević Vukoja.
What awaits us now are intensive meetings with lecturers in the area of Slovenia and in Serbia, whose markets we’ve planned to enter for the beginning of 2024. Of course it’s challenging, we’re trying to promote the importance of knowledge and different skills in a world where knowledge isn’t really “in fashion” anymore in terms of content. That said, we do find open doors wherever we go because we get to meet like-minded people in all areas who believe that only through knowledge, learning and broadening our horizons can we have a better society,” Radovniković Marković stated.
These entrepreneurs and educators aren’t planning to stop there, either. They also have some extremely ambitious plans for the coming period. Lida Hamar Paladin stated that they currently have seven lecturers in the editing process, twelve of them are in the process of filming, and there are more than a hundred of them on the waiting list.
“At the same time, as ambassadors of the Woman.Comm Club, Ivana and I will continue to be their extended arm in the world of communication. And as Ivana said, Skill Box, as it is in Croatia, should be positioned on the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and Serbia as well,” concluded Lida.
