Question 1

How can I find out if my business meets the necessary requirements for obtaining funding under the various European / international framework programs?

Accepted Answer

There are many programs and there are different requirements for each of them. Questionnaires have been created for some programs that can give an indication of whether your business meets the requirements, but if it does not, it does not tell you which other financial instrument to target. At this stage, the best decision is to turn to specialized consultants. There are also such in BIA.

Question 2

I want to grow my business beyond the borders of Bulgaria. Are you assisting in the process of finding suitable international partners?

Accepted Answer

Yes. With very few restrictions (weapons, precursors, antiques, human tissues) our team can help in: Market research and market access, finding potential partners, consulting on industrial property rights, organizing participation in business missions, exhibitions and international meetings .

Question 3

Can you assess the export potential of my business? Can you help to increase it?

Accepted Answer

Yes and yes. The Bulgarian market is small in order to achieve growth, especially in niche products. That is why more and more innovative companies are turning to foreign markets and looking for synergies on a scale. It usually starts with the nearest markets (as a distance, but also as similar conditions for market access), then look for partners further and further away. But there are exceptions: e.g. The Japanese really like products containing rose extract, so our producers of chocolate with roses sell in Japan without selling in our neighboring countries. 
 
 We assess the readiness for export of a product, a company and a team. In all three, the answer must be "yes" to tell you "you are ready". If there is more to learn, we will support: collective specialized trainings, individual consultations, mentoring and others. We offer the "External Trade Office" service, which is most often used by small and medium-sized companies with insufficient people in the team or unsure of their knowledge.

Question 4

My business is at a standstill. Could you analyze my business? And would you help to integrate modern solutions in our activities?

Accepted Answer

Business downtime is the most worrying state. We all know Alice's remarks from Wonderland… Every business - both stagnant and growing, needs from time to time someone outside the company to review and say: "Here and here the company has a competitive advantage over related companies , but there are areas where it lags behind." Our team has the richest range of licensed experts for Bulgaria to work with modern tools for business evaluation based on CEN / TS 16555-1 standard: IMP3rove Innovation management assessment, Digital Innovation Quotient and Innovation Health Check. The more difficult task comes after the evaluation - what to change and improve our results. For more information, see the ''Services'(undefined)' section of our site.

Question 5

Why should I know the market in which I sell?

Accepted Answer

To stay in the market. If you don't know it, there are two options: 
 
 1) You sell at prices higher than the prices of similar goods or services with the same consumer value. Very soon your customers will realize that there is no point in paying more and you will lose them. 
 
 2) Sell at prices lower than the competition. Then you lose the profit needed for investment and development of your company. If you don't grow, the competition will overtake you. 
 There is a third option - to turn out to be in violation and the regulators to sanction you!

Question 6

How to increase the added value of my products?

Accepted Answer

By investing in knowledge. High added value comes with innovations in products, technologies, processes or business models, protection of industrial property, extraction of optimal profit from a given market, highly skilled labor. It's actually harder…

Question 7

I want my business to be sustainable. What are the main aspects I need to consider?

Accepted Answer

Congratulations! Unfortunately, many enterprising Bulgarians rely on one-off "hit" rather than constant growth for the benefit of customers and society. Sustainability has many aspects: political, financial or health crises, protection of air, soil and water, social responsibility, attractiveness of the working environment and others. There are businesses where there are fewer factors to consider, there are businesses where it is really difficult or even impossible to achieve overall sustainability. And this - despite the availability of significant financial resources to address these challenges. We are ready to take the time to get acquainted with your specific case and go the long way together. It's worth it!

Question 8

I have a very innovative idea, the tests give hope for market success, but I need partners with specific knowledge and serious funding. What should I do?

Accepted Answer

There are different ways to bring the idea to market. There are a variety of support schemes for both the formation of partnerships and funding - grant, equity, debt or mixed. To be successful, you need to know what market need the idea satisfies, who will be the customer and who will pay for the product or service. What matters is the size of the market, the competition, the level of technological readiness (link to an explanation file), how fast and how much profit you will generate and at what risk. There is no single answer to this question.

Contact us

If you have questions about any of our services, you are interested in a project

and / or an offer published on our website, or you just want to contact us:

76 Chataldja Street , 1527 Sofia, Bulgaria

Tel. +359 293 209 54

ierc@bia-bg.com
h.kasparyan@bia-bg.com
t.danailova@bia-bg.com

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