Start Before You’re Ready: What Vlatko Sulev Learned About Building Trust Before Growth

Looking Back, I Realised Waiting Was Never the Answer: Vlatko Sulev on Starting with Very Little and Building Through Trust

Every entrepreneur has a starting point. For Vlatko Sulev, it wasn’t investment, recognition, or certainty. It was a backpack, limited resources, and a belief that every experience, good or bad, could teach him something valuable. In this ProTalk, he shares what made his entrepreneurial path successful and what advice he could give to entrepreneurs who want to start their own business.

Chapter 1: You Learn More by Starting Than by Waiting

When people ask me how it all started for me, most of them cannot believe that my journey did not begin with a solid business plan and some kind of significant investment.

In 2006, I found myself in Skopje with just a backpack in hand and an intention to create something good for myself. And while I did not know what would become of me and what lay ahead of my journey, I do believe that uncertainty was one of my best teachers. When you do not have many resources at your disposal, you learn to take advantage of any possible opportunity and be ready to work hard and study every day.

And if I had to give someone one piece of advice on how to start a business, it would be this: do not wait. In my experience, that moment never comes. You learn by taking the first step, making mistakes, and improving as you go.

Learning the Business Before Building One

Tourism has always interested me because it brings together people, cultures, and new experiences. After studying tourism in Varna, Bulgaria, I returned to North Macedonia determined to understand the industry properly before trying to build something of my own.

My first job was in a small hotel, and although I didn’t realise it at the time, those years became one of the most valuable parts of my education. Every guest had different expectations, every day presented new challenges, and every interaction taught me something about hospitality. I came to understand that people don’t simply remember where they travelled. They recall the treatment received, how issues were resolved, and if anyone cared about their experience.

This is one lesson that I have taken with me through my entire professional career. Businesses may compete on price or products, but trust is built through the small promises you keep every single day.

When My First Idea Didn’t Work

Like many first-time entrepreneurs, I believed my first business idea would succeed. I invested time and energy into creating an online accommodation platform, convinced it would become the beginning of something bigger.

It didn’t work.

At the time, it was disappointing. Whenever you invest yourself in an idea, it’s difficult to accept that it hasn’t achieved what you hoped for. But after the frustration passed, I realised something important. The project hadn’t been a waste of time. It had taught me lessons that success probably never would.

It showed me that founders shouldn’t become attached to one particular idea. But rather than doing so, we need to focus on getting to know our clients, finding out what issues there are, and then finding the courage to change ourselves.

Looking back, changing direction wasn’t a failure. It was the decision that eventually led me towards a much better opportunity.

Seeing the Balkans Through the Eyes of Our Visitors

A turning point came in 2008, when I welcomed some of my first organised international groups to North Macedonia. Watching visitors experience the Balkans was a completely different experience from seeing the region through my own eyes. They were fascinated by the landscapes, history, food, and hospitality, yet many told me they had never realised how much the region had to offer before they arrived.

Those conversations stayed with me long after the tours had ended. I realised that the challenge wasn’t convincing people to enjoy the Balkans once they were here. The real challenge was giving international travel partners the confidence to offer the region to their own customers in the first place.

That was the moment I began thinking differently. Rather than creating another travel company, I wanted to build a business that international partners could rely on, one that would make exploring the Balkans easier while creating experiences visitors would remember for years to come. That idea became the foundation of Balkan Prime Tours, and it continues to guide the way we work today.

As I look back on those early years, I realise none of them went exactly as I had planned. But perhaps that’s the point. Entrepreneurship rarely follows a straight line. Every setback, every conversation, and every unexpected opportunity teaches you something if you’re willing to learn from it.

Building a Business Is One Thing. Earning Trust Is Another.

When people ask me about the biggest challenge of building Balkan Prime Tours, they’re often expecting me to talk about competition, finance, or attracting customers.

The truth is, none of those came first.

The hardest part was earning trust.

When you’re a new company, nobody knows your name. International tour operators aren’t simply buying a service; they’re trusting you with their clients, their reputation, and years of relationships they’ve built in their own markets. I realised very quickly that every itinerary we created, every email we answered, and every promise we made was an opportunity to prove that we deserved that trust.

Looking back, I think many founders underestimate how long trust takes to build. Products can improve, marketing strategies can change, and businesses can evolve. Trust doesn’t work like that. It’s built slowly through consistency, honesty, and doing what you said you would do, even when nobody is watching.

One satisfied partner rarely changes a business overnight. But one satisfied partner tells another. Then another. That’s how we grew not because we had the biggest marketing budget, but because people felt confident recommending us.

Relationships Always Last Longer Than Transactions

One lesson I’ve learned over the years is that businesses don’t grow because of transactions. They grow because of relationships.

Every travel company we worked with had different expectations, different travellers, and different ways of operating. Instead of trying to offer the same solution to everyone, we spent time listening. We tried to know our customers first before providing them with our solution.

It was definitely harder, but the partnership was built. Many of the companies that trusted us in the early years still work with us today. I don’t believe that’s a coincidence. When people know they can depend on you, the conversation gradually changes from negotiating prices to planning the future together.

I think that lesson applies to every business, not just tourism. Customers may remember what you sold them, but they’ll always remember how you treated them.

Growing Without Losing What Made You Successful

As Balkan Prime Tours expanded across the Balkans, new opportunities arrived almost every year. Of course, new destinations, more partners from other countries, and increased enquiries were all signs of more growth. This is very exciting until you understand that you gain another sort of responsibility.

I understood that building a successful company does not mean that you have to take everything into account. It’s about making sure you can continue delivering the same quality that helped you earn your reputation in the first place.

I’ve never believed that being the biggest company should be the goal. The thing is, I’d rather create a trusted company than be the biggest in the industry. Growth is important, but sustainable growth is what creates businesses that last.

Whenever we make an important decision, I still ask myself a simple question: Will this improve the experience for our partners and their travellers? If the answer isn’t clear, then it’s probably not the right decision.

The Years That Tested Every Business

Like everyone working in tourism, we faced challenges none of us expected when the COVID-19 pandemic brought international travel to a standstill.

This is probably the hardest time in my career because it was really hard to plan anything, make new bookings, and even to guess what the future of the industry would be like. But this time period taught me something important.

In spite of the fact that there were no travelers, we still communicated with our partners. We kept discussing things, planning and waiting for tourism to come back. Those conversations weren’t about making sales. They were about maintaining trust.

When travel finally began to recover, many of those partners came back to us. Looking back, I don’t think they returned simply because of the destinations we offered. They returned because the relationship had never stopped.

That experience reinforced something I already believed. Businesses are built during good times, but trust is often strengthened during difficult ones.

Beyond Ordinary Experiences

People sometimes ask what “Beyond Ordinary Experience” means to me.

For me, it has never been a marketing slogan.

It reflects the reason I started this business in the first place.

I’ve always believed that the Balkans deserve to be experienced through the people who live here, the traditions that have been passed down through generations, the local food, the history, and the stories that don’t appear in travel brochures. Those are the experiences visitors remember long after they return home.

Looking back, I realise the same philosophy applies to entrepreneurship. To run a company is not only about selling products/services to the client. To run a business is all about providing clients with something different which will build their relationships with you.

The only thing that I managed to learn through my experience is that while ideas are the basis for any business, it is the people behind the ideas which matter most.

Chapter 2: Looking Beyond the Business

Reflecting on what I have done, it is clear that entrepreneurship has done a lot more for me than just giving me a chance to create a company. Everything, from each difficulty and each dilemma to each unexpected event, has made me learn something that no school and no business literature has ever taught me.

From the start of Balkan Prime Tours, my main concern has been the creation of a profitable enterprise. This is how it is with every entrepreneur; I too wanted to attract more tourists and collaborate with international businesses. Those goals still matter, but over the years my definition of success has changed. Today, success is less about numbers and far more about the relationships we’ve built, the trust we’ve earned, and the positive experiences we’ve created for both our partners and the travellers who choose to explore the Balkans with us.

Why the Balkans Deserve to Be Discovered

One of the things that continues to motivate me is the opportunity to change the way people see the Balkans.

Many international visitors arrive knowing very little about the region. By the time they leave, they’ve experienced welcoming communities, remarkable history, beautiful landscapes, and a culture that often exceeds every expectation they had before travelling here. Seeing that transformation never becomes ordinary, no matter how many years you’ve worked in tourism.

That is why I remain passionate about promoting the Balkans as a destination. It is through this association that I have been hoping to help in the development of the tourism industry in the region, both in the capacity of being President of the National Association for Incoming Tourism of Macedonia as well as through my association with Balkan Prime Tours. I believe businesses grow faster when industries work together, share knowledge, and support one another instead of competing in isolation.

The Advice I Would Share with Every Founder

People occasionally ask me what advice I would give to someone starting a business today.

The first thing I would say is not to wait for the perfect moment. Most entrepreneurs begin with uncertainty. You don’t need to know every answer before you start. The point here is being ready to change, learn and grow along with your business.

Secondly, try not to be too attached to your first idea. In my experience, not all ideas work out, and there is nothing wrong about that. At times, what seems to be a failure is an indication of a new direction to go. What is important here is focusing on problems to be solved rather than proving yourself right.

Lastly, take care of your reputation. While people might forget your product or service, they will always remember if they could trust you. In my experience, that reputation is one of the most valuable assets any business can build.

Quick Insights

Final Thoughts

In essence, one thing that I have learned throughout the process is the fact that entrepreneurship is all about relationships. 

Plans change, markets develop; however, relationships endure. Unexpected challenges will appear when you least expect them. They form your reputation; they define the manner in which you deal with people.

To put it simply, I do not think that the most important decision that I have made in life was establishing Balkan Prime Tours. The most important decision was realizing the fact that you have to be prepared for everything in life, that setbacks will happen, but the knowledge that you will obtain will help you move forward and become a better person.

My advice for future entrepreneurs would be as follows: you do not need all the right circumstances for making money; what you need is integrity, perseverance and the desire to get better every day.

That’s the lesson my journey has given me, and it’s one I’ll continue carrying forward as both an entrepreneur and someone who believes the Balkans has many more stories waiting to be discovered.

About the Founder

Vlatko Sulev is the Founder and General Manager of Balkan Prime Tours, a destination management company specialising in tailor-made travel experiences across the Balkans. Having had over two decades of experience in the tourism business, he has established many trustworthy business relations with travel agents and tour operators from all around the world based on real experiences, reliable services and strong business relations.

Besides his work in Balkan Prime Tours, Vlatko holds the position of President of the National Association for Incoming Tourism of Macedonia. Working in this association together with other professionals, Vlatko tries to develop sustainable tourism in North Macedonia and the Balkans as well.

About Balkan Prime Tours

Balkan Prime Tours is an organization that specializes in destination management and operates in North Macedonia. The company works with travel agencies from all over the world and offers cultural, leisure and interest-based tours as well as customized group travel throughout the Balkans region that is famous for its history, diverse culture and unique landscapes.

Based on its “Beyond Ordinary Experience” philosophy, the Balkan Prime Tours Company strives to offer travelers something more than just an ordinary trip.