From Urban Legend to a Life Path
My story with Mikrocop begins long before I was officially employed there. Before joining Mikrocop, I ran my own microfilming business and worked at a university microfilm centre. Back then, in Croatia, people in the industry often spoke about one great authority: Koritnik.
Ljubo Koritnik was a true urban legend. There was a story everyone in the profession knew: when Koritnik’s Kodak service team arrived at a bank, it was no joke. Three specialists would come—one for mechanics, one for optics, one for electronics—open the machine, inspect it, and then the specialist from the area where the fault occurred would take over. Even if the other two had come “for nothing”, that was the standard that meant the issue was almost always fixed on the spot. That level of professionalism impressed me.
At exactly that time, Ljubo was looking for a director and needed someone who knew the local market, knew the people, spoke Croatian, and could represent Mikrocop across the country. When we met for coffee, we clicked immediately. That conversation became a turning point—and that’s how I became the third employee of Mikrocop Croatia.
First Years: Two Years Without a Deal, but with Maximum Trust
Looking back today, those first years feel almost unbelievable. I joined Mikrocop in 1995. I closed my first real sales deal only in 1997. Meaning: for two years the company lived off its existing fixed revenue and invested in its (and my) future. For anyone who watches nothing but KPIs and Excel profit tables, that would be an unacceptable strategy—and a reason to panic.
Not for Ljubo. He never said a single negative word. He never pushed, never looked for someone to blame. That truly inspired me. And then that first deal arrived—a major project with the former SDK. We delivered microfilm equipment, equipped four locations, handled installation and training, and set up a system that allowed the client to microfilm their own documents.
That’s when I told myself: if Ljubo didn’t raise the question of sales performance for two years, then I now need to be sales-successful for two years—only then are we “back to zero” in terms of my employment profitability. Bonuses could wait until much later. And they did come.
That kind of relationship is part of Mikrocop’s culture.
Company Growth and the Arrival of Digitalisation
For many years, Mikrocop Croatia grew steadily. We had around 20 employees, and during our biggest projects, even more than 40. When digitalisation started, it didn’t feel like some dramatic disruption. Technology simply does what technology does.
We had large microfilm cameras where you inserted documents. Then Kodak released the first hybrid machine—a microfilm camera with a scanner at the front. Documents were scanned and a microfilm was created, while at the same time a digital image appeared—something no one initially knew what to do with. But things quickly found their place.
That’s how the industry evolved back then—step by step, through trials, experiments, improvisation, and persistence.
Anecdotes That Shape a Person (and a Company)
“Lunch Among Screws”
Two technicians from Slovenia came to Varaždin to repair a client’s hybrid machine. To avoid losing time, they brought it to my home. On my terrace, they dismantled the machine, loosened screws, adjusted optics and electronics… while I cooked lunch in between. Back then we worked “the home-style way”—friendly, personal—and it was exactly those relationships that kept us going.
“Smuggle-Commerce” at the Border
One day a technician calls and says the machine in Bjelovar is down. The power supply failed and production is standing still. A new power supply from Kodak? Four weeks of waiting. I call Ljubljana and ask if they have a used one. They did. But at the time, there was still a border between us.
Ljubljana brings the part to the border, I take it from the border to Bjelovar. The machine starts working the very same day the fault is discovered. When the new power supply arrives, we return the old one to Ljubljana.
Our motto was: We solve the hard things immediately. For the impossible, we just need a little time.
How We Thought: Confidence, Not Arrogance
Once we were in a meeting with the director of Volksbank. We were presenting OCR TIS, explaining how it classifies incoming mail.
The director asked:
“Does it really work like that? Can you run a test on the 29th of next month?”
I turned to my colleague:
“Can we?”
He replied—loud enough for the director to hear:
“If anyone can, we can. If we can’t, then it can’t be done.”
This wasn’t empty bravado. It was faith in the knowledge we had.
American Express: A Story I’ll Never Forget
American Express had a huge data-entry department. They did 50% of the work in-house and outsourced the other 50%. We told them that with our solutions, their team could do the full 100%—or, in fact, twice as much as before—at the same quality. The cost-benefit ratio was obvious: they would stop receiving monthly invoices for outsourced data entry.
The deal was simple: they pay only if it’s true. If not, we take the equipment away—and take them to lunch as an apology.
We set up production. People work. The result: they complete more than 50% more work. But they find 7 errors. After checking their “golden file”, we discover all 7 errors are theirs—not ours.
The Chairwoman said: “You are the counter-example to ‘oversell and underdeliver’. You are ‘undersell and overdeliver’.”
Confirmation that we were doing things right.
A Bank Competition: 400 vs 1100 Penalty Points
A large Croatian bank wanted to test digitisation providers. Requirement: reading 26-digit numbers via OCR. Each mistake = a penalty point, and with more mistakes, penalty points increase exponentially. All providers received the same documentation.
Result: Mikrocop—400 penalty points. The next best—1100.
The numbers spoke for themselves.
How I Explained the Difference Between Document and Records Management
I explained this a hundred times—always the same:
• in document management, you open a document, review it, edit it, and save it in its changed form;
• in records management, you do the same thing… and you go to prison for it.
And people remembered it.
Integrity and Fairness—Even When You Make a Mistake
Once, on a project, I forgot to charge for an expensive printer. It wasn’t a small amount. To cover the loss, I agreed with accounting that for two and a half years I would not charge Mikrocop rent for my office in Varaždin.
One day Ljubo looks at controlling reports and asks why there’s no rent. Someone tells him the story. His response:
“If I charged every salesperson for every mistake and every technician for every broken part, I’d be a bit richer—and they’d be a lot less happy.” And of course—Ljubo restored the rent back to normal.
Only those who do things make mistakes.
When Simona Arrived, the Culture Didn’t Change—It Stayed the Same
When Simona Kogovšek took over leadership, I immediately saw she valued the same principles:
• honesty
• knowledge
• competence
• fair relationships
• and above all, open communication.
At one meeting, the client’s programmers were present too. They asked 5–6 questions in their IT language, which I—an ordinary mortal—didn’t even understand, let alone answer. Our developers replied with 5–6 answers in the same “foreign” language of IT. I didn’t fully understand those either, but when the client’s programmers said, “OK, let’s go to lunch,” I knew Mikrocop had the right answers.
That is the power of knowledge.
Breathe as One, Work Toward One Goal
A company has to breathe as one. There can be different opinions, different perspectives, different departments. But the goal must be shared. And the objective goal must always matter more than subjective ego. Mikrocop is where it is today because of 50 years of honesty, integrity, knowledge, and dedication.
The next 50 years:
Act like you’re the best.
Work in a way that proves it.
Then customers will see you as the best, too.
