We received certain information about how the war affected the activities of the capital company “3LMebel” even before the conversation with its owner, Volodymyr Babenko. The last pre-war post on her Facebook page was dated February 21, the next one appeared on May 16. The company not only announced that it was starting work but immediately posted photos of several of its new works. Mr. Oleksandr specified:

– However, this does not mean that they were inactive for two and a half months. The production shops really did not work, but the transport did not stand still: it delivered volunteer cargo to the east and north.
At the same time, our managers “pumped out” clients with whom contracts had already been concluded before the war, and those who were ready to give the company an order at the beginning of the year, but did not have time to formally do so. That is, those with whom the contracts had already been concluded were informed that the factory was about to either begin the execution of their order, delayed by our common misfortune, or would complete their projects already started at the end of February. And those who have not yet signed the contract and doubted whether it is worth doing so under such conditions were convinced that the company is fully capable: it has everything necessary to satisfy any of their furniture needs. And they “rolled out”, it must be admitted, quite effectively – not a single client gave up on their previous intentions. Some pre-war orders are still in operation. And not because we are so clumsy or have any significant production or organizational problems, but because the clients are still abroad, so it is not possible to coordinate project nuances with them quickly, in the usual mode for us, the need for which always arises.

– Some of your colleagues, who failed to keep some customers, said that the customers broke the already concluded contracts mainly because the companies had to make adjustments to the price parameters, given that almost everything in furniture became more expensive during the war.

– We did not escape this misfortune either. But together with the clients, who understood the necessity of such a step, they very meticulously looked for options acceptable to both parties, so that the price increase was minimal. In particular, by reducing the share of imported materials and components in the project. And in the end, they reached an agreement.
There was one contract signed literally a day before the start of the war. The client managed to make an advance payment, but we could not manage to purchase everything necessary for the implementation of his project at pre-war prices. So the price increase was not avoided even in this case. But in another case – when only installation work remained until the completion of the project – we, already completing it under martial law, did not demand additional payment.

– Already during the war period – again, information from your Facebook page – the company announced that in September it established the production of interior doors made of painted MDF.

– This information also needs some clarification. They were able to produce doors even before, but they were not separated into an independent production direction – we produced them as elements of complex furnishing projects. During the war, especially during the period of forced downtime, it was time to pay more attention to the door direction – to improve some technological processes, and construction, expand the model range – to introduce this product into a separate product line. That was done in the fall.

– What did the war prevent from doing according to the company’s development plan?

– They were preparing to create their own showrooms, which they never sold. The need for such an additional means of popularizing the company and its furniture capabilities is long overdue, but now we have to postpone its implementation for some time. They were also preparing to participate in furniture exhibitions this year, but the war also got in the way.

…Our call found Mr. Volodymyr in Mukachevo, at the Furniture Export Bootcamp training event for companies in the furniture sector, an innovative USAID Program “Competitive Economy of Ukraine” held in partnership with the Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers and the Office for Entrepreneurship Development and Export, which is designed to promote the competitiveness of Ukrainian business. The need for it was determined by the desire to try to advance in the foreign market, which in turn proves that the company’s management sees this way of company development as necessary and promising.