{"id":13083,"date":"2023-10-26T16:40:17","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T13:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uafm.com.ua\/?p=13083"},"modified":"2023-10-26T16:40:17","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T13:40:17","slug":"uam-v-oblychchyah-harkivska-kompaniya-bonsso-ne-rozgubyla-potentsialu-dlya-svogo-rozvytku-navit-projshovshy-cherez-tsilyj-ryad-vyprobuvan-pro-shho-rozpoviv-yiyi-vlasnyk-kyrylo-ivanov","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uafm.com.ua\/en\/uam-v-oblychchyah-harkivska-kompaniya-bonsso-ne-rozgubyla-potentsialu-dlya-svogo-rozvytku-navit-projshovshy-cherez-tsilyj-ryad-vyprobuvan-pro-shho-rozpoviv-yiyi-vlasnyk-kyrylo-ivanov\/","title":{"rendered":"UAFM in the faces: Kharkiv-based company ‘Bonsso’ did not lose its potential for development, even after going through a series of trials, as its owner Kirill Ivanov explained."},"content":{"rendered":"

The war halted the production activities of the Kharkiv furniture company ‘Bonsso<\/a>‘ for four months. It was able to return to its usual furniture production conditions later on. This was because it had essentially undergone a double relocation last year. Let’s talk about its relocation ‘odyssey’ as described by the owner of ‘Bonsso,’ Kirill Ivanov.<\/p>\n

The decision to relocate to the western part of the country was made when the enemy was already pushed away from Kharkiv, but the massive shelling of the already heavily damaged city continued, so the real danger remained. They were transported by several flights to the Chernivtsi region. Setting up and launching production there turned out to be a challenging task. First of all, not all the cargo arrived intact. No, the machinery didn’t get lost on the way, but the hand tools were missing. However, the more significant problem turned out to be the workforce. In the Chernivtsi region, unlike other western regions, the furniture industry is less developed. Hence, finding and hiring the required number of qualified workers with the right profile was not possible. The qualifications of the newly hired employees were, at best, at the level of furniture upholstery, which, Kirill Ivanov admits, immediately had a negative impact on the quality of the products. The company had outstanding orders due to the war, and the clients still needed the furniture. Complaints started coming in, and the company’s image was at risk. Decisive changes were needed. They decided to bring the company back to Kharkiv, where the core workforce remained.<\/p>\n

The return in August also proved to be challenging. The family walls did not welcome them; they had suffered destruction. They searched for another shelter. Eventually, they settled in the premises of a bankrupt soft furniture factory. It made sense to buy this furniture business, including the brand, from its owner, and that’s what was done. Moreover, the employees of the bankrupt factory compensated for the lack of qualified workers, which was evident here for understandable reasons. Surprisingly, last year, ‘Bonsso<\/a>‘ started producing sofas. And now they are actively developing this product line under the same brand that belonged to the former owner. And the sofa models they inherited as part of the ‘inheritance’ are the most successful, the ones usually called ‘sales leaders.’<\/p>\n

Indeed, after returning to Kharkiv, the company resumed furniture production at its usual high-quality level, which is what its leader aimed for.<\/p>\n

– Acquiring a second brand and developing a new furniture production direction is undeniably a sign of the company’s development, which not many of your colleagues can boast of in the current conditions. Have you succeeded in developing in other areas as well?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– We have achieved some things that we didn’t have before the war, which turned out to be, like any crisis, not only a disaster but also a catalyst for active, creative business search for new opportunities to get out of a difficult situation.<\/em><\/p>\n

Before the war, the company was focused on retail sales of furniture products – tables, chairs, armchairs, and ottomans. Now we have a fairly extensive network of dealer representatives in 16 cities, including the capital.<\/em><\/p>\n

We also have an export component that has appeared and is experiencing dynamic development in our furniture business. We responded twice to the UAFM’s proposal to participate in international exhibitions as part of a collective national stand. In Poznan and Cologne, we made contact with potential customers, some of whom have become our foreign dealers in Poland, France, and the United Kingdom. Currently, we are in intensive negotiations with a potential customer from the USA.<\/em><\/p>\n

– Did you get lucky, or were there more realistic prerequisites for such impressive results from participating in exhibitions?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– First, we travelled not only with a catalogue of our products but also with actual samples, which some colleagues in the collective booth did not do or could not do. This made us more convincing to potential customers. Moreover, we were able to offer them furniture with high-quality conditions and terms of cooperation that were hard to refuse.<\/em><\/p>\n

– Who are the foreign dealers you’ve acquired? And what kind of furniture do they prefer – the ‘Bonsso<\/a>‘ brand or the acquired sofas?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– You won’t believe it, but our foreign dealers are mainly Ukrainians. Those who were forced to leave the country due to the war and, with an entrepreneurial spirit, took on the task of developing their business abroad, including trading in furniture. As for the products, our traditional production is currently in higher demand, but I am confident that over time, sofa products will also become equally competitive.<\/em><\/p>\n

Having doubled our production capacity this year compared to the previous year, the company feels quite confident in the current difficult conditions for domestic business. This is largely because before the war, we were in the process of fairly rapid development. The war slowed down this process, but it did not destroy its potential, despite all the difficulties mentioned.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\t\t