From paper promises to solid services

Though he majored in tourism, Bogdan Nicolae soon discovered that it was in the direct marketing industry that he would end up going places. Backed up by extensive professional experience, the entrepreneur is looking at regional expansion.

Anda Sebesi

Bogdan Nicolae, general manager of More Results Marketing, became an entrepreneur in 2004, after spending eight years working for one of the most well-known companies in the field of direct marketing at that time, as executive manager. Although he graduated from the Faculty of Tourism and intended to work and even start a business in this domain, once Nicolae entered the unconventional advertising industry he changed his mind.

So at the age of 35 he decided to set up his own firm, More Results Marketing, specialized in direct marketing. “I started with one partner and initial capital of EUR 10,000. We posted a turnover of about EUR 30,000 in our first operational year, 2005,” remembers the entrepreneur. But the business grew exponentially, registering a turnover of EUR 80,000 in 2006. A year later, the figure reached over EUR 100,000.

Asked why he chose to develop a business in direct marketing, Nicolae says he liked what he was doing a lot and firmly believed in the benefits and future of this industry. “It is constantly gaining ground against traditional marketing,” he says.

He was led to entrepreneurship by the feeling that he was not cut out to work for someone else. And it was something he had always wanted to do. The thinking was simple: if he was able to sell direct marketing services for a specific company, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to do it for his own firm. He chose to call his company More Results Marketing to show that his company would do something different, focused on results and sales. “Everything is measurable in this field of activity. You always know to whom you have sent the message and how many messages you have sent. Besides, you are able to quantify the feedback,” says the general manager.

Looking back over the development of the business, Nicolae concludes that it is always the start that is awkward. During his first three months as an entrepreneur he did not attract any customers and came close to throwing in the towel. But he was patient with his company, which proved to be the right course of action. “For any start-up the beginning is difficult because you need to convince people that you are good, serious and able to do what you say you can do. After that other problems occur, such as financial ones. If you intend to have a competitive business you need to invest constantly in equipment, technologies, people and know-how,” advises the businessman.

After his first year of entrepreneurship Nicolae reached 300 business meetings a year, of which more than a third were with customers, with Philips and Orkla Foods being among his main clients. According to Nicolae, his business is among the top three direct marketing companies, with the market being split between about 12-14 such firms at the moment.

If he started another company he wouldn’t change anything, but he has learned a lot from his experience in business. “It is very important to be careful over the people you choose as your associates, because they may come from different areas of activity and have different mentalities. You need to find a common denominator in order to make things work perfectly.” He adds: “I was lucky to meet capable people who helped me to develop a group of companies, associations, partnerships and independent firms. We form a hard core that is able to tumkey any integrated project at national level.” More Results Marketing is part of a group of six companies with 58 employees in total. The companies are specialized in direct, web and SMS marketing, IT and logistics, field marketing and courier services, with Nicolae being shareholder in three of the six companies that form the group.

Turning to the budgets that a typical customer assigns for a direct marketing campaign, Nicolae says the figure starts from EUR 5,000 per project and can reach EUR 50,000-100,000. But there are a lot of challenges for any business in this field, with keeping promises being one of the most important. “We sell direct marketing integrated services, so initially the customer buys promises on a piece of paper. After that, they become services,” says the entrepreneur.

While the competition is fierce in the direct marketing world, Nicolae says that only the top four-five companies play a major role on the market. He adds that More Results Marketing controls over 25 percent of the direct marketing market, while his group of six firms holds over 45 percent. Looking to the future, Nicolae plans to invest in new technology, connected services and know-how. “In addition we intend to continue our expansion in Eastern Europe – Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Austria. Recently we established a local partnership in the Republic of Moldavia,” adds the businessman.

anda.sebesi@business-review.ro

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