ABOUT ME
My name is Djordje Petrovic, born in 1977. I spent a significant part of my life as a professional athlete. In 2009, I fulfilled a lifelong ambition by starting my own business. Like many entrepreneurs, my journey was marked by numerous challenges, with more setbacks than successes. I learned through experience, often the hard way, by facing obstacles head-on and growing from my own mistakes.
In May 2010, after facing numerous challenges and setbacks, I unexpectedly met Eric Ponsen, a Dutchman who had been living in Mionica for six years due to his love for his Serbian wife. Remarkably, he lived just 300 meters from my home. We quickly became close, spending time together almost every day. Initially, our conversations revolved around shared interests, with little mention of entrepreneurship. However, as our friendship deepened, Eric became increasingly curious about my business. He began asking about the challenges I was facing, how I approached problem-solving, and what my future plans were. After listening to my answers, he would offer suggestions on how to tackle these issues and improve my business. Each time I implemented his advice, my business grew—so rapidly that I sometimes struggled to keep up.
“How do you know all these things?”
What I didn’t realize at the time was that Eric, who was 63 years old then, had over 30 years of experience running his own business in the Netherlands. Before deciding to settle in Serbia, he managed a holding company with six businesses, all generating multi-million-euro turnovers.
Over the following years, I spent hours each day with Eric, discussing entrepreneurship, company management, the mindset of successful individuals, life lessons, motivation, sales, and more. These conversations eventually led to the idea of starting our own partnership.
In March 2014, Companies Connected was founded.
Thanks to Eric’s extensive network and the strong reputation he had built, we immediately began collaborating with some of the world’s largest companies on various projects. This was a completely new world for me, but it accelerated my learning and development. Each day, I would debrief with Eric, discussing how I perceived meetings or events, analyzing what was said, and strategizing our next steps. He would challenge me to think critically about how potential clients reacted, how to improve our business, and more. After every conversation, Eric would, as he put it, “plant a seed in my mind,” which would eventually grow into new knowledge, a fresh perspective, or a deeper understanding of the processes and the world around me.
In June 2016, Eric passed away.
He once told me, “I’ve learned so much in my life, and I will continue learning as long as I’m alive. It would be a waste to take all that knowledge to the grave with me, so I’m going to try to teach you everything I know.” During the seven years I spent with him, I absorbed lessons that would take a lifetime to learn. Some of the things he told me years ago I now fully comprehend; others, I’m still working to grasp. Eric was willing to share all his knowledge and experience with me—acting as my friend, mentor, support system, and, at times, my harshest critic. With the benefit of hindsight, I can see how profoundly my time with him shaped me, both as a person and as an entrepreneur.
"I, Entrepreneur"
Based on my personal experience, I realized the immense value of having a mentor—someone from whom you can learn and who can share their experiences with you. This approach allows you to grow and improve at an accelerated pace. However, I also became aware that many people don’t have a mentor and don’t learn from others, despite the fact that modern technology has made this knowledge more accessible than ever before. After Eric’s passing, I sought out wisdom from other successful individuals worldwide. Yet, I quickly recognized that some of their solutions and advice weren’t always applicable to the Serbian context. Unfortunately, I found that there were few opportunities to hear directly from successful Serbian entrepreneurs.
With all this in mind, at the beginning of 2018, the idea for a series began to take shape. It took some time for everything to come together, but I envisioned a platform where people considering starting their own businesses, as well as those already running one, could learn valuable business and life lessons from successful entrepreneurs. The goal was to provide insights from those who have achieved tangible results with their companies.
So far, some of Serbia’s and ey-YU region’s best entrepreneurs have been my guests, ranging from veterans with over 20 years of experience to newcomers who have been in business for just two years. Regardless of their tenure, each has something valuable to teach. Through these interviews, viewers can hear how these entrepreneurs started their companies, the challenges they faced, how they overcame them, the effort required to achieve their current success, and the advice they would offer to someone just starting out. The series is designed to help viewers improve, learn new things, and become better entrepreneurs—and better people.
In a way, this series is my way of giving back, offering others a glimpse of the incredible opportunity I had through my friendship with Eric, for which I will be eternally grateful. Today, this initiative has grown into the largest platform for entrepreneurs in the region, helping countless individuals on their entrepreneurial journey.
Dutch - Serbian Business Assciation
Together with three other entrepreneurs—Bojan Leković, owner of KupujemProdajem; Tom de Boer, owner of Todebo; and Cees Hilhorst, owner of S-Biom, who sadly passed away recently—we initiated an effort that, with tremendous support from the Embassy of the Netherlands in Serbia, led to the official founding of the Dutch-Serbian Business Association (DSBA) in June 2018.
Some of the largest Dutch companies, such as Heineken, Ahold Delhaize, Unilever, Levi9, and Vahali, along with numerous small and medium-sized enterprises, joined us. The Netherlands employs over 15,000 people in Serbia and has invested nearly €2.5 billion in the country between 2010 and 2018, making it the largest foreign investor in Serbia during that period.
At the General Assembly held in February 2019, I was elected as Executive Director and a board member of the Dutch-Serbian Business Association (DSBA), a role I consider one of the highest achievements of my professional career, as well as a significant responsibility. DSBA now has over 30 members, and we have established strong relationships with other associations and chambers of commerce. We’ve hosted several networking events and educational sessions, achieving remarkable progress in a short period—something I’m truly proud of. Collaborating with the Board, DSBA members, and colleagues from other associations provides me with continuous learning and development opportunities, which I find invaluable.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
In 2019, I founded Companies Connected Consulting in Serbia, a company that offers consulting services in management, organization, marketing, design, digital transformation, and employee education—areas where my colleagues and I have deep expertise. We specialize in working with family businesses, particularly in the areas of professionalization and succession planning. That same year, we began collaborating with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), where we work on various projects, helping other companies maximize their potential through these initiatives.
I consider our cooperation with the EBRD to be an exceptional recognition—a confirmation of the expertise, quality, and tremendous effort I have invested over the years. When you do what you love and, through your work, help your clients improve, grow their companies, and develop the people within those organizations, which in turn benefits the communities they operate in, it brings a deep sense of fulfillment and happiness. I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to do this work and for the chance to meet and collaborate with phenomenal people, with whom I can share and exchange knowledge.