Dear friends and colleagues,
The Victorian Croatian Chamber of Commerce (VCCC) approaches the first anniversary since it first opened its doors to members. The following is an insight into our progress and attempts to give our members an advantage, whether their intention is to grow their business or advance their professional prospects.
During the past year the VCCC has endeavoured to create a network of business people, professionals and students of Croatian origin and although progress has been slighter slower than expected, we have nevertheless made progress. Throughout that time, we have consistently faced the same justifiable question, namely, “What benefits can the VCCC offer me?”
Truth is, the direct benefits offered by the VCCC are respectable but hardly likely to make a significant difference to a member’s prospects. And while that answer may seem challenging to us as an organisation, we believe it’s only problematic because most people are asking the wrong question.
What they should be asking is, “How can I use the VCCC to my advantage?” To bastardise a quote from the late John F Kennedy, “Ask not what the VCCC can do for you, ask how you can use the VCCC”.
The VCCC as a concept is something far broader than simply being able to provide members with service providers of Croatian background. The VCCC is a network of accomplished professionals and business people who are willing to assist one another for a variety of simple reasons:
- Networking with one another helps create new ideas and opportunities;
- Networking with people with whom you have a shared cultural heritage is straight forward and surprisingly gratifying because “we get one another”; and
- By working together we also strengthen our community.
We have noted that many other communities have organised similar chambers with great success. By way of example, the Israel-Australia Chamber of Commerce counts amongst its ranks 10 of the top 25 companies in Australia. This despite the fact that Israel in and of itself is not a premier investment destination. Rather, it’s obvious that its members find value in the network itself.
The onus is on us to build such a network, thereby allowing us to use it to maximise our potential. We encourage you all to take a leap of faith in yourselves and the Croatian community at large and join the VCCC as a member. Details can be found here.
The cost of becoming a member is minor compared to what you can achieve by having a network of like-minded Croatians available to you and at your disposal.
Yours sincerely
The VCCC Committee