Blog " To be truly good, you need to be brave.
Hello Desi, Thank you for the opportunity to join our #SCCTALKS series. You have been a part of the corporate ecosystem in Bulgaria for many years, and it’s hard to find a company that hasn’t reached out to you in its attempts to create something beautiful, unique, and image-driven as an advertising product. From the perspective of time, how has this ecosystem changed? How much time has passed since your beginning until now?
Hello, I also thank you for the invitation to join your series and for the recognition you give our company as an established player in the advertising sector.
For me, it all started 20 years ago. I began as an accountant, but I quickly realized that my strength lies in building relationships with clients, and I’ve been doing that ever since. That’s it. It’s a kind of magic that captivates you, but to keep it, you must believe strongly and never stop learning—from every colleague, from every client, from every situation that arises. By taking this career path, I realized that this is my flame in life.
It is an undeniable fact that changes help us grow. Some companies are willing to undergo significant restructuring and demonstrate great flexibility during such periods. What have been your observations during the most recent periods of change? Has the demand for advertising products changed?
Of course, the advertising business evolves like all other sectors. Online commerce is developing more and more. We have nine websites. Flexibility – yes. During the COVID crisis, this was our strongest asset in handling the situation.
Regarding changes in the demand for advertising products – the demand for technological products has increased. The bottle, as a standard product, can now come with a cap indicator showing the temperature of the beverage.
In writing instruments, the ever-writing pen with the patented ETHERGRAF® tip by Pininfarina Segno has appeared, for which we are the exclusive representative – Pen Shop Group.
The German company LAMY, for which we are also the exclusive representative in Bulgaria, introduced a new product. The LAMY safari all black digital writing set bridges the gap between the analog notebook and the limitless world of digital writing.
After so many years of digitization and automation of various processes and objects around us, is the notebook still considered trendy?
Despite technological advancements worldwide, the creation of artificial intelligence, and the replacement of printed products with digital ones, clients still seek classic products. Products that speak for themselves and will always be “in style,” because nothing can replace the traditional and established advertising image.
How do you “raise” a business for so many years? I suppose you might say – with a lot of love and dedication, like children. In reality, for every entrepreneur, a business is like their child, and each of us invests a great deal of emotion into its growth. But, unfortunately, businesses are far more dependent on and influenced by various external factors, economic conditions, events, and other circumstances, some of which can even be considered force majeure. How do you “raise” a business for over 20 years? Is there a secret?
You are right; to be truly successful, you need to view your business as your own child. It requires effort, sleepless nights, endless negotiations, dedication, and, of course, love for what you are building. To be truly good in this business, you need to be brave and even a little bit crazy. Because to be successful, it’s not enough to just understand advertising products and commerce; we also need to believe boundlessly in our own potential.
You have an office in Germany—what made you take this step, and when did you decide to do it? How did the whole process unfold in terms of expanding beyond the borders of Bulgaria?
This has been a long-standing dream of ours. I’ll answer you with a thought about luck and professional growth: it’s the moment when opportunity meets experience. That’s exactly how this endeavor came to life. The office is located in Düsseldorf and officially opened at the beginning of January this year. We can already proudly announce our first orders.
The Sales Club Conference operates under the slogan “From entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs,” and our main idea is to help each other through expertise. Our goal is to stay relevant to the business environment and, over time, to create a community where entrepreneurs feel comfortable. Does the Bulgarian business ecosystem need more unification? Do we help each other, or do we mostly watch each other as competitors? Can we try to paint a picture with you of the entrepreneur who comes to you as a client?
Of course, united we will achieve more, and this is not a cliché. An example of this is Sales Club. The community that has been formed is already showing results. We have held several meetings that have proven this statement, and I am glad that more and more partners believe in the success of this endeavor.
The entrepreneur as a client—I've encountered a very colorful world, and it’s impossible to paint a single, unified picture. There are many loyal clients with whom it is a pleasure to work. As for the other type, it’s better to remain silent—everyone in business has encountered them.
What advice would you give to the community regarding what lies ahead for us in 2023 in terms of dynamics?
I believe that, through our combined efforts, we will continue to build on our successes, learn from each other, and support one another. As part of Pen Shop GroupI see a future that holds successes beyond the boundaries of the familiar.
