In collaboration with POP TV, we are organising monthly "Stories of Acrobats" events with Uroš Slak, who hosts successful individuals in Trbovlje, the City of Acrobats, who are changing the world for the better. This time, the guest was Štefan Pavlinjek from ROTO, and Tobija Holcar and Svit Bobek presented themselves as young Acrobats, having won at the POPRI competition with their innovation – the Smart Helmet.

Interesting thoughts from Štefan Pavlinjek's conversation

Children must learn that entrepreneurship is exciting.

Opportunities for young people like those in Slovenia don't exist abroad. You need to take advantage of the opportunities and have a good mentor who will guide you, and then someone who will globalise it and organise production.

The real team has to be number one. You can buy machines, you can buy a hall, but if you don't have a good team of people, you've got nothing.

Symbolically, we could say that young people are like birds – you have to let birds fly, not take their energy away. You keep an eye on them and occasionally pull them a bit to the right or left or back, if finances aren't keeping up. But God forbid, ... to take energy from the young.

Naturally, you look at it from the perspective of being well-regarded and accepted by your surroundings. In your home environment, you must be that “good uncle” who also means something to the community. This is our task, as we are locals.

Our relationship with employees is good, it has to be, otherwise we wouldn't get people. Nowadays, the best person is the one who wants to work, not the one who has to work.

Some work FOR US, others work WITH US. These ones need to be looked after particularly well. They give us vision, future, they live and breathe the company...

In Prekmurje, we are connected. We try to have a human connection. Ultimately, we are all human.

If you lure someone to your company, you must also provide them with a good salary and opportunities for advancement, and such things. Your job is to make them happy. Let's look after our domestic employers, because we have a connection to our own people. In Slovenia, in Prekmurje, we have good people.

If you don't see joy in work in the next generation, there's no point in forcing them to take over the company. Sometimes it's better to sell the company than to torment someone to run it.

It's good to have mentors who are skilled in what you need. It's a shame to struggle all by yourself; it's better to learn from those who already master it, and then pick up where someone else leaves off.

Slovenians are innovative. If you throw us out the door, we'll find a way back in through the window.

Working in socialist times was difficult. As a craftsman, you were a second-class citizen. You couldn't get work. If you did get work, you were from Austria Smugglermaterial, as it wasn't here. Then there were restrictions, that you could have a maximum of four workers at first, then six.

Having diverse branches is both good and bad. It's difficult to manage everything, but you aren't dependent on market situations.

Every economics student should have their own sole proprietorship during their studies.

You must always think about where you will sell it. How you will be able to bring it to the other side of the world and how you will sell it.

The global market is hungry for new innovations.

Slovenians cannot to tinkerwith large series. But we can sell domestic intelligence, innovation, flexibility and skill. This should be our vision – to do innovative things and globalise them immediately. This last part is where we're a little lacking.

We educate, grant scholarships, reward, and generally give young people opportunities. Why wouldn't they stay at home?

Young friends from Prekmurje went to work in Austria, but Thank God, coming back.

Strong development means you are solving a problem for the person who is developing it. Then you are no longer a supplier, but a partner.

I always say that something (from above) is guiding you…

You always have to be one step ahead of the competition if you want to be a leader. Being a leader is a very expensive thing; it is easier and cheaper to be a follower. But it is good to be a leader.

Despite all the digitalisation, personal contact with customers must remain.

Flying a helicopter is like running a business. Every entrepreneur should have a pilot's license – because both there and in business, you are responsible for yourself, you are also responsible for your family and all your employees. When flying a helicopter, you need to see where to fly to reach your destination; for you to get there, all the instruments must be in the green; and if the engine happens to fail, you must always see a field to land in. It's the same in entrepreneurship – you need to have a goal, know the path to the goal, and if something happens, you need to know where you can land safely so that you can at least carry on with that core group.