Hoping for partnership with local businessmen, many people fall into this trap. Partnership is always dependence. In Bulgaria, partnership strategy has become an entire industry. Unfortunately, the industry is exterminating or squeezing out business projects. Local businessmen willingly act as co-founders, promising to use all their connections and power for the common cause. Moreover, both at the level of small businesses and at the level of high officials, influential politicians and big business tycoons (with the difference that these put their relatives as co-founders).
A very active initial phase, requiring investments from both parties, draws out money (our trustee cannot say exactly what part of it ends up in the substituted pockets), he invests “his share” and rubs his hands in anticipation of development. An important phase is obtaining permits, which requires costs and considerable waiting time. At this stage, everything looks very promising and rosy, the partner appears as a reliable support that takes on all the hardships and promises mountains of gold.
But, as soon as the documents are drawn up and no movement is possible without the participation of the partner, it is precisely this participation that is sabotaged. Our naive trustee feels wild discomfort - momentum and time are lost, the project is stalled, the newly minted partner finds thousands of reasons not to meet or move, slows down the process in every possible way and cuts off any initiative in the bud. This happens for a long time. Oh, your partner has patience!
A stalled project consumes money, the efforts made turn out to be empty, everything freezes. A year or two later, our disappointed entrepreneur, shackled with his partner, having lost time, money and faith in the project, is already dreaming of getting rid of the dead burden. And this is where the local partner becomes active and finds the same local buyer (most often a dummy) who is ready to buy for an apple core (or simply re-register, eliminating the problem) a share in an unprofitable enterprise.
After re-registration, the company, which has been completely transferred to the partner with all the ready-made permits, patents and certificates, is quite capable of beginning to develop. And, if the subject of activity, for example, is related to the import or production of a certain unique product, then no one will be able, without the knowledge of the copyright holder, to import or produce the product patented for it.
Worth considering
All cases cannot be covered in one article; in each situation there is a proven scheme for obtaining additional benefits from a fat, ignorant foreigner, but several basic recommendations will still be appropriate:
- Searching for employees by recommendation is preferable to a lottery based on an advertisement. Call on your friends - this way you are more likely to get proven performers.
- As soon as Russian speech or a strong accent comes out of the customer’s mouth, prices double or triple. Be sure to study the prices of services and be able to defend them. Or entrust negotiations with the performers to their compatriot from among your good friends.
- Learning the language is a must! It is close to ours and understandable. For those who find Bulgarian difficult: believe me, there is no such thing as language inability! This is an internal psychological barrier. As soon as you find the opportunity to relax internally, understanding of the language will flow into you in a torrent. But, absolutely: doing business without knowing the language is a guaranteed fiasco! Don’t rely on someone else’s uncle, who willingly undertakes to be a language bridge between you and your business.
- Do nothing without a lawyer! Spending on the services of a person who protects you from the consequences of your ignorance of the details is justified! Trying to save on this expense item will certainly plunge you into losses and expenses of gigantic proportions. When choosing a lawyer, study the prices for services and inquire about his reputation. If this is difficult, again rely on the recommendations of your friends. Read more about the peculiarities of the work of lawyers in Bulgaria in the previous article.
- Remember: business in Russian (when a handshake is enough for an agreement and the promisee is responsible for fulfillment with his head) does not work here!
- It is strictly forbidden to prepay for work. There are many people who want to receive an advance payment. But, in most cases, there is a risk of not seeing either work or, of course, a refund.
- Don’t give in to pride - consult with everyone, systematize the advice you receive! This way you can get a lot of information that you would otherwise get through bruises and bumps.
- You absolutely cannot stop controlling all processes! There is no possibility - you need to hire/involve a trusted person and authorize him to make demands. As soon as the customer turns away, he finds himself in a minefield.
- You cannot succumb to the charm of brotherly relations! Let emotions remain emotions, and don’t lose control! “Thank you for Shipka!” and love for the Russians may be a relaxing addition to the planned use of trust. By the way, for most Bulgarians, “Russians” are any representatives of the former Union who speak Russian. In fairness, it is necessary to mention a considerable part of the Bulgarians who really sympathize with us with all their souls and are grateful to our grandfathers for their liberation.
Don't let the abundance of horror stories in this article scare you! It is very pleasant to live in Bulgaria! You can do business in Bulgaria! You can work with Bulgarians! Among them there are amazing people, worthy partners, responsible employees! Perhaps not right away, but you will definitely meet them! It’s just that before you take steps, you need to carefully study every pebble on the way. Traps and traps, holes and potholes are everywhere.