Toy exclusive. Christmas tree decorations from Stryi - a hit in the USA
Christmas-tree decorations, painted by Striyan artists, are being sold as exclusive goods in America. Ukrainians can purchase these original products at Epicenter and other supermarkets. The MI and MZS enterprise, which produces them, is just celebrating the 20th anniversary of its founding. How the company managed to last so long in the competitive market and achieve recognition - its head Igor Gula said.
The enterprise for the production of Christmas-tree decorations “MI AND MZS”, located in Stryi, Lviv Region, was founded in 2000. The future entrepreneur Igor Gula held one of the leading positions at the previously known Stryi Glassworks, and after its collapse he managed to save part of the artists' team and load them with a new work - painting toys. The business began with a small room in which five artists worked. Now the company has its own workshop, warehouse, office and team of 23 craftswomen and a number of auxiliary professions, sales managers, logisticians, etc.
Production specialization - coloring of toys. Balls from glass blanks are not blown here, because this is a very specific work, and there are few masters of this profile in Ukraine. People are in no hurry to learn this profession, because wages depend on the amount of the product produced, and to decent earnings is a long way to gain experience. Beginners get a lot of marriage, since a glass ball is created by a single exhalation of air, and there are no “takes” or correction of errors in this matter, says Igor Gula. By the way, the personnel problem also concerns artists, but there are more specialists in this profession, and some capable student students are willing to work at the enterprise.
Therefore, the company buys transparent glass blanks. Such goods are produced both in Ukraine and abroad, but recently it has become more profitable to buy balls in Poland because of the high cost of domestic ones. Semi-finished products are metallized, painted at the enterprise. Next is the stage of creating additional value, namely, painting. “We stand out among others precisely in that we produce a handmade product that no one else can do. The company has its own designers, developers who create sketches, collections. They work with customers, creating layout options for their order. Agreed layouts become the basis for the work of artists, ”says Igor about the process. Some drawings are so complex that an artist can create only 2-3 toys per day. But experienced craftsmen, working for more than 10 years, paint about 20 products of medium complexity per day.
From the very beginning, the manager decided on the product segment and does not depart from the chosen path. Toys produced by the company belong to the price categories “average +”, some to the “highest” one. Wholesale price per unit of production - from 50 to 250 UAH. Such a price is justified, because each jewelry is an author's handwork. Of course, the average buyer often chooses not aesthetics, but the price, preferring cheap Chinese products. “Going into the cheap segment is unpromising and unprofitable. Several large factories work in it, a dozen or two small producers, and similar products are massively imported from China. "We even cooperate with some market colleagues: to whom I transfer the order from the category of" cheap toys ", and someone, on the contrary, gives complex art orders to me."
The creative work of the company is colossal - about 2000 different drawings. And with those that are no longer relevant and out of production, even more. The theme, of course, is associated with the symbol of the year, with the classic attributes of the holiday, flowers, birds, fairy-tale characters, a separate direction - a religious plot. There are many landscapes of American and European cities. The order of Faberge toy reproductions for the USA customer was interesting and complicated - this is a large collection of products (balls, glass and wooden eggs), copies of famous masterpieces and stylized reproductions.
Each year, the company produces up to 100,000 pieces of toys, including wooden products. Wood painting is another area of work. Artists paint figures and toys of Christmas, Christmas, Easter themes, angels and other characters. Product quality is monitored at every stage. First - the acceptance of a semi-finished product in the shop, then - by the artist while working, then - by the controller in the shop, then at the stage of trimming, packing, and last - at the party packing. Because if you do something wrong once, give it a marriage - you will stop trusting, your reputation will be lost, emphasizes the interlocutor.
For a long time the company sold its products through such networks as "Caravan", "Silpo", "Novus", a number of local networks. The hardest thing to do was go in first, others saw the quality of products and active sales and, surprisingly enough, they let the manufacturer into their counter quite easily. According to Igor Gula, the funds that had to be spent on realization were almost symbolic at first, so for almost ten years this direction of sales prevailed. Subsequently, most networks have had to give up because of their growing desire to pay for anything. It also did not attract the long term postpayment, as it was a freezing of working capital. In addition, several networks went bankrupt during the crisis, of course, without paying their suppliers. Now MI & MFA sells toys mainly at Epicenter, it is the main and reliable customer. Geography of sales - all Ukraine, the leading cities are Kiev, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Odessa, Lviv. There are small sales points, including in Stryi. The company also executes small private orders for local businesses, insurance companies, banks. They order gifts for their employees, key customers, but not massively, because the cost of handmade is much higher than the sticker or print.
Before the war, the company was very active in selling its products to Russia, such exports accounted for up to 60% of production. For obvious reasons, this sales channel had to be abandoned. All sales force forces were directed to search for an alternative. Cold selling methods, correspondence with distributors of relevant product categories in other countries have been found and very successful. The new major customer is a US distributor, who orders 70% of the total product shaft. The company begins to work on its orders from December of the previous year until the beginning of the autumn of the festive year. The work is not easy: complex drawings, exclusive. Ukrainian toys are sold all over America. The distributor itself provides quite wide advertising of products. This order helps solve the typical problem of a seasonal business - huge gaps in production downloads and payments. That is why many companies are unable to maintain a permanent staff, and each season they select workers for a fixed period. In such circumstances, it would be almost impossible to retain high-quality specialists, and therefore to remain in its segment.
Overseas sales occur through different channels: small consignments of expensive goods ship by air, but in the US the container is pre-shipped by sea. Looking for Igor Gula and the ways to Europe. Seeking distributors, sending trial batches. Boxes of Christmas decorations were recently shipped to Germany, Poland, Belgium. But, truth be told, they prefer large lots of cheap and mediocre goods there, rather than small ones - handmade, valuable ones.
It is pointless to sell such products through the site, online shops, advertise on the network. An attempt was made, but within a short time the company manager noticed a specific form of recognition: the factory's products began to be forged by the Chinese. Therefore, photographing products in this business is detrimental. One and only advertising channel used in MI & MFA is participation in various industry exhibitions. Their purpose is, first, to search for wholesale clients, and secondly, to show new products to regular or potential customers.
The interlocutor considers the team one of the most important factors of his success. Therefore, he cares about the atmosphere at work, organizes joint holidays, joint holidays. Financial motivation is directly linked not only to the complexity / number of jobs, but also to the number of years a person has worked at the company. That is why most of the employees have more than 10 years of experience at the company…
MI and MFA, like any other long-lived company, has gone through more than one crisis with our country. Of course, she has repeatedly had its ups and downs. “If crises occur, business cannot be left out, it is a participant in these processes. But we need to learn how to perceive them as economic conditions specific to our country. Do not lower your hands, but look for opportunities, - summarizes his experience as an entrepreneur. - There is bound to be a take-off after each fall. It is important to have good partners who can support and help at the right time. It is important to do this through mutual assistance: you are me, I am you. And we need to be consistent in our activities. You cannot grasp one thing or the other, because no one will succeed. Constantly working in one direction ultimately yields results. The entrepreneur has to think about how to make their product better, production - rational and economical, staff - constant, quality - stable. These simple things help create a competitive business. ”
For Igor Gula's new year 2020, he wishes Ukrainian business: “The main thing I want for stability is what our country lacks most so that we can finally reach this point. Let your year be predictable! ”.
Raiffeisen Bank Aval has been a permanent financial partner of the company for over 10 years. I have been pushed to this step by the feedback of business partners, to which I will listen. Settlement bills, export-import transactions, lending are the key products used by the company. A car for business has been purchased with credit, working capital is being replenished, and overdraft is also available. This helps close the gaps between key customer payments.
