JASON, d.o.o

Entrepreneurial spirit, courage and hard work are in the family DNA

The Old Post Office, a beautiful and important landmark in the old town centre of Kranj. Several residential and commercial units and land. The company Olma, which commands a large share of the lubricants market in Slovenia and South-East Europe. Monte Rosso, an idyllic Istrian estate with award-winning olive oil and wine. GALVANOTEHNIKA d.o.o., where the tradition of high-quality galvanising continues to this day. The Gorjanc family – whether independently or in partnership – is the force behind all of these ventures.

Uroš Gorjanc, along with his wife Barbara, is firmly following in the footsteps of his ancestors, especially his grandfather Franc, a visionary entrepreneur in the early twentieth century, and his father Alojz Jurij, a renowned ski-jumping coach whose work ethic significantly influenced the family’s way of thinking. The fourth generation is gradually becoming involved in the family business, especially sons Črt and Jan, while Bor is still in secondary school. With a strong sense of mutual respect, a commitment to honouring agreements, honesty and sincerity, the Gorjanc family is moving forward in a way that reflects the meaning of their surname: UP! (“gor” in Slovenian means “up”).

The Old Post Office: a symbol of the family and the beginning of a real estate journey

“I must have inherited my entrepreneurial spirit from my grandfather,” says Uroš Gorjanc. “I also have a knack for juggling multiple tasks and for managing a number of different companies and businesses.” Franc Gorjanc was a timber merchant as well as the owner of a quarry, a sawmill, a power station and a warehouse. In 1929 he bought The Old Post Office in the city of Kranj, a historic stop for mail coaches. He transformed it into one of the largest and most modern hotels in Slovenia. After the war, The Old Post Office was nationalised, but in 1994 part of it was returned to the family heirs. Uroš Gorjanc gradually bought it all back, restoring it to family ownership. “The Old Post Office is a symbol of our family,” he said, “because it stands as proof that through hard work, perseverance and honesty, anything is possible. This project brings together my grandfather’s legacy and the lessons my father taught me: that good deeds are rewarded in kind, and that you can do anything if you put your mind to it.”

Encouraged by the success of The Old Post Office, Uroš and Barbara started to grow their real estate portfolio. The Gorjanc family’s umbrella company is Jason d.o.o., which Uroš and his father Alojz Jurij founded in the nineties. What started as a consultancy firm soon became a company dealing in real estate and other assets. It also provided a platform for other family business ventures.

From commercial director to (co-) owner

Following his studies at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Uroš Gorjanc initially worked for the companies Iskra Telematika, Gorenjska Biro and Teol, and in 1993 joined Olma as sales manager for the lubricants division. Despite his ever-growing entrepreneurial spirit, he never imagined that Olma would one day evolve into a family business. But the gradual purchase of shares in the company did exactly that, and today Olma is 100% owned by the Gorjanc and Dubokovič families. “We have built on our vast experience in lubricant production with modern technology and robotisation,” Uroš explains. “Today, with Olma, not only do we control a significant share of the lubricants market in Slovenia, we also produce lubricants for other brands and we perform laboratory measurements for external customers, too. We are also responsible for a large proportion of AdBlue production, the automotive fluid.” 

When the whole family pitches in

The Old Post Office has since become a multi-generational family project. Uroš’s wife Barbara initially worked as a teacher of German and history at the local Škofja Loka secondary school. As the business began to take up a lot of Uroš’s time and energy, Barbara took on a greater role in raising the children. After more than two decades in the teaching profession, she too joined the family business. She and her son Črt took over management of the Panorama Café in The Old Post Office. How does she remember her initial foray in the world of business? “It’s hard to compare teaching in a school with entrepreneurship,” she says. “If you’re used to a steady routine, with pre-planned meetings and events, it’s hard to get used to the chaos of running a business and adapting to unplanned situations. The public sector and the private sector each have their advantages and disadvantages, of course.” 

The fourth generation enters the business arena

The Panorama Café was therefore a baptism of fire for son Črt, a mechanical engineer and future Master of Economics, as he gained some hands-on experience through this small business project. Črt also reflects on that time: “I have no regrets that I entered the world of entrepreneurship so early, while I was still a student. There were many times when, instead of enjoying my free time, I found myself in the office tackling issues related to the café. But I also learned how to work with people and how to run a company, even in times of crisis like during the Covid pandemic.”

It was on Črt’s initiative that in 2022 the family decided to buy a majority stake in GALVANOTEHNIKA d.o.o., a company specialising in galvanising. Now, within that company, Črt is gaining valuable experience in both business development and employee management, providing him with a solid foundation for managing more complex structures owned by the family. On his position in GALVANOTEHNIKA d.o.o. and his increasingly important role in the family businesses, he says: “We took over Galvanotehnika becauseit complements our main activities within the group. I have a free hand in the company, which I am very happy about because it boosts my confidence as an entrepreneur. Nonetheless, my father is always there to give me advice. I see the future centred around our family group.”

Olive and wine paradise with a view of Piran

In addition to Olma, the Gorjanc and Dubokovič families have another successful entrepreneurial story to tell. The sixty-five-hectare Monte Rosso estate in the coastal village of Crveni vrh in the middle of Croatia’s beautiful Istrian countryside is a veritable paradise, with its fifty thousand grapevines, fourteen thousand olive trees, two thousand cherry trees and six hundred almond and fig trees. When the olive trees and vines are at peak harvest, the estate will produce over thirty thousand litres of olive oil and over fifty thousand bottles of wine. Both products are already winning recognition and awards at international competitions.

The oldest son, Jan, is a co-creator of this story, managing the estate’s social media presence. Although his first passion is music – having completed his undergraduate studies in London and currently pursuing a double Master’s degree at the Academy of Music in Trieste, where he works as a choirmaster – he is also intrigued by the workings of the family business.