Dāvids Kļaviņš, a graduate of the Turība University and the author of the Kliksel.lv idea, began his entrepreneurial journey in the first grade, when he sold “HotWheels” toys with a self-made catalog. Today, he runs a platform that not only fights fraud in online sales, but also promotes sustainable consumption by giving things a second life.

Studies at the Turība University opened up the opportunity not only to gain academic knowledge, but also to develop a personal perspective on entrepreneurship and sustainable business, admits Dāvids, a graduate of the “International Marketing and Sales Management” program at the Faculty of Business Administration at Turība. He emphasizes that the university has an environment where ideas are given space to develop and there is freedom to think, experiment and slowly come to conclusions that will truly be a valuable business idea. “There are often many ideas, but it is the environment and encouragement that help to evaluate which of them has potential. I also had my own business idea for a long time, but for a long time it seemed that the time was not right. During my studies, while participating in various projects and trips, I felt that I could,” says Dāvids.

The path to the realization of the idea and my ability to realize it was not quick and easy. Dāvids worked and studied in parallel, trying to maintain the rhythm of life, but during the pandemic it became more difficult. I had to make a decision and set priorities: “I chose my studies and my long-term priorities. It was a conscious choice for the good of the future, and as a result, I graduated with honors”.

From his studies, Dāvids especially remembers lectures given by professor, rector Zane Driņķe, professor Iveta Liniņa and lecturer Ieva Bruksle on entrepreneurship, marketing and project management, which were not only academically valuable, but also inspiring to do more: “The attitude of the lecturers and their willingness to get involved outside of lectures created the feeling that they really care about the students. This was even more evident after graduation, when Ieva and Iveta participated in the opening of our first Kliksel.lv concept store in Valmiera, also reading a greeting from Zane. It was not only touching, but also a testament to the close connection between the university and its graduates”.

Dāvids is not completely unfamiliar with the sales industry. He has a talent in this industry, cultivated both during his life and through gaining knowledge: “When I was in first grade, I had created a catalog of “HotWheels” toy cars and sold them to others, while abroad, in order to earn money, I bought broken bicycles, which I repaired, restored and resold, which led to repairing motorcycles, cars, wooden furniture and transferring them to future owners”.

This experience gave Dāvids an understanding of the market and revealed a big gap in the Baltic region - there was a lack of a reliable, secure online platform for the sale of used and restored goods. During his studies, Dāvids developed ideas for an application platform. While many considered it a mandatory task, he approached it with full dedication - he attracted mentors, developed a project, participated in pitch sessions and eventually went to Barcelona, where he won 3rd place in the Erasmus+ Spin Teams competition. This success was like a push - the idea really is feasible.

Kliksel.lv was originally planned as an advertising platform where users could safely buy and sell used electrical appliances without any intermediaries, but over time the idea has been developed and improved in accordance with the market and consumer experience, transforming it into a B2B2C model.

Dāvids explains: “Currently, we have become intermediaries - we cooperate with companies that refurbish devices and guarantee their quality. We test them ourselves to ensure reliability for buyers. We also introduced a CO₂ savings calculation into the platform - by buying a used device instead of a new one, a significant amount of emissions is saved”.

In turn, to explain to the consumer their contribution to preserving the environment by making their purchases, the authors of the platform have introduced a movement within the framework of which one tree is planted for each purchase. By cooperating with an international partner, the purchase is automatically recorded and then a tree is planted. However, the platform owners themselves are also getting involved and have planted more than 400 spruces in Latvia.

In early July, Dāvids took another step towards improving the company and opened the first Kliksel.lv concept store in Valmiera. “This is not just about sales - it’s an environment where you can come, sit, enjoy coffee, take part in master classes, fix a broken device or create your own podcast. The goal is not only to sell, but also to change thinking - those old things can be revived and given a second life. We want to create a program of activities that are relevant to society and also environmentally relevant, attracting various device masters for demonstrations, as well as designers, to inspire people not to buy something new, but to use what they already have creatively,” admits Dāvids.

Dāvids emphasizes that the concept of sustainability, in his opinion, is still being sought in society. For most, the priority is still price and only then quality, followed by sustainability. However, David has observed, that people start to be interested, to think, to look for alternatives, especially if sustainability is made understandable, for example, planting a tree, as the authors of the Kliksel.lv idea themselves do.

Dāvids encourages young entrepreneurs to start with what they like and are passionate about the most, then find a current problem in the relevant field, observe it and perhaps an idea will arise on how to solve it by making it their own business. He wishes young aspirants to try as many times as they can: “Not all success comes at once, but nothing will happen if you do nothing,” emphasizes Dāvids.