Although the business climate in Serbia has for decades been adverse for the textiles industry and entrepreneurship, company Luna Fashion House has been operating successfully on the domestic market and exporting half of its production. Luna is a genuine example of how great effort, courage and investment in quality pay off in a big way
LUNA Fashion House, which has been a respectable brand both at home and abroad for years, won two prestigious awards this year – the Best Entrepreneur Award and an award for its contribution to the development of entrepreneurship in Central and Southeast Europe. The owner and director of Luna, Biljana Jovanović, says that flexibility and closely monitoring the needs of the market is what moves the company forward and sets it apart from the competition.
Despite very difficult times for the textile industry in Serbia, Luna Fashion has evolved in the last two and a half decades from an artisan shop to a large business system. What is the key to your success?
– Willingness to work hard, patience and courage are the main prerequisites for a successful entrepreneurial business. The most important thing for me when I first started was to overcome the existing challenges in the fastest and most efficient way possible, without letting down my customers and business partners.
Of course, in order to achieve all of this, I needed support from my colleagues, friends and family. Also, in my opinion, a positive business climate is one of the factors that motivates and stimulates entrepreneurs to invest in equipment and employees and move forward.
Your business success was also validated recently when your company received two prestigious awards in 2016, one of which was a regional award.
– It gives me great pleasure and is an honour for my company to receive two prestigious awards in 2016, which has been dubbed ‘The Year of Entrepreneurship’, and to be recognised as an example of good entrepreneurial practice.
In February this year, business magazines ‘Biznis’ and ‘Ekonometar’ gave us the Planeta Biznis Award for the best entrepreneur in 2015. In early March, we received a regional award called ‘Creators for Centuries’ for our contribution to the development of entrepreneurship in Central and Southeast Europe.
The latter award was officially presented to us at the regional entrepreneurial summit, TOP 300, which took place in Dubrovnik.
“The Creators for Centuries” regional award was given to Biljana Jovanovic and LUNA fashion for the contribution to the development of entrepreneurship in Central and Southeast Europe
Apart from being a respectable fashion brand in Serbia, Luna exports to the countries of the region and some EU markets. How popular is your brand there and do you have any plans to penetrate other markets?
– At this moment, our company is exporting more than half of its production. Successful export is primarily a result of design and quality of our products, as well as the overall quality of our business and our relationship with customers, which is something that we pay special attention to at Luna Fashion House.
Regular investments in business development and innovation are very important for advancement in business. What do you think enables you to keep up with the competition?
– That’s our flexibility and the way we listen to and monitor the needs and wishes of our Luna ladies. This is what sets us apart from other fashion brands and is what contributes to mutual understanding, as well as building and maintaining trust.