A few months ago, UniCredit Bank tapped the DoR team to discover some of the more interesting stories of businesses in the creative industry sectors of Bucharest and Cluj, and collect them in a guide. The resulting publication, 24/7: A guide to life and work for the creative entrepreneur will launch at this year’s conference and will feature the stories of over 30 small and medium businesses from Bucharest and Cluj, as well as tips and tricks about starting your own venture.

“The idea came to me at the beginning of this year, while I was in Berlin, a city that truly fascinates me, and where I was educated”, says Anca Nuță, identity and communication director at UniCredit Bank. “This town is infused with creative startups and entrepreneurs that redefined the way of doing business in a period when ‘no, this is not possible’ is the headline we hear the most.” Anca says she believed that discovering and telling the stories of Romanian businesses doing the same “would be inspiring and helpful, both to those that lack the courage to start something new, as well to those that need fresh ideas. As a bank, it is difficult to finance startups, but it’s easy to support them with ideas, advice, and consultancy to start something they believe in.”

These stories go beyond origin myths. You’ll discover the serendipitous way a bike messenger service got its name, but you’ll also learn about its struggle to capture a market in Bucharest, and figure out the correct price for delivery. You’ll be amazed by how a Netflix-like service for books was born out of an incubator the entrepreneur cobbled together by hiring a few college students to test out business ideas, but you’ll also learn about how it handles purchasing and distribution, and how it plans to scale and expand abroad. You’ll meet two young women who stumbled on a market they had no idea existed – wannabe flight attendants –, and how they turned it into a successful business combining training, and publishing.

„Entrepreneurs in creative industries are still a minority”, says Cristian Lupșa of DoR, who also co-edited the guide. „The businesses in 24/7 – although different in scale and purpose – all share a couple of common threads: the belief that you can build something out of passion, and that hard work and a quality product can create a market where there didn’t seem to be one.”

UniCredit chose The Power of Storytelling as a venue to distribute the first copies of this guide because the conference is also an initiative born out of a passion – in this case for storytelling –, and a belief that it help us build better futures for ourselves, our communities, and, of course, our businesses.

Many of the entrepreneurs featured in the guide talk about sometimes feeling like they were the only ones going through a rough spot, unable to find answers to questions having to do with regulation, pricing strategy, cash flow, and so on. The stories in 24/7 show that’s not the case, and hopefully they’ll serve as a reminder of the struggles a creative business needs to go through, as well as a companion to others ready to take the leap

Part of a series dedicated to the supporters who help make the conference possible. We thank them for their contribution.