Trade center BASM — quality zone
Quality is the key to a successful development of any business
Vladimir registered his limited liability company "BASM" in February 1992 to manufacture and sell plaster souvenirs as its main type of activity. However, very soon Vladimir discovered that it would not generate enough profits for expansion and being an ambitious person he decided to move away from this business towards something which would have a quicker turnover. He started by assessing the existing market demand and exploring the available niches. Thus, Vladimir decided to venture into a new line of business by trading in audio-video equipment as well as cosmetic products. He rented space in a shop. As the business evolved, he rented additional space in another shop having also expanded the choice of his products to include: consumer goods, sportswear, white goods, construction materials etc. To increase sales he took a loan from Moldova-Agroindbank and with the profits earned Vladimir funded the construction of a four storied trade center "BASM", right in the center of Baltsi town.
Vladimir checking compliance with the quality standards
Even though, his business had started to gain momentum Vladimir still wasn’t fully satisfied of how it was developing. His concern was about how to maintain such a momentum that required some good business management skills. Vladimir realized that unless he took some action his competitors would soon take over him. Neither Vladimir, nor his employees had necessary knowledge and skills. He was also conscious that it was essential to improve the quality of work of all his employees, but he didn’t know how and where he could get such expertise
As a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vladimir kept a close contact with its Balti office and learned about a training program for managers and specialists working in small enterprises. This training course was organized under the Voucher program held by the Chamber of Commerce/Project BSP.
The Voucher program offered partial subsidies for the cost of the course using the resources provided by USAID. This stroke Vladimir as an unique opportunity to upgrade the skills of his staff, so he had his employees attend all of the courses and some of them even several times. They learned about the basics of marketing and planning, effective sales, and efficient communication. As part of these courses there was a lot of information provided on effective business management and on what makes it a true success.
Also, Vladimir relies very much on the advise and consultations he gets as a member of the Chamber of Commerce any time he contemplates a new project. His employees have a great respect for Vladimir both as a manager and personality. The employees are trained on a permanent basis and more importantly the kind of training they are getting is unique as it is based on practical experience. Now they pay much greater attention to the quality assurance and even to their own performance. At the presentation of the mid-term performance of the Voucher program, Vladimir expressed his gratitude to the project which now had opened up a number of opportunities for him.
"Untiring search through knowledge improvement - this is the way to achieve progress and success in business"
Active participation in the Voucher program, the newly acquired skills and abilities have much improved the enterprise performance. It had a good impact on the quality of service, a fact which is clearly reflected by the slogan at the entrance to the trade center: "BASM- the quality zone " In 2003, Vladimir opened another shop "Ìàster ", and created 5 jobs. The first floor of the trade center he let out to "Voxtel" company thus increasing the number of his partners up to 120. As a result the sales doubled in 2003.
Vladimir is now a great believer in the power of mind in that if you put your mind to it you can achieve almost anything. Not once had Vladimir mentioned that training is nothing but an opportunity to share experience and learn from practical examples, and this is exactly what a modern entrepreneur needs.
