Finding beauty in a beastly market

Daniela Florea is among the crop of entrepreneurs sailing against the wind, having set up her company in the midst of the current crisis. She saw an opportunity to develop a business and she has ambitious plans for the future.

Anca Ionescu

For Daniela Florea, the owner of TouchPoints Professional salon, the current crisis was an opportunity to set up a business rather than a threat. “Paradoxically, at the moment, people need more to be relaxed and detached from the ordinary problems. It is obvious that we also have customers when the economy goes down,” says Florea. Although her business started as a hobby, at the suggestion of her family and friends she began to think seriously about transforming her passion into a real business. The idea to set up her body care salon came when she was on an extended holiday and took some courses in this field of activity.

“It was very interesting because I had extraordinary teachers who knew how to transmit their passion to us,” remembers the entrepreneur. As a result, she launched TouchPoints Professional salon, which provides body treatments, back in 2008.

“I had also worked with a German clinic and a well known salon and this was an opportunity for me to become familiar with the most innovative equipment in this field,” she adds.

Her professional path includes expertise in a wide range of fields such as government institutions (the Ministry of Finance), FMCG, logistics (Interbrands Marketing&Distribution) and multinationals (AIG Life). Finding the right location for this kind of activity and coping with the bureaucracy were some of the most common difficulties her business has faced.

But why did she choose to launch a business in a time of crisis? “Any start-up involves a period of transition, a ‘crisis’ specific to each beginning. This is why I decided not to wait for the current downturn to pass and to stop wasting my time.

It was hard work to set up TouchPoints Professional because although it looks like a hobby it must be treated as a real business with its specific challenges starting from accounting, to suppliers, PR activities and the IT system,” says the owner of TouchPoints Professional.

She believes that it is a real challenge to manage any business because you need multitasking skills. Plus, you are always involved in what you do, both when you are at the office and in your spare time. But there are also benefits and personal satisfactions.

“You have the chance to interact with many people, face many situations and test your personal capacities. In other words, you are more creative and this is both a very engaging activity and rough work,” adds Florea.

The businesswoman considers herself lucky because she has had the chance to work with people that have helped her a lot both professionally and personally. “They were the right people at the right moment,” she says.

If she started another business she would be more aggressive in approaching the market. “In the first few months I sounded out the market because body care is a relatively new activity in Romania. But it has great potential to develop in the future. We just need to be patient,” says the businesswoman.

She also thinks that an association with a partner could have positive effects for a business both financially and operationally. “In addition I would invest more in online advertising and search engine optimization. Our base of customers has grown mainly based on recommendations,” she says.

To make her customers happy is the main challenge for her business. “We work directly with our customers so it is easy to see their satisfaction immediately. Plus the positive feedback is very important for us,” says Florea. The entrepreneur decided to launch her business on a pretty crowded market but she sees the bright sight of those market conditions.

“Competition is beneficial because it makes us want to be better at what

we do and find new ways to reach our goals. There is a market for each of us, a niche and specific customers for every business, especially because we operate in Bucharest, a market that can absorb a body care salon for every 4,000-5,000 inhabitants,” says Florea.

According to her, flexibility and openness to the suggestions of her customers is what differentiates TouchPoints Professional from the crowd.

”We try to create a friendly atmosphere from their first visit to our salon. In addition, we have attractive promotions for our customers each month or for different occasions and also anniversary offerings valid throughout a year,” says the businesswoman.

As for her future plans, Florea intends to buy new equipment and offer additional services. “First we will focus on body and face cosmetics and then we intend to extend our team by collaborating with another two or three people. We are also thinking of a possible partnership if necessary,” concludes Florea.

editorial@business-review.ro

Tags: daniela florea