Speaking to Brankica Borović via telephone call, her warm, inviting essence transmits from thousands of miles away. Her laugh is gentle yet infectious and her humility and accommodating nature are refreshing, to say the least.
The Croatian businesswoman's friendly nature can easily make you imagine that the two of you can sit in a cafe eating the Croatian dessert delight, Hungarian, while sipping your favorite beverages and having an engaging chat.
Someone's perception but what makes Brankica, Brankica? What traits is she known for among her peers, family, friends and associates? Borović coyly answered, "Well, I'll skip the first thing that crossed my mind, since if I tell you (what) my brother calls me, I could jeopardize the sense of this entire interview, since the 'business' character would be substituted with something (very) 'informal'.
I guess that the dear people I am surrounded with see me as a workaholic, professionally oriented and a perfectionist but at the same time, eager to share with them those rare happy moments that life sometimes treats us with."
Sharing duties at the helm at Viktoria Natural Cosmetics for over ten years, Borović's entrepreneurial path came long after a series of self-development pursuits. Giving an overview of her early life accomplishments before becoming an entrepreneur, she shared, "Just before my Post-Graduate studies in Italy in International Business and Public Policy, I went to Washington DC, and did some college courses connected with abnormal psychology (that helped me immensely during my future demanding collaborations). So, after finishing my Post-Grad studies, I started working in Rome in International Cooperation as a Project Manager. It was a busy, colorful and interesting time of my life.
There, I met my husband, Paolo, and together we matured the idea of leaving everything behind. Turning the new page of life was crazy but at the same time, a wise thing to do. We never regretted it." The couple joined hands and began their journey into business. "I am the Co-Founder and co-owner of the company. The other part of this magic holds my husband, Paolo. Since it is a family-owned business, we are both involved in all the roles. I am more dedicated to the production, sales and marketing, while he holds the ropes of the entire chain of cultivation of raw materials and their transformation process."
Viktoria Natural Cosmetics has two lines surrounding donkey milk and immortal flowers. She expounded on the distinctive lines. "The basis of the gold regenerating line is immortal essential oil, hydrolat and infused oil. It is widely known that immortelle flowers contain a high proportion of italodione, which helps tissue regeneration. Thanks to its composition, immortelle essential oil has a regenerative effect and is one of the best remedies against different skin damages (hematomas, scars, irritations, redness) but it also has a strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect. It is best known as a magical oil that works against wrinkles, spots and other skin irregularities. This is why we formulated the entire skincare routine with tonic, balm, cream and serum, and at the moment, we are developing some new products, dedicated to the tired, dry and mature skin.
Since it is a family-owned business, we are both involved in all the roles...
Regarding the premium line with the donkey milk, it is intended for sensitive skin that craves high-quality moisturisers. The benefits of donkey's milk are already widely known, and the most famous story about donkey's milk and its effect on the skin is that of Cleopatra, who is known to have achieved her fresh and youthful appearance by bathing in donkey's milk. Whether the Cleopatra story is a legend or a truth, we can safely say that this line is unique on the Croatian market. Due to the presence of fatty acids, lactose and vitamins in donkey's milk, the skin significantly shows the presence of collagen. Moreover, it strengthens the natural protection of the skin from external factors and skin elasticity is more visible. We dedicated this line to all skin types since it provides excellent hydration.
All our cosmetics are registered in the European CPNP Portal (Cosmetic Products Notification Portal), dermatologically tested, allergen tested, tested on microplastics (donkey milk face cream and shower gel), nickel tested (face sheet mask)."
About their start in business, she said, "I believe we started the company the day we planted the first immortal flower (Lat. Helichrysum Italicum), which was 11 years ago. We launched the first cosmetic line in 2020 and at the same time the Covid pandemic appeared. 'Perfect timing', someone would ironically say. However, I believe there are no failures, just the results from which you can learn a lot and move on stronger. Thanks to this inconvenience and due to the specificity of our business and our life story, we gained remarkable mass media attention. For the past four years, we have been in all national and private TV stations, magazines and newspapers. So every cloud has a silver lining after all, doesn't it? Consider that the zone where we developed our entire business is the post-war zone. Nineteen years ago, the war ended here and it did not leave much prosperity behind. It is considered that our success here is not only the business one; moreover, it is the picture of human evolutionary indestructible force.”
While some might think that the skincare industry is crowded, strong-willed as she is, she felt enthusiastic about gaining success. What was her inspiration to enter the skincare arena?
"In one word? Nature. I love the true energy and power you gain simply when you respect it, listen to it and you open yourself to it. This is why we, as a couple, had the strength of putting aside (other) ambitions and rising careers and came to the small village in Croatia, Raducič, situated within the Krka National Park, where at the time, my grandparents lived. We started cultivating their unused land that today sources our main ingredients for our farm-to-face cosmetics. It was more than ten years ago, and since we had no professional education regarding skincare and we were dreaming of closing the production cycle and having the entire chain of production under our control, we started the education process. Ten years later, I am a Pharmacist Technician and Aromatherapist."
I strongly believe you need to know every single detail of your business.
Citing the depths of dedication in entrepreneurship, the blonde utopian stated, "I strongly believe you need to know every single detail of your business. To know it that well as if you have in yourself a working team for each sector your business is involved in."
What was the vision for Viktoria Natural Cosmetics and who is their demographic?
"Our vision was that 'Viktoria' becomes the symbol for healthy, luminous and happy skin. Our community, customers and clients are growing daily and their feedback, reviews and experiences are the confirmation that we are on the right track. People are more and more aware of the importance of the dermatological 'food' you put continuously on yourself. Your skin becomes truly grateful, and believe me, I am not exaggerating by personalizing the skin. Once it tries the true immortelle essential oil-based cosmetics, it understands what the regeneration process means."
The farm-to-face concept might be new to many. Asked to explain the farm-to-face concept, generally and specifically for Viktoria Natural Cosmetics, Borovic elaborated, "Farm-to-face cosmetics are the new-age luxury. It is the slow luxury, the one that comes from nature, from that peace that our souls long for. Furthermore, the luxury of respecting that nature. We can guarantee the traceability of our main ingredients and this leads us to high-quality cosmetics. In the world where white label production dominates, we are aliens but very much requested by the market of highly aware consumers on the importance of natural ingredients."
For those who may not know, the white label business option in layman's terms, involves the purchase of products that were mass-produced and basically business-owners have the legal ability to simply apply their branded labels to those products. Those products would have already gone through the process of research and development, etc. Therefore, business owners sidestep the extremely high costs of activities, processes and steps that concern the pre-manufacturing and manufacturing phases.
In our distillery, we transform the immortal flowers into essential oil and hydrolates, and 50 meters from the distillery, in our laboratory, we produce premium natural cosmetics.
Borović continued, "Following the farm-to-face approach, we grow the basic raw material ourselves and we do not depend so much on new trends in cosmetic raw materials and on the unavailability of certain raw materials when the shortages occur. We have the entire control over traceability. Today, big skincare conglomerates dedicate huge budgets to guarantee traceability. To us, it comes naturally.
Basically, we own plantations of immortal flowers, almonds, iris flowers and the donkey farm. In our distillery, we transform the immortal flowers into essential oil and hydrolates, and 50 meters from the distillery, in our laboratory, we produce premium natural cosmetics. As a result of this complex chain, we launched two certified cosmetic lines under Viktoria Natural Cosmetics, made from immortal flowers and donkey milk, and named after our six-year-old daughter.
These products are now distributed in over 100 stores and have gained significant media attention. We are now ready to expand beyond Croatia. What Viktoria Natural Cosmetics implemented is that it is possible to create successful premium cosmetics from agricultural raw materials cultivated in clean rural areas."
The work that encompasses this massive operation is undeniably monumental, what with owning, operating within and overseeing 100% of the business. What is the framework of the business from manufacturing to retail sites?
She explained, "It is a full-time annual work composed of three sectors. The first one, the basis for all the cosmetics, is the cultivation of raw materials. Immortelle flowers plantation and the donkey farm, since those are used now in our cosmetics. The other plantations represent our future cosmetic lines. In order to maintain the farm-to-face concept, you need to plan years in advance. Regarding the immortelle plantation, the process of manufacturing happens during the entire year, and the crucial moment is the time when we gather the flowers, which happens in late June or the beginning of July. Once we gather the flowers, they must be distilled within 24 hours, otherwise, the essential oil from it will lose its quality. It takes from 500 to 1000 kg of flowers in order to have one liter of essential oil. It is a highly concentrated oil; I'd say a pure elixir.
As for the donkey milk, we source it from our farm, only when the baby donkeys are ready to eat grass or hay on their own. So far, we have never exhausted our entire supplies, and the years behind us demonstrated that we are ready to get out of the national borders to the international market. Once we source all the raw materials, in our laboratory we produce more than ten different cosmetic products. When the production is finished, it is all being tested in certified pharmaceutical laboratories, and once it is approved, it goes out into the world.
We have different selling points. Online channel, through our webshop that perfectly covers the national market, Europe included, only that it is not yet developed to its full potential. We also have a local shop that is more like an exclusive experience, since other than buying products, you can enjoy seeing donkeys, distillery, and of course, our Viktoria's Corner. It's been three years now that we are successfully collaborating with the retail market and some of our products from the donkey milk line are enlisted in more than one hundred stores."
As exhausting as the days can be, what excites her the most about this journey? With much gratitude, she said, "This is a transformative journey and what excites me the most is the happiness it brings infallibly despite all the challenges."
Overjoyed at current success and future possibilities, she shared a unique selling point of the business. "We are truly proud of the unique selling point that we created on our property, Viktoria's Corner, as an exclusive experience, since it enables the client to understand in a very short (time), the concept of farm-to-face cosmetics. Today in Viktoria's Corner, you can immerse yourself in a transformative experience of meeting nature for one day, and apart from our beautiful donkeys, you will get to know our laboratory and distillery and see how the fruits of our Dalmatian land are transformed into a line of cosmetics full of quiet luxury.
Here, in the silence of our green paradise, you can really feel the core of our work, understand the story behind each bottle and cream, and choose what suits you best, guided by your own feelings and intuition. This being said, we are very much aware that this cannot be our exclusive selling point, thus we are in search of high-profile selling points that appreciate and understand the quality of such premium products."
Another goal that they are bent on achieving is expanding outside of the almost 4 million Croatian population where they've had remarkable scaling and growth. As the company is geared towards international expansion, which territories/countries would she like to enter?
Once we source all the raw materials, in our laboratory we produce more than ten different cosmetic products. When the production is finished, it is all being tested in certified pharmaceutical laboratories, and once it is approved, it goes out into the world.
"In terms of our readiness, concerning logistics and certificates, today we are ready for the EU market. We would love to collaborate with concept stores, beauty centers and specialized retail shops. Certainly, with our organic growth, we are open as well to the global scaling and worldwide market. It would be a dream come true."
Viktoria Natural Cosmetics has not only received widespread attention, but its Co-Founders have also enjoyed being formally recognized within industries and forums. Borovic happily shared about the company's accomplishments and awards they've secured within recent years.
"I like to think that all the awards we won in the past years are the result of teamwork, even though there is my name on it. In 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture declared our company as the 'Best Family-Owned Business' of our region of Šibenik-Knin. The year after, I was declared the second-best farmer in Croatia by the Ministry of Agriculture. In 2023, I won the award as the 'Entrepreneur of the Year' by the Association of Business Women 'Krug', and the same year, our Donkey Milk shower gel won the prize as the best one in the category, Body Care, by the GRAZIA Beauty award. This year, we are in the nomination of the European award for Agricultural and Rural Inspiration Awards (ARIA) 2024."
In retrospect, she thinks about the long hours, arduous planning and unrelenting schedule, all while trying to determine the work-life balance. What would she say was the biggest challenge in the early stages of business?
She confided, "There have been many serious challenges during our ten-year long path. Entering the retail market with such a complex business was quite demanding, but the past three years demonstrated that this challenge just gave us bigger wings. Our challenge at the moment is to find an adequate market outside our country."
On a personal front, what has been her biggest eye-opener in business?
Pensively, she replied, "The importance of marketing. But not any marketing. Just the one that presents the pure, naked, bare truth of who you truly are and what is the profound uniqueness of your product. At one point in our business development, I simply could not understand why if we have such a high-quality product, why it is not being sold as much as we hoped for. We simply did not present it in its depth."
All in all, she and her husband, together with their committed tribe, overcame and conquered the occasional roadblocks and delays and navigated the disappointments and setbacks. Her mindset is powerfully positive. "I like to think that when you truly love what you do, you actually don't work a single day in your life. It is still not all just fun but I am getting there."
One powerful move that she made was becoming a Member of the Global Chamber of Business Leaders (GCBL), which operates out of Europe and has Members, Country Delegates, Advisors and Partners from all around the world who operate in countless disciplines, industries and fields .
There have been many serious challenges during our ten-year long path.
Borovic's satisfaction and excitement were undeniable. "Becoming a Member of the Global Chamber of Business Leaders was an easy decision. When the international community, like the GCBL, sees the profound potential in a seed, speaking in terms of farm-to-face cosmetics language, rather than in the final product as premium cosmetics, it is priceless.
We are the family company still not known enough outside our national borders but still, the international spirit the Global Chamber of Business Leaders proposed to us was the proactive energy we hoped for.
Trust, support and success become our common goals. At the same time, the idea that with our presence, example, energy and knowledge we can contribute to the improvement of the GCBL, opens up another vision of progress. Simply, this type of collaboration is destined to mutual success."
Taken from / Source: https://www.pressreader.com/switzerland/global-times-magazine/20241015
EN 
HR