Can Bulgaria become a good example of European exclusion in the luxury furniture industry?
In the coming years, the tendency for production to be positioned close to the market where it is sold will intensify, said Miroslav Konstantinov, co-founder of “M2 PROM”
Photo: “M2 PROM”
Bulgaria can become a European exception in the luxury furniture industry by breaking away from the low-cost model. This is how the future of furniture production for commercial establishments can be seen Miroslav Konstantinovco-founder of “M2 PROM”, who in the program “Business Start” on Bloomberg TV Bulgaria confirmed that the partnership between Bulgarian companies can use the potential of manufacturers.
A few days ago, the Capital Investment Fund of the Bulgarian Development Bank Group carried out the first successful exit from equity investments. The fund is selling its shares in the furniture company “M2 PROM”.
Miroslav Konstantinov explains that as the first Bulgarian company to be used by the Fund’s equity investment scheme, the difficulties are mainly related to paving the paths and playing the processes for the first time, but even all of them have been interesting, both for the company. and for the fund. “From here on, the process for the next one will be even smoother,” he expects.
According to him, “the pluses are very many”. On the one hand, there is the investment that has helped the company to purchase machinery as well as top-of-the-line specialized software to achieve precision, a must in the luxury segment in which the company operates. Jobs have been opened and the necessary specialists have been trained. “We used the period of the pandemic when the world stopped to be ready when the market opened,” said the manager.
According to him, difficulties in the modern business environment are completely surmountable when there is proper communication with customers. “The market is regulated and adapted to sustainable development. A design office will be built in Bulgaria, serving the entire Lindera group, which currently has a turnover of 70 million euros and bought the Bulgarian start-up for luxury furniture for commercial establishments “M2 PROM”. Our country will also become a center for the group’s entire outsourcing activity,” Miroslav Konstantinov revealed the development plans.
He reminded that already in 2021, the second year of the pandemic, the company “M2 PROM” increased its revenues nearly five times to BGN 6.8 million. and the confirmation that previous experience in large companies, such as Nespresso, Gucci, where everything is planned in five and ten years, helped. – We did this from day one – we didn’t invent hot water, we did what we saw in the big company. It was a bit weird and hypothetical, but when we see the result, it’s very nice because we’re clearly on the right track.”
Miroslav Konstantinov emphasizes that long-term planning is essential.
As for the markets the company is targeting, he says that in this case it’s more about an industry and a segment. “We have specialized in the luxury segment from day one”, and the seven largest global groups in the world in the luxury segment have a turnover of 160 billion dollars and 12 thousand boutiques worldwide. One such company renews its boutiques every five years. “It has to do with depreciation, but also with the fact that when the lead designer changes in this company, he wants to change the whole image,” the supporter points out.
He predicts that there will be regulation of the market in the coming years, reinforcing the tendency to position production close to the market in which it is sold. “We have a strategy that is unique to Bulgaria. The French group Lindera, of which we are already a part, has a turnover of 70 million euros and the goal is currently to make it 120 million euros in five years, with a large part of the production being done through outsourcing. By using our experience, we want to centralize outsourcing in Bulgaria, which is a great plus for our country, for our Bulgarian partners and for the tax system”, Miroslav Konstantinov believes.
Will M2 PROM be able to help the design company to serve the entire Lindera group? What are the challenges for furniture manufacturers? What materials do furniture designers choose? How are energy and transport costs optimized? What is the future of the furniture sector? How does the BDB Capital Investment Fund help businesses?
See the entire commentary on the video material at Bloomberg TV Bulgaria.
All guests of the “Business Start” show can watch here.