How we took out a loan, bought toys and earned

(The story of my first real business)

When we were around 21, most people were figuring out what they were going to drink on Friday.
I was figuring out where to get €15,000. And not to buy a car or a new watch. But so that my friend Miš and I could start selling RC models – helicopters and drones in shopping malls all over Slovakia.

We didn’t have an investor. We didn’t have an “uncle from America”. All we had was our heads, the will to work and a plan.

💸 When the bank sees that you really want to pay it back

I remember the moment when I was sitting in the bank and asked the clerk how much I would overpay that loan if I paid it back in 2-3 months.
She raised an eyebrow. Most people take out a loan for years, not a few months. But I knew one thing – either we give it up and fast, or we fall. And I wasn’t planning to fall.

We have ordered hundreds of items from China. My area was the east, Mish’s was the west.
Christmas season was our Super Bowl.

And the results came.

At peak times we were making €3000 a day.
There was nothing left of our first big purchase – everything sold out. And we paid off the loan in January with a bundle of money on a bed in a sublet. No Instagram, just real cash.

💥 In what ways has it shaped me?

  • I’ve learned that success is not about what you have – but what you can do with it.
  • I’ve learned that being an entrepreneur means being able to take risks – and being willing to face them.
  • And most importantly: real results will only come through a good dose of courage and work.

Today I have a company that operates in 5 countries and employs hundreds of people. But the mindset that got me there, I already set when I did those RC models.Not every business has to be for life. But every business has something to teach you.

The first book I read changed my life

I’ve never been a big reader. In high school, I took books as a compulsory ride, and if you had to choose between reading and training, training won.

The turning point came at a stage in my life when several things turned around at once. A relationship that I took seriously was over. It was the point at which one asks a few uncomfortable questions and starts looking around for what to do next.
She used to go to development seminars and mentioned some books. I had them in my head, so I ordered one of them.
“Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill.

And I started reading.

I remember the exact sentence I stopped at:
“Big changes often come when we least expect them. And those who can grasp them properly can be completely transformed by them.”

That was exactly my condition.
I don’t pretend that all it took was one book to magically solve everything. But something stirred in me. I started thinking more about who I am, where I’m going and what I really want.
It was no longer enough to just do business. I also started working on myself.

Today I go to seminars that give me a new perspective – for example, I learn a lot from people like Peter Krištofovič, with whom I had regular seminars.
Last time I was at an event with Pavel Neruda, where through a play and theatre in the Stage on Mars project we dealt with life issues that one often suppresses oneself.

Self-development has become a routine for me just like training used to be. Not because it’s popular. But because it works, I just want to say one thing:
Sometimes it only takes a little to change a lot. But you have to do that little bit.
 For me, all I had to do then was open the first book. And today I am grateful that I did.

Success is not about how you look. But what have you really built.

Today, all you need is a borrowed car, a luxury watch from the bazaar and a good filter. And suddenly you’re looking like entrepreneur of the year.
On Instagram, you’re king. But you’re a loser on Finstat.

I grew up in a time when you couldn’t just “play” success. Either you had it or you had to work for it.
And that’s exactly how I take it so far.

Many people ask me why I don’t put everything I do on social media. Why am I not there 24/7, why am I not showing every invoice, every meeting, every day of my life.
The answer is simple: because I don’t need it. And most importantly – because the results have to speak for me.

I’m a person who likes facts. Numbers. Reality.
I built a company that employs hundreds of people, operates in five countries and has millions in sales.
I started other companies. I invest in real estate. I’m building something that has durability.

And alongside that, I meet people who have 20,000 followers but not even a trade.
Their success lives only in stories, not in reality. Their business is an illusion – nicely packaged but empty.

Don’t get me wrong – I have nothing against social networking. They’re a super tool when you know why you’re using them.
But the problem is when the tool becomes reality, and reality becomes just a backdrop.

If someone convinces you today that they are successful, check what he really built. Not what he took pictures of.

Because in the real world, it’s not the one who looks rich who wins, but the one who can create value. For the people. For the market. For myself.And that’s exactly how I see success.
It’s not about shouting. It’s about the result.