STAIRWAY TO SUCCESS WITH BOB SMITH: THE WORK EXPERIENCE IN ONE’S YOUTH IS PRICELESS-THOSE ARE THE FIRST STEPS TO INDEPENDENCE
Born in Beverwijk, grew up in Schoorl, located 5km from the North Sea. They went swimming there in the middle of the summer when the water was only 13 to 17 degrees Celsius. This is why Dutch people bathe in the Ohrid Lake in the spring! This is the story of Bob Smith, a Dutch who speaks Macedonian excellently and who, in 2002 decided to move to Macedonia. Today he is the executive director of the Dutch –Macedonian Chamber of Commerce-NL Chamber (http://www.nlchamber.org.mk/). Led by the principles that anything is possible, that high school students in Macedonia should work during the summer holidays in order to feel what personal earnings mean, that the economy demands efficiency, Smith says that Macedonia has a lot of unexploited potential. This is his stairway to success.
His father, an engineer at Tata Steel as a child took him to the factory to show him the entire process of steel production-from furnaces to continuous casting to rolling. Enormous machines and cranes, high temperatures, dust and the odor of lubricants…Smith says that production processes fascinate him even today. He graduated from high school at Alkmaar and he attended various classes such as Dutch, English and German languages, economy and natural sciences (physics, chemistry and mathematics). At that time he was quite interested in acting. He was member of a small group of actors and was active in the school’s acting groups. For the play at the municipal theatre they had even sold out the tickets for four evenings in a row.
Right after he graduated he went for a six week trip across Europe with the Interrail Railway. He was very interested in Eastern Europe and he was sorry he could not feel the atmosphere in Germany before the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. His first destination was Prague then Budapest and Athens.
-It was 1993 and I had told my parents I was planning to travel via Italy but I followed the tips of other young tourists to take a shot cut through Yugoslavia. And so, I got my first visa at the Yugoslavian Embassy in Budapest. Last year when the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs visited the country, Mr. Stef Blok, he told me it was not his first time in Skopje. When he travelled from Budapest to Athens many years ago, in the middle of the night he opened his eyes and realized that he had arrived in Skopje but kept on sleeping. I literally did the same thing! I had no idea that 10 years later I would be living in Skopje!-Smith says.
In the years after this trip he had taken many visas-for Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus-Sankt Petersburg immediately stole his heart.
I looked for broadness in education
He was always thrilled with the food industry and he almost studied food technology at the University of Wageningen but he did not want to specialize in just one area. Today he is well connected with the University.
-At the moment the University of Wageningen has a very hard working Rector with vast work experience in public institutions, businesses and the world of science, Ms. Louise Fresco (link to bio: http://www.louiseofresco.com/HTML/UK_BIOlong.html). I would very much love to bring her here to inspire us all! Her way of explaining things on the importance of the feeding technology of the world is beautiful
He studied in Eindhoven, far from his native town. He became quite independent very fast and started living with roommates. Since they spent the weekends in Eindhoven, shortly after they bought a used laundry machine. And just like in high school, at university too, he sought broadness. –Industrial engineering and management-sciences connect all sciences important for the everyday working of the industrial businesses: economy, finance and law, human resources and communication as well as engineering. He is a generalist and is capable of understanding experts from all fields and to connect things-to build bridges between different branches. -This is why today it is very important for me to hear different opinions and of course, find the best solution. We are flooded with economists and attorneys…of course there are added values in these fields as well but whoever insists on spending their working years on a chair, with a laptop, should consider studying IT! Economy demands efficiency! –asserts Smith.
He is happy that he operates in different sectors with very different organizations. The thread is the broadness-seeing things from different angles and learning the finesses of every new field.
-To find the links and connect the dots. Smart knowledge connecting and capacities for problem solving or stimulating development, are the primary works of NL Chamber. The true networking requires deep understanding of the entities, their possibilities, desires and limitations and especially their staff. It is necessary to build trust, maintain relations and again, this requires a lot of time-explained Smith.
The work experience in one’s youth is priceless
He believes that for any human being, working from an early age is important. Any work. Since it is temporary and voluntary, if you do not like it, you can change it but ultimately, the experience is priceless.
-Earning your own money, despite the infusions of the parents, is a great satisfaction. These are the first steps to independence. And so, the internship at university will not be your first work experience!-Smith says.
His first job was pealing tulip bulbs. He was 14 and it already time for him to start working for some of the summer holiday. He laughs and says that he could not bear it, he dreamt bulbs every night. The next year his father told him in the spring that he should start looking for a seasonal job. He applied at the local supermarket to be a shelf stacker but the cashier told him that he will be working with her.
-At 15 this was an unexpected challenge for me. But, from that moment, until I left to go to university, every holiday and every weekend I worked at the registry at Albert Hein. I enjoyed working with the consumers and my colleagues, most of who were also high school students. We learned a great deal about responsibility. I was very proud to be part of a multinational retail giant, Ahold. I bought my first computer with the earnings, type AT from the then Dutch brand Tulip-recalls Smith.
As a student he worked typical students’ jobs: preparing postal packages, night shifts at logistics centers, packing meat products and also, he worked several years at the IT helpdesk at the university.
-I worked a lot because I needed a lot of money for my travels! I often travelled through Eastern Europe with AEGEE-students association that exists in Skopje too. Low budget travelling, sleeping at members of the association from abroad, welcoming foreign students at home…With such friendships, naturally the desire for more opens. I was seeking for a company in Southeast Europe where I could do my theses and I found a Dutch construction company that was interested in me to conduct a research on the ongoing activities in Romania at the time, in order for the company to improve their expansion to other regional countries-Smith explains.
They agreed with the director of the company to work together on the development plans in Eastern Europe. However, the plans failed and Smith was left without any experience but with great desire to work, no family, free, single and he decided that in order to get the experience he needs, he should migrate.
-Romania was the most logical destination but there were already young Dutch people there who had established a good consulting company for bilateral business relations. So, I chose the small, unknown Macedonia and at that time there were almost no Dutch companies. There was a big developmental potential in the bilateral businesses and without any competition for an inexperienced person such as myself-he says.
Finding happiness is no accident but a challenge
He experienced his migration as the most drastic change at the time. With a group of people they founded the Association for Dutch-Macedonian Business Relations but separated at the end of 2005.
-I was once again left without any earnings. But before that I had made many contacts, I had learned the Macedonian and I acquired significant trust from multiple sides. Luckily, I was acquainted with a consultant from the Dutch Government Agency CBI with an assignment to lead 5 year program for the development of the textile industry for export to the EU. She urgently needed help and we connected. We were leading this very intensive program together, we realized many activities in Macedonia and abroad. I perfected my Macedonian to my current level and of course, I learned a lot. We are still close friends-Smith says.
In 2010 the then Ambassador Simone Filippini expressed her desire to establish a Dutch Chamber. Three Dutch entrepreneurs had accepted the challenge and contacted Smith knowing that previously he had worked on something similar.
-I accepted the challenge to establish and lead the Dutch-Macedonian Chamber-NL Chamber with much bigger experience and knowledge. On January 18th 2012 we founded the Chamber in the premises of Pivara Skopje as part of Heineken that even today, is still our main supporter. The Ambassador offered us the offices at the Dutch Embassy where we are located. Diplomats are a different kind of people, but through the years I learned to understand them, their rules and way of thinking and “build bridges”- and thus, bring the entrepreneurs who now always have the understanding of the functioning of government institutions, brought closer to them. I have to admit that this story has quite a lot of happiness. But, happiness is everywhere, we just need to open our eyes and notice it. Finding happiness is no accident, it is a challenge!-asserts Smith.
My sister too picked up Macedonian habits
In his story the biggest challenge for him was moving to Macedonia. He did not know anything about the country, he did not speak Macedonian and yet he wanted to build his life here. At the beginning his parents were very skeptical, but after a year or so, his father told their neighbors “You see? When you truly want something and work hard for it, anything is possible!”
-It was a big compliment for me. It was not very difficult for me to adjust and I see that other Dutch people have it easy as well. There are big inefficiencies and this I believe, is the hardest thing to accept. But the people are very hospitable. Family and friends are very important and this value is lost in The Netherlands. Private life is also conducted according to a very strict agenda. I am very pleased that in Macedonia I can go almost anywhere unannounced and still feel welcome. It’s like a warm bath-we say. I often tell the story about my sister in order to explain the difference. At the beginning I agreed to go visit her. But the next day she called me to tell me that she will not be able to welcome me on that day because she had made prior arrangements with friends three months ago. In Macedonia this cannot be: “I am your brother! I live 2500 km away and I cannot come see you whenever it suits you. And if you have made arrangements with friends, the more the merrier!” My sister knows that I always tell this story. In the meantime she picked up the Macedonian way of thinking and I am always welcomed to stay as much as I like-says the anecdote of Smith.
He has a lot of commitments and duties at the Chamber but his focus is on maintaining the network by listening carefully, understanding and then connecting to find specific solutions.
– Целта ми е да ги здружам членовите во уникатни активности, полни со позитивна енергија и нови идеи. Сакам да биде една многу цврста мрежа од претприемачки дух. Предизвик е да се зголемува комората, без да се изгуби таквото чувство. И штом во предходните години растела со нови современи ИТ фирми со млади кадри, време е да се фокусирам на подмладување на самата комора. Многу ми се допаѓа да бидам во центар како пајак во пајажина, но морам да бидам реален: не е за секогаш – вели Смит.
Не е до законите, туку до старите навики
-My aim is to unite the members into unique activities, full of positive energy and new ideas. I want to turn it into a very firm entrepreneurial network. The challenge is to increase the Chamber without losing this entrepreneurial spirit I mentioned. And since in the past years it grew with new, modern IT companies, with small staff, it is time for me to focus on rejuvenating the Chamber. I like being in the center, like a spider in a spider web but I have to be realistic-it is not forever-says Smith.
It is not the laws but the old habits
When asked about the business climate in Macedonia he offered the example with the banks-technology provides options for facilitation but banks require a special form for anything.
-The design of the forms is disastrous. Writing and writing on dozens of pages, your hand hurts in the end! The basements of the banks are full of paperwork. Can anyone manage to find anything in those basements? This seeming security of unlimited paper collecting is false. Or for any income from abroad the banks require an invoice. And then banks explain that it is because of money laundering law. The National Bank, the PRO….all the companies should deliver an invoice for each transaction! It is 100% control and it is suffocating businesses. And I will say this again: It is false security-the paperwork is in the basement. Even the Customs do not have 100% control on all trucks. It cannot be done- it is impossible. Banks should signal the PRO if a transaction seems suspicious such as for example a micro company having major cash flow from a strange country. And then again banks justify their actions-National Bank demands it…but this approach will not change anything. I dare the legal officials to find me a law or a regulation where it is clearly stated that there always has to be a request or form and a separate document for any given service. There is no. Well, even if there is, change it! The laws are not that restrictive, we are!-he explains.
He is convinced that it is not up to the laws but to the people that firmly cling to old habits. The law is one thing but enforcing the law is another. According to him, the biggest potential of Macedonia is honest cooperation. One cannot do anything by force. He says that agriculture has a huge potential but that if there is no development in future, this sector will be part of the past.
-Cautious consolidation of the land is required. It is a painful process but if we wish to develop agriculture we will have to do it. And we need to develop more respect towards the labor force. Not everyone should attend universities to have a comfortable life. The shortage of labor force is already posing a serious problem, not just in agriculture. How come we push all young people to attend university? To advertise the country as highly educated country without workers?-he asked.
He had a group of farming students from The Netherlands in May. Every single one of these students has a farm at home, and wakes up early to help with the farm before they go attend classes. –When they came here, they immediately went to the stables in every farm we visited (http://nlchamber.org.mk/content/news/newsletters/NLChamber2019-14.pdf), to examine the food and they took samples from the excrement of animals to see whether it is well processed by the animal’s stomach. We are in desperate need of such passion for one’s vocation, for any vocation. And yet, I still enjoy here. I met very hard working people, businesspeople, members of NGOs, officials. Let us keep what is good and improve what we can. There is future under this Sun!
