The current phase in the company’s history significantly differs from narratives of other companies in our furniture community, primarily because its owner and manager oversee operations remotely, residing overseas in Canada. Family circumstances led to this situation. However, we found him there, contacted him, had a conversation, and learned that his company resumed its interrupted production process on February 24th, following a one-and-a-half-year hiatus.

As Mr. Mykola mentioned, during this period, the team gradually diminished, and when new orders started coming in—equally complex, and bound by usual timeframes—staffing issues arose. They had to search for and hire new employees, mostly temporarily, for specific project durations. In the unstable and weakened domestic market conditions, it’s impractical to continuously expand the workforce since orders come irregularly.

– Living in Canada for such a long time, you, as an entrepreneurial person, probably make good use of this circumstance for your furniture business. The first thing that comes to mind in this regard is seeking clients there. By the way, has your company had any experience fulfilling orders for international clients before?

– We haven’t worked abroad before because we were fully occupied with domestic orders. Here in Canada, I am, of course, studying the market – its peculiarities, and demand patterns, and I am currently in the negotiation stage with a potential client. However, there’s a strong apprehension here about the proposition from a Ukrainian furniture maker, especially given the ongoing war in our country.

But there’s another obstacle. We’ll have to find local contractors for installation work, primarily among the Ukrainian diaspora. Yet, these are challenges we can overcome – we need to be even more persistent and convincing, which is what I am trying to achieve here. I am grateful to Canada for providing Ukrainians with the opportunity to work here fully, trade Ukrainian products, and even establish their businesses.

– There’s another significant advantage to residing in Canada: the vast and appealing US market nearby…

– Of course, he couldn’t overlook that. The attitude toward cooperation with a Ukrainian manufacturer is similar there. However, the possibilities of the American market are incomparable with the potential of the Canadian market. Yet, there is currently no visa option for entry into the country. Therefore, negotiations with potential American clients are currently focused on making our proposal advantageous for Americans in the present circumstances while ensuring it’s not detrimental to us.