Tailor-made vacations make good profits

Sorin Stoica has been a well known name in the business community for years thanks to his company, Dasimpex. Since 2007, the entrepreneur has started a new enterprise: the first tailor-made travel agency in Romania, Eturia, which he set up with his wife, Daniela. Stoica's first foray into the business world was in 1997 when he founded Dasimpex, a retail chain specialized in selling GSM products. The business was initially set up as a family concern, but it quickly surpassed Stoica's expectations. Three stores were opened within six months of launching, and after three years of full operations Dasimpex had a 35-shop network. But four years after its creation, Dasimpex ran into its first significant difficulties, caused by a lack of financial resources to support the company's rapid development. Stoica survived this tough period, but he started to think about exiting the business, due to not being able to afford significant expansion. As a result, Spanish investment fund GED Capital bought the firm in 2006. The idea to set up Eturia came after his exit from Dasimpex. It is common knowledge that an entrepreneur who has spent many years embroiled in the challenges of running his own business cannot walk away that easily. “When I made my exit from Dasimpex I thought that I didn't want to retire from business forever. So with a team of nine specialists we set up Eturia,” says its CEO. Like any other creative businessperson, he wanted to do something new, challenging and unusual. So Stoica choose to run a business that had no competition on the market. “I didn't want to run an ordinary travel agency. That's why I launched the first tailor-made agency in Romania,” he adds. Entrepreneurs often choose what type of business to set up based on aspects of their personal life. For the Stoica family, the pleasure and experience of each trip abroad persuaded them to start up Eturia. Another factor was the lack of customized tourism services, an available niche that they could cover. “We started to travel abroad back in 2000, but unfortunately we always found difficulties in customizing our own holidays,” remembers Stoica. As a result, the two entrepreneurs decided to start a business similar to those in the UK. The UK is one of the most important and developed markets for tailor-made holidays, Stoica says. Eturia is a real “factory” that “produces” customized vacations based both on the specific needs of the customers and on their budget. “We enjoyed traveling and realized that we could make some money from this business,” says Stoica. He adds that they considered this field to be one that would challenge them on the long term. But Stoica was in luck because in his two years of running Eturia he has not faced any difficulties, he says. Asked if he has any regrets about his business, the answer is simple: “No! I think that this is the difference between a real entrepreneur and any other person who is in business.” He goes on: “I have no regrets and I am convinced that the positive attitude that I have had since the beginning of my first business helped me to vault any inherent obstacle that an entrepreneur might be faced with,” says Stoica. Business experience can make a person more mature and rational when making a decision or spending money, and this was certainly true for Stoica. If he were to start over with another company, he would pay more attention to how he spent or invested his money. “I don't think I would waste money on things that didn't make a profit,” says Stoica. He adds that he has gained a lot of business experience that has brought him great advantages. “Now I know how to create and manage teamwork. I have also learned what the most important things are for a business to be successful: high quality, communication and promotion,” adds the CEO. The biggest challenge for Eturia has always been to win Romanians over with the tailor-made vacation concept. But another big test for Stoica is to persuade local holidaymakers to choose destinations other than the usual ones such as Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece. To increase the market share and to become a powerful brand on the Romanian tourism market seems to be Stoica's aim. As for standing out from the crowd, the entrepreneur thinks that Eturia distinguishes itself from the market through its customized offer, based on customer input. “We don't sell standard packages, but less visited destinations such as Thailand, Costa Rica, the Maldives, Galapagos, USA, Australia, Ireland and Vietnam,” says Stoica. In future, the entrepreneur intends Eturia to become the market leader for destinations like Cambodia, Mexico, Vietnam, Costa Rica and Thailand. “We also intend to increase our turnover by at least 30 percent a year and to grow the number of customers,” concludes the businessman.
anda.dragan@business-review.ro