Business guides
Business guides
Guides and practical writing on working with retail chains, business planning, the HZZ grant, procurement and private label.
Current updates
- Reviewed September 2026HZZ Self-Employment 2026 — How to Write a Business Plan That Gets Approved
- Reviewed August 2026Fiscalisation 2.0 — What Changes for Entrepreneurs in Croatia?
Only time-sensitive rules, calls and regulatory changes appear here, each with a last-reviewed date.
Start here
Four reading paths
Pick the situation you are in. The articles are listed in the order worth reading them.
I work with retail chains or am about to start
- 01What Suppliers Often Don't Understand about Retail ChainsFrom practice · 16 min
- 02What Happens Behind the Scenes of a Retail Chain's Weekly Flyers and Promotions?From practice · 16 min
- 03Procurement Isn't Buying. Procurement Is Managing Controlled Chaos.From practice · 18 min
I am starting a business with the HZZ grant
I am planning an investment or need a business plan
I am choosing a supplier or developing my own product
- 01How to Reduce Procurement Costs Without Losing QualityGuide · 20 min
- 02Private Label Products for Beginners — From Idea to ShelfGuide · 26 min
All articles
All articles
Guides
Practical articles: steps, calculations and checks before a decision.
From practice
Articles by Dominik Prelec, drawn from work in retail-chain procurement and with business owners.
Current
Rule changes and deadlines, with the date of the last check.
Type
Topic
Showing 19 of 19
- Retail consulting · From practiceWhat Happens Behind the Scenes of a Retail Chain's Weekly Flyers and Promotions?A buyer's-eye view of how a weekly flyer is really built — months of planning, competitor analysis, negotiations, forecasting and the logistics behind a single price on the front page.16 min · June 2026
- Retail consulting · From practiceWhat Suppliers Often Don't Understand about Retail ChainsA buyer's-eye view of how retail procurement actually thinks, why reliability beats price, and what suppliers consistently misunderstand about working with major retail chains.16 min · June 2026
- Business planning · GuideHow Much Does a Business Plan Cost and What Are You Really Paying for When It Is Professionally Prepared?What really affects the cost of preparing a business plan, what quality work includes beyond the writing itself, and when a cheaper approach is fine versus when it is the last place to economise.12 min · June 2026
- Business planning · GuideHow to Write a Business Plan That Holds Water — Before a Bank, an Investor, or Your Own DecisionHow to write a business plan that withstands questions from a bank, an investor, or your own decision. Structure, financial plan, cash flow, market, operations and the most common mistakes.18 min · June 2026
- Procurement and private label · GuideThe Biggest Mistakes When Launching a Private Label Brand (and How to Avoid Them)Private label isn't a product — it's a business system. The seven most common mistakes when launching an own brand, why they happen, and how to avoid them.13 min · June 2026
- From practiceThe Best Entrepreneurs Don't Know Every Law. They Know Which Ones They Can't Ignore.You don't have to know every law to run a business well. You have to develop a sense for risk — and know when to ask the right person the right question, before a problem becomes expensive.13 min · June 2026
- CurrentFiscalisation 2.0 — What Changes for Entrepreneurs in Croatia?Fiscalisation 2.0 looks like a tax and tech topic, but it's really a test of how well your firm is organised. What changes, who's affected, and what to do today.9 min · June 2026
- Retail consulting · From practiceProcurement Isn't Buying. Procurement Is Managing Controlled Chaos.A personal view from years of working in procurement at a large retail system: why buying is the smallest part of the job, and what procurement teaches you about how a business really works.18 min · June 2026
- HZZ self-employment · GuideHow to Fill In the Business Plan for the HZZ? A Step-by-Step Guide Through the FormAn interactive guide through the business plan for the HZZ — question by question we explain what the evaluator looks for, how an experienced advisor thinks, and why it isn't enough to simply copy an example.17 min · June 2026
- Procurement and private label · GuideProcurement Isn't a Cost — It's a Tool for Increasing ProfitMost entrepreneurs chase profit on the sales side. A small saving in procurement often beats large growth in sales — and goes almost untouched straight into profit.16 min · June 2026
- Business planning · GuideHow to Prepare Financial Projections for a Business PlanFinancial projections aren't about filling in tables or guessing the future. Learn how to build realistic revenue, costs and cash flow that convince a bank, an investor — and you.25 min · June 2026
- Business planning · GuideWhat to Check Before You Invest Money in a Business IdeaMarket analysis isn't a document you write to convince a bank — it's a process for checking whether real demand exists before you invest. How to ask better questions and validate an idea cheaply.25 min · June 2026
- From practiceThe Owner Does Everything Alone — When the Business Starts to Hold Back GrowthWhen a business grows but the owner keeps doing everything alone, they become the biggest obstacle to their own growth. How to recognise the bottleneck and get out of operations.26 min · June 2026
- Procurement and private label · GuidePrivate Label Products for Beginners — From Idea to ShelfPrivate label isn't just putting a logo on a product. A practical guide through demand validation, finding a manufacturer, MOQ, margins, quality control and logistics — from a procurement perspective.26 min · June 2026
- From practiceThe Most Common Operational Problems in Small Businesses — and How to Solve ThemMost small firms don't stall for lack of work — they stall because the business grows while the way of working stays the same. How operational chaos arises and how to fix it without corporate bureaucracy.21 min · June 2026
- HZZ self-employment · GuideSole Trader or Limited Liability Company — What to Choose When Starting a BusinessSole trader or d.o.o.? A practical guide that chooses a business model by risk, costs and growth — not just by tax. When the flat-rate scheme, when a d.o.o.15 min · June 2026
- HZZ self-employment · CurrentHZZ Self-Employment 2026 — How to Write a Business Plan That Gets ApprovedWhat the HZZ evaluation panel actually looks for, where applications most often fail, and how to put together a self-employment business plan that withstands serious scrutiny.24 min · June 2026
- HZZ self-employment · GuideThe Most Common Mistakes With a Flat-Rate Sole Trader Business and the VAT ThresholdMost problems with a flat-rate sole trader business aren't tax errors — they're errors in thinking. Tracking the threshold, separating your money, thinking in profit, and reviewing the model when you outgrow it.19 min · June 2026
- Procurement and private label · GuideHow to Reduce Procurement Costs Without Losing QualityThe biggest money in procurement isn't lost on the invoice but in how a firm plans, buys and holds inventory. A practical guide to cutting costs through order, not a cheaper supplier.20 min · June 2026
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