Why business owners in Croatia should learn Croatian

Sara at Croatian Womens Network conference in Zagreb. Entrepreneurs should learn Croatian. — Sara at the Croatian Womens Network conference in Zagreb

PUBLISHED: 29.7.2024.

Learning (and struggling to learn) Croatian is a big part of living in Croatia. Some dedicate themselves more than others, with their effort directly proportionate to how long they wish to be here. Desire to learn Croatian is also impacted by budget, time, age, method of learning, and proximity to Croatians who can support your journey.

Speaking for myself, I don’t have a Croatian partner, nor do I work in an office surrounded by Croatians. I don’t have kids in a Croatian school, so there is no interaction with Croatian teachers and parents. My Croatian company operates in English and predominantly serves English speakers.

I do not have the mental flexibility to learn a language like a young person, but I’m not at the end of my life either. I have been limited on budget during certain stretches of my life in Croatia, which hindered my ability to pay for a teacher.

And then there is time… Time is the biggest investment any of us can make when learning a language, and it can be the most difficult commitment for entrepreneurs.

When you are a business owner in Croatia, learning Croatian becomes much more important, and there is usually a lot less time that you can dedicate. When time is short, Croatian learning can frequently be pushed to the bottom of the list until it falls off into a puddle.

No matter what type of business you’re in, learning Croatian should be non-negotiable. Understanding the language and being able to communicate makes everything easier (even though the journey to learn it is not easy).

In this post, we cover:

The facts are these…

Why you should learn Croatian if you are an entrepreneur in Croatia

Here are 6 reasons entrepreneurs and business owners must learn the Croatian language.

1. Communication with local customers

If you’re operating in Croatia, you’ll inevitably have Croatian customers. Of course, there are exceptions if you’re working online and insist on only having foreign clients – but to survive in Croatia, that is usually the exception.

[Read: How to work as a freelancer in Croatia]

In any business, your goal is to serve your clients. If your clients must speak to you in a language not native to them in their own country, they are not truly being served, which may inspire them to go elsewhere.

If a Croatian walks into a business in Croatia, they should be spoken to in Croatian. Period.

2. Understanding legal, financial, tax, and administrative processes

Opening a business is a bureaucratic commitment, no matter the country. There are tons of requirements, deadlines, and taxes to be followed. Learn about all the taxes you might pay in Croatia here.

[Read: Things to know before starting a business in Croatia]

If you’re operating in a foreign country, it is much tougher because you lack familiarity with the system. This can lead to missteps and mistakes, some of which can be quite costly.

It’s vital that you hire vetted professionals who can guide you through the system, whom you can rely on to give accurate advice. You definitely need a great accountant as well as a lawyer for any business dealings. However, that can only take you so far.

There are many small tasks, like navigating government web sites, or reading the tax forms your accountant gives you, or completing applications that are not worth the time of a professional. You could rely on your Croatian employees, but that comes with its own risks.

Learning Croatian can help you take care of these small things on your own, saving you time and money.

“The most common complaints of foreigners, if they decide to invest their capital in our country, refer to the already well-known bureaucracy and lengthy procedure. Foreigners are used to solving things in a very short time, which is not the case in Croatia, even when it comes to investment capital. Some investors are surprised when they have to translate the documentation into Croatian, which they also object to.” – Božica Lapić, Deputy Director of the Agency for Export and Investment Promotion

3. Understanding Croatian culture and cultural differences

The culture of Croatia is deeply enmeshed in its language. The two cannot be separated. The more Croatian you learn, the more you learn about the culture and its people. Learn how to understand the Croatian culture and people here.

Croatia has a specific way of doing business. It can be very easy to create an awkward situation or cause offense in a manner that can impact a business partnership or relationship.

In my early days of doing business in Croatia, I was very frustrated because everybody wanted to have a coffee to talk about business. I was often complaining (only in my head), “Why do we need to spend 3 hours on a coffee? We can just talk over email and handle it in 10 minutes.” It felt like such a waste of time.

That isn’t how things work in Croatia. If you want to do business with someone, you must talk about it in person… on a coffee. Set aside at least a couple of hours, and make sure that you have a personal chitchat for at least the first 20 minutes. Jumping right into a business is considered rude.

“Speaking Croatian as a foreign business owner for me, it’s a superpower. It’s mutual respect: you show respect by learning their very specific language and they respect you for trying hard. But Croatian is not about only the words but the tone and the confidence you use. If you know their cadences and a bit of dialect, doors will be wide open. Every business relation will become warmer and that’s important when you need stuff to be done as soon as possible.” – Santiago (Argentina), Morfar

[Read: How to understand Croatia’s business culture]

4. Building trust with suppliers and partners

In most businesses, you’ll have vendors and partners with whom you’ll collaborate. In some countries and industries, this can be a very sterile, faceless, and transactional relationship.

Croatia is rarely transactional. Everything is based on relationships as well as trust. It will be very challenging for a business partner to trust you if you aren’t making any effort to learn their language.

[Read: Croatian business buzzwords to know]

Additionally, you may not get the best deal or even run the risk of being taken advantage of if you give off the impression that you are clueless to the Croatian language and customs.

“Even with the convenience of Google Translate, there are times when the fastest and least frustrating way to resolve an issue is by speaking directly with the person who can help you. On the flip side, miscommunication can quickly complicate matters and alienate you from someone who might otherwise assist you effectively.” – Geoff (United States), Fig Restaurants

5. Better marketing and customer service

When serving customers, you always want to personalize your marketing and customer service processes to their specific needs and mindset.

If your customers are Croatian, you wouldn’t sell to them in the same way you would to Americans, or the French, or Peruvians. You also wouldn’t sell to a person from Zagreb the same way you would sell to a person from Split. For example, it is common for businesses to use Split dialect in their local advertisements.

[Read: The 3 Croatian dialects: Što, Kaj, and Ča]

Croatia may be “technically” small in terms of population and land mass, but it’s tremendously diverse in culture, language, and mentality. Your marketing should reflect that.

“When I first started my business in Croatia, I realized that speaking Croatian will open doors. One of the first things I did was to hire a customer support who is fluent in both Croatian and English. This has been instrumental in navigating local business practices and regulations. I am not yet a fluent speaker, but Rome wasn’t built in a day! I’ve managed to run my business effectively without speaking fluent Croatian, thanks to the nature of our global business, but I consider it a big achievement. We’ll get there… Sviđa mi se ovdje (I like it here)!” – Bogdan (Romania), Dalmatica Mobility Group

6. Following the news and trends to stay updated

Your business should always be adaptable. Rules, laws, markets, economies, and environmental factors change all the time.

Overnight, your revenue could tank due to something completely beyond your control – like a natural disaster, or a pandemic, or a war.

While those kinds of events are hard to predict, staying on top of news, industry trends, and governmental changes can help you prepare for those everyday challenges that can impact your livelihood.

As a foreigner, it can be challenging to stay on top of the news in Croatia. The language barrier can serve as a deterrent, but that doesn’t stop the world from turning. Learning the Croatian language will make it easier to keep abreast of important developments and help your company stay ahead of the curve.

[Read: Where to get your latest Croatian news]

Best ways for foreign business owners to learn the Croatian language

So, you’re planning to open a business in Croatia, or you’ve already got one but haven’t yet taken your language learning seriously.

If you are part of the former, then awesome! Just by reading this post, you’re ahead of many of us. If you fall into the latter bucket, do not despair! You are not alone, and many of us foreign entrepreneurs have struggled. I mean, who’s got the time, really?

[Read: Types of business in Croatia]

Regardless, we must make the time, which you know because you made it this far in the post.

There is learning Croatian, and there is learning professional Croatian. Those two things are not created equal.

To be effective, you cannot rely on an online app alone. An app is great for vocabulary but falls woefully short with regards to grammar and the lovely, and often aggravating, Croatian nuance. If you’re operating a business, then you likely don’t have time to attend a class that happens at the same time every week. Your options are limited, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

“Speaking Croatian has enabled me to work purely with Croatians without worrying whether they speak English. This has meant I’ve been able to get work I wouldn’t have got before, expand my network, and immerse myself further into the culture.

Even if you don’t plan on working solely with Croatians, speaking the language has meant I can Google things myself, check the law and other news, so I was better informed especially regarding the legal and accounting side of things. Many people who don’t speak the language have to put all their trust on a few people, and whilst this normally works out well, for a few, it’s been a nightmare. So that ability to double check has been crucial.” – Michael (United Kingdom), Ensoco

So, how do you learn Croatian?

1. Get a private teacher

Private lessons are the best way to excel quickly because the lessons will be catered to you – your level, your needs, and your learning style. Humans are not all created equal, and we don’t all learn the same way at the same speed.

Do the due diligence to find a professional, not just any person who speaks Croatian advertising lessons in an expat group. Find a teacher whose full-time job is teaching Croatian – preferably a person who was educated to be a teacher.

Professionally trained teachers are more effective at teaching the language. Teaching is their business, so they will treat your learning journey with the seriousness that it deserves and will likely be more inclined to keep you on task.

Because their skill level is high, they can craft a program to meet your needs – whether you’re starting from scratch, or you want to elevate your existing knowledge to a more professional level.

To put it bluntly, learning Croatian is a necessary business expense.

2. Take an immersion course

I will yet again state the obvious. We business owners have little time, so we need to make the most of anything that takes us away from running our companies.

One way to skip ahead quickly in your language learning is to take a short-term intensive Croatian course. You may not be able to commit to a semester-long schedule, but perhaps you can set aside just one week for concentrated education.

I have taken two private immersion courses with the Croatian Language School on the island of Lošinj and am planning a third in the fall. My teacher, Linda Rabuzin, has much experience working with foreign professionals, business owners, and diplomats in Croatia, as well as with students studying for personal reasons. CLS tailors all their courses individually so you could, for example, focus on specialist business vocabulary, as well as more general aspects of the language.

Watch a video where I describe my first experience here.

During the course, after just five days, I made huge gains in my confidence to speak, as well as my understanding and comprehension. I entered the first course with a lot of shame and embarrassment that I wasn’t further along after 11 years in Croatia. After the first course, I let it go because of what I accomplished during the course. A giant weight lifted.

The course involved two daily sessions – morning and afternoon with a long lunch break in the middle. This schedule allowed me plenty of time to work, so I could keep the company moving rather than taking the time off. But you could also look on it as a great opportunity to take a week off from work and REALLY focus on the language by taking additional hours or cultural elements of the course (accompanied by conversations with locals), as well as exploring the beautiful island of Lošinj.

3. Speak as much as you can

You’re going to mess up. You’re going to say the wrong thing. You’re not going to construct sentences right. You’ll get the grammar wrong. Your accent will suck.

Nobody cares. Even with glaring mistakes, Croatians LOVE when we speak, even if it’s badly. Use those business relationships to practice. Many of them will look forward to practicing with you. They may even make it their personal mission. Take them up on their offer and most likely, it will create a bond that will benefit your business relationship.

Learning Croatian takes a village. It is not a solo activity. We need the support of Croatians to gain ground and confidence.

Start with the basics, then branch out from there. YOU GOT THIS.

View other Croatian business posts

Source:
Strane ulagače smeta prijevod dokumenata na hrvatski jezik by Sanela Majdandžić

Please note: Information provided by Expat in Croatia is only for the purposes of guidance. It does not constitute legal or financial advice in any form. Croatian laws and bureaucratic rules often change, and each personal case is individual, so different rules may apply. For legal advice, contact us to consult with a licensed Croatian lawyer. For financial advice, contact us to consult with a licensed Croatian tax advisor or accountant.

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