Recession Hits Bulgarian Family Business

Recession Hits Bulgarian Family BusinessThe recession continues to hit the world hard and here in Bulgaria we are all feeling the pressure of an economy that was frail to start with.

Up until her operation, Galia worked for her brother who owns a boiler factory. He started his business repairing boilers in his garage and then got his own premises a few years ago. He designed his own boiler systems which are wood burning/electric combination shower units and started manufacturing them with a small workforce.

It is very much a family business with his son, daughter, and sister Galia working there as well as having taken on Galia's son for a short spell last year and has even offered me work there before now.

Over the last few years the business had flourished, the workforce grew to employing over 30 people and they are the sole supplier of these units to every major town and city in Bulgaria as well as export to Greece. Romania and Russia. Over the last 18 months the business had build a new factory premises, a brand new warehouse with the aid of a 6 figure bank loan to cope with the increase in demand, this was completed just before Christmas

Recession Hits Bulgarian Family BusinessToday, there are worrying times for this business, the orders have diminished and the workforce is down to around 5 people. Galia, who was due to return to work this month, now has no job to go back to. Even though she is family there is no order for here to process and administer. The loans to the bank still have to be paid for the new factory and although there is still a trickle of business things are on a knife-edge.

We just all hope that things turn around and that the orders pick up again later in the year. the factory needs business to pay for the loans and of course employ a local workforce who now find themselves struggling with no work.

I have seen this develop on a day to day basis as I used drop Galia off to the factory in the morning and pick here up in the evening and even now as I work on the factory farm on a daily basis.

Recession Hits Bulgarian Family BusinessFor someone who has worked all his life building up a small business from scratch, then to find that the carpet has been pulled from under his feet is hard to accept. We all hope and pray that the business pulls through - people do need boilers, boilers repaired and replacements. The products they manufacture are fantastic contraptions although mainly used by Balkan countries. There will always be a demand so hopefully the smaller sales won't drop further and may be enough to see them through.

It is not good news at all and just highlights what is happening not only on our doorstep here in Bulgaria, but worldwide, that fact is no comfort to anyone though.
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13 comments:

  1. American in Britain9 April 2009 at 18:36

    I'm sorry to hear about your family's personal experiences. These times are tough. Recession's supposed to be a good time for some people to start up a business, but it seems that ideas are sparse. Neither of us are employed at the moment, so we know how you feel. Prayers, if you believe in them, are about all we have right now.

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  2. American in Britain has said it all really. Tough times indeed at the moment for many people. My hometown in England has been hit hard with jobs lost in the car industry and other smaller industries have laid people off work. I hope the boiler business pulls through its troubled times and hopefully sometime soon the lost employees will have their jobs back.

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  3. Martin in Bulgaria9 April 2009 at 19:47

    This family has been through rougher times than this, they will never go hungry though.

    I know it's tough in the UK I get lots of feedback from family there. I hope you find work soon, I also hope the Social Security system is working for you there. Take Care

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  4. Martin in Bulgaria9 April 2009 at 19:53

    Hi Martyn,
    Yer American in Britain is suffering and like you say the car industry and many other industries are scraping the barrell right now. I get a lot of feedback from family in the UK. It's a case of chin up chaps and march on through. Thanks for your thoughts.

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  5. Hi Martin, thank you for dropping by my site! Wishing u a great weekend. :)

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  6. malcolm and ciejay10 April 2009 at 07:19

    Martin, It seems to me that the current ecomimic crinch has effected everywhere I know it has here in Thailand , a lot of city folks have lost their jobs and are now back in the small villages living with relatives ,which while that is what being a family is all about ,it sure puts a strain on the local folks already stretching just to make it through the week and months ahead.I hope the problem worldwide is solved soon., but on a positive note , us expats from the USA are getting more bucks for the baht as the Us dollars is getting stronger in the LOS . Take care and it looks like you are doing what you can to get by ,what with that big garden of yours , I'm sure you will have lots of folks stopping by as it (the econmy) worsens and just remember what the good book says " give and it shall be give back to you, pressed down,shaken together, and running over " the basket of blessing from the Lord Malcolm

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  7. Hi Martin,
    It's so sad to hear tales like that of your brother in law's. To have expanded to a thriving business exporting to many countries, only to be knocked down to 5 employees and barely scraping by - I can only imagine how anxious and worried everyone is.

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  8. Hi Martin,
    I'm really sorry to hear about this happening to your brother-in-law's business--and Galia being out of work, too! These are definitely hard times--my own family's business (in the States) is having very hard times, and I've been out of work for a year or so--they have no work for me.

    I wish your family all the best--in the UK and in Bulgaria! And hope that you will still have a beautiful Easter!
    Sher :0)

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  9. At this moment we r experiencing income freeze, which means taking steps to economise even further than b4 ! I used to hate scouring the shops for discounts bec it's time consuming n tiring for my little legs (haha) but it's a way of life here.

    Paper loss is another big concern. Our investments for later has dwindled to 18% of the original input. Part of the fault lies in the exhorbitant fees (35%) that the agents r taking off the top irregardless of poor performance on their part. This issue has just been highlighted when investors found themselves in debt when it was time to collect the proceeds at retirement. Insurers now hv to be transparent with their cost n commission ... not that it's any consolation. Our finance minister has yet to penalise these errant companies for their greed.

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  10. I'm very sorry to hear about the difficulties faced by your brother-in-law's business and that Galia doesn't have a job for the time being. I wish you all lots of courage and strength to get through this difficult period. I know that it's no real consolation, but, as you say, many people worldwide are in the same boat. My husband heard this week that his contract won't be renewed in three month's time. We're hopeful that he'll find something else as his skills are in demand here but, with the recession, you can't be sure. Let's hope that things work out for all of us (they usually do, even if not in a way we expect!)

    Best wishes,

    Roz

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  11. Martin in Bulgaria12 April 2009 at 17:25

    Hi Dutchie, isn't it greed that is the root of the recession, and of course the curse fo the world? We will never learn and after this recession there will be another down the line.

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  12. Martin in Bulgaria12 April 2009 at 17:28

    Hi Roz, hopefully something will turn up jobwise your partner soon, let's hope there isn't too much competition or having to settle for a lower wage which seems to be a common factor nowadays.

    We will all get through this eventually, like I say as long as ther is a roof over your head and food ont he table that's all that matters to most (not all though.)
    Take care

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  13. Mark @ TravelWonders15 April 2009 at 01:18

    Best wishes for your brother-in-law. The tragedy of this recession is that perfectly good businesses that have been built up with years of hard work, finances and love are being hurt or destroyed by this crisis. Let's hope that businesses such as this fight on and find there way clear when the world's fiannces start to right themselves a little more.

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