Our clients

Mega Travel Sp. z o.o.

The travel agency MEGA TRAVEL started its business in 2000. It specializes in foreign tourism. Its offers includes a range of holiday stays, tours and flights to most European countries, as well as to such exotic places as South Africa, United Emirates, Cuba, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Maldives, Mauritius or Seychelles. It serves both individual and corporate clients. For the latter ones it organizes integration and motivation trips. “At present our agency employs 7 people and the turnover increases by 50% on year to year basis,” says the President of the Board, Mr Mariusz Florczyk. “Tourism, however, is a business of special nature. It is marked by seasonality and it involves the necessity to make numerous advance and down-payments for reservations. This is the moment when the company needs additional financing. For the banking sector we were not a desirable client, since banks do not understand the nature of our business and its seasonality. At one of such moments a friend recommended Inicjatywa Mikro to me as a reliable financing source for small and medium-sized businesses.”

P.P.H.U. WAFLEX

In 1998, Mr Bogdan Polek set up his cookie-baking business, which he runs in Skawina near Krakow, in a rented building situated in the premises of the local bakery. His products are made according to unique recipes. Owing to their high quality and to the brand name recognizable on the market “WAFLEX” finds customers in the whole country. The products are mostly bought by food wholesalers. Since the beginning of the company’s existence its production has considerably increased.

F.H. DABO

Ms Danuta Olesińska has been a client of Inicjatywa Mikro for many years. In 1993, she opened her store with clothes, underwear and accessories in the “Giszowiec” housing estate in Katowice. Prior to that she already had some experience in trade, as with her husband she used to import clothes from Turkey. She owes her present position to hard work. “We did not have a very attractive location for a shop” – Ms Olesińska recalls the early days of her business. "It took us a long time to attract our own clients and to adjust our stock to their needs and tastes. Moreover, in this trade we have to take into account the periods of slack business, for instance due to a holiday season. After so many years I already know how to plan the expenses and purchases in order to ensure smooth business, but in order to accomplish that we needed additional financing.”

Newsagent’s salon “Kolporter”

The winning feature of Ms Anna Libudzic’s press salon is its location. It is situated at the main entrance to the Auchan shopping center near the route from Katowice towards Częstochowa. It is quite a busy place. Ms Libudzic worked in it as a manager from 2004 and early in 2006 she took it over from the previous owner. Earlier she had worked as a cashier in another large shopping center and when she lost her job she had to look for some new solutions for herself.

Wedding fashion studio “Prometida”

Ms Iwona Wojtasik with her mother has run the Wedding Fashion Salon in the center of Częstochowa for 4 years. She has her own tailor’s shop where dresses and wedding accessories are made. The models are mostly based on her own ideas which are formed thanks to the careful scrutiny of the latest wedding fashion trends. “The would-be spouses are specific clients, since they use our offer only once”, remarks Ms Wojtasik. “That is why we decided to target the markets in other cities. We sell dresses in Krakow, Warsaw and even in Tczew in Pomerania. Such a sales system requires considerable expenses on advertising and promotion. However, we would not be able to invest so much of our current income in advertising.”

F.H.U. "Smakuś”

The loan awarded to Ms Wiesława Hanzel from Cieszyn was a start-up loan enabling her to start her own business. Ms Hanzel had worked in a butcher's shop for a number of years and when she lost the job she had to think of something new to do. It was then that she learnt about Mikro Inicjatywa which offered the Support Program for Women in Business. At that time she already had an idea, which was opening an eatery, and she had some funds, which however could not cover the whole investment.

F.P.H.U. “Panda”

In the “PANDA” pet shop at ul. Limanowskiego 18 in Krakow, animal lovers can find anything that even the most demanding clients may require. There are accessories and food for cats and dogs, minor fur animals, numerous species of birds, exotic fish, plants and equipment for aquaria and for garden ponds. The area of 150 m² accommodates truly impressive exhibitions and in the back room there are “working aquaria” used for fish breeding. “At the beginning, though, it did not all look so impressive”, says the owner, Ms Janina Żabińska. “I took the shop over from the former owner in 2002 and I invested my own considerable funds. Yet the new premises required significant investments. One aquarium situated in the main shop area may cost as much as 12,000 zloty, let alone other devices and technical equipment.”

“Creator” Education Studio

Ms Laura Majboroda-Andrukiewicz is a graduate of English studies. Before setting up her own business she worked at school for 6 years. In 2003, together with her husband, who is a psychologist, she opened the “Creator” Education Studio. She admits that her former contacts helped her to survive in the competitive environment. The school offers language courses, psycho-educational training and translation services. All classes are taught by highly qualified teachers and native speakers.

Loans examples

• Start up loan (0-3 mo)
• Start up loan (3-12 mo)
• Interest only loan (credit line)
• Term loan (working capital or investment purposes)