Ana Hrgovčić Left College at 22 and Built a Successful Plant Business
The Vinkovci native turned her hobby into the brand BILJKE.PLANTS, which now employs two people and operates in a larger space on Zagreb's Ilica Street.
The Vinkovci native turned her hobby into the brand BILJKE.PLANTS, which now employs two people and operates in a larger space on Zagreb's Ilica Street.
Ana Hrgovčić (28), founder of the brand BILJKE.PLANTS, is the main protagonist of the latest installment of the series New Beginnings, which Gloria magazine dedicates to women entrepreneurs. Her story began at age 22 when she left her third year of college in Rijeka, moved to Zagreb, and turned her hobby into a business she still successfully runs today.
"My life completely changed when I decided to drop out of college in my third year and start BILJKE.PLANTS. That was my new beginning, and I still live it happily," Ana Hrgovčić told Gloria.
Born in Vinkovci, Ana grew up in a family that expected her to become a lawyer or an economist. But entrepreneurship came to her spontaneously, out of love for plants. After completing a large project creating terrariums as premium business gifts, she realized her hobby had potential. "I was in the right place at the right time," she recalls. She made the decision to leave her studies and start the company without hesitation, although she admits that at the time she underestimated how serious an undertaking it would be.
The reactions from her surroundings were not favorable. "I believe everyone thought my decision was wrong, that I would ruin my life, and that there's no future without a college degree," she says. Still, Ana followed her own conviction: "The same path leads to the same results, and a different path leads to different results."
She rented her first business space on Zagreb's Ilica at age 22. "I saw doubt on the landlord's face. For the second meeting, I showed up in a suit, heels, and dressed to the nines. Maybe I even overdid it a bit, but the lease was signed," she recalls. She stayed in that space for several years before moving to a location four times larger, also on Ilica. Today, two other people work at the company alongside Ana.
Over time, the business outgrew the original idea of terrariums. Alongside retail and an online shop, BILJKE.PLANTS now also offers B2B services, plant maintenance in offices, interior design, team-building workshops, and corporate gifts. "At the beginning, I couldn't even imagine how much the business would develop," Ana admits.
Ana emphasizes that she learned most from her own mistakes, since she didn't come from an entrepreneurial family. "Making tough decisions. No one can teach you how to make them because every situation demands something different. Sometimes you have to turn off your emotions and do what's best for the company in the long run, even when it's not the easiest," she told Gloria. In the first few years, she worked from dawn till dusk, slept in the warehouse, and for two consecutive years during the pre-Christmas period she made gifts while running a high fever. "Entrepreneurship didn't come naturally to me. But over time I learned to work smarter and realized that less is often more."
Ana points out that she never had a plan B. "I always had the same mindset: if everything fails, I'll figure it out. Failure cannot define me." Today, success means freedom to her: "I work hard when I need to, but I want to spend my free time entirely on my own terms. That is my greatest luxury now."
Her advice to her younger self? "I would only hire a serious accountant and consultant from day one." Ana Hrgovčić's story is one of eight inspiring stories in the New Beginnings series, which shares the experiences of women who dared to take a different path.
