The major retail chains demand certain shelf or marketing taxes while the major soft drinks or beer producers usually require exclusive deals.
“When you first open for business, major coffee producers court you, trying to give you an espresso machine and coffee, but we turned them down. We chose to work with a small coffee roasting company, Guido,” says Razvan Crisan, 29, one of the shareholders of the M60 coffee shop.
He and his French partner established the M60 coffee shop that opened in Amzei area in the center of Bucharest about a month ago, following a EUR80,000 investment. All the suppliers of the coffee shop are small entrepreneurial businesses themselves.
The only beer supplier is Zaganul, a microbrewery based in Valenii de Munte (southern Romania). The other suppliers include grocery store Bacania Rod, confectionery shop French Revolution, Brot bakery and Frog catering business.
“We created M60 as an ecosystem of local entrepreneurs, each of which specializing in something. Since each of them are passionate about their line of business, we can be sure we will always have the right products,” Razvan Crisan added.
There are about 470,000 small and medium-sized businesses in Romania out of 650,000 companies. Still, out of the more than 470,000 SMBs, about 200,000 have no employees. In other words, they serve as a stream of income for only one person, the owner or, most often, the consultant.
The SMBs should be the growth drivers of an economy relying on entrepreneurship for development. Each government put them on the list of priorities yet always relegated them to second place.
Many such businesses are struggling to survive in Romania in their battle with large companies. Burdened by taxes and fast legislative changes that happen on a monthly basis, the small entrepreneurs have created a mutual support system, which in turn is giving rise to a new business class.
“When I started the business I decided to begin with partnerships with small shops I can visit. I went to each of them and discussed with their owners,” says Indira Abdulvoap, an entrepreneur in Constanta.
“You can build personal connections with these shops, close-knit partnerships, a mutual support system.”
Indira Abdulvoap discovered the Rawbite bars during one of her work trips to Denmark and decided to import them in Romania and start her own raw vegan ‘kitchen’. These products are now available in 15 small shops in Bucharest and the rest of the country.
She admits that in order to ensure long-term sustainability of her business, she would like to sign partnerships with major retail chains to get her products more easily to consumers. She is not looking for a presence in all retail chains, only in one or two she deems as suitable for her products.
The small shops Rawbite products can be found in include Camara cu Merinde. Camara cu Merinde is a brand used by a shop that sells organic food and cosmetics and a restaurant catering to vegetarians and raw vegans, which also does deliveries.
“We only work with small local producers for both bread and seeds, fruit and vegetables. We have four or five suppliers now but are looking for more. We believe such relations help small businesses develop,” says Simona Chimisliu, Camara cu Merinde owner.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)