Rody Mob Lux - a successful business in the furniture industry started by Start-Up Nation

Gabriel Cojoc: There's a lot to think about, calculate three times and cut once, like a skilled tailor, if you want to succeed! For a Start-Up Nation business you need to know the market very well and have equity to invest. (INTERVIEW)

Gabriel Cojoc, a young entrepreneur from Bistrița-Năsăud who has been passionate about furniture since childhood, revealed the secret of his success in the production of chipboard furniture. In addition to passion, time invested and personal sacrifices, Gabriel Cojoc believes that pragmatism, realistic calculations and estimates, as well as the equity to invest are basic elements for the success of a business started byStart-Up Nation.

Key points:

• Production: standard and custom-made chipboard furniture and sofas
• Machinery purchased through Start-Up Nation:

→ Circular saw forFelder K900 S moving table formatting

→ Felder G480 edge banding machine

→ 2 professionalexhauster Felder AF 22

• Criteria for choosing the supplier: quality-price ratio of woodworking machines, 3-year warranty for machines and dedicated service for customers in Romania
• Tips and recommendations for future entrepreneurs: to study the market very well beforehand, to consider own capital to invest, to make estimates as accurate as possible and calculations as close to reality as possible.

How did you get into this field? Where did the passion for furniture come from?

Gabriel Cojoc:The passion for furniture comes from their parents, they had a small company in the beginning that produced upholstery, and then they focused on the production of chipboard furniture. My first contact with furniture production was as a child, around the age of 12, when I was helping my father making sofas.

What does Rody Mob Lux produce?

Gabriel Cojoc:We make furniture from chipboard, from standard furniture for shops, to custom kitchens, living rooms, dressing rooms, sofas, corner units, basically we make whatever the customer wants.

What were the problems you faced in running the Start-Up Nation programme? What were the biggest hurdles you overcame?

Gabriel Cojoc:The biggest problem was the bank credit that depended on the state, on the counter-guarantee fund. It took a very long time.

On what criteria did you choose the project consultant and suppliers for the Start-Up Nation project?

Gabriel Cojoc:I chose the project consultant on the recommendation of a friend, he was easy to work with especially since he is from our town. As for the supplier for the machinery, I chose Felder Gruppe because I had known about this company for a long time and trusted it because it is an Austrian company. We researched the market and the most important thing was that they were serious. Of the 3 offers we had in the projectStart-Up NationWe chose to go with Felder Gruppe Romania for the quality and the best price for the performance of the machines. The 3-year warranty for the machines and the service, which is dedicated to customers in Romania, also weighed a lot.

What mattered most in purchasing the machines?

Gabriel Cojoc:For me it was quality that mattered most. Both the quality of the machine itself, to be built from good materials, to be solid and reliable, and the quality it gives me in production. Because there's no point in having low prices if you don't offer quality. Secondly, easy maintenance and easy to find spare parts. And thirdly,service to be fast. So that if something happens, because there are such situations, you don't waste a lot of time repairing or, worse, have to stop production and don't even know for how long. These are my criteria. That's why I work with Felder equipment and I am very satisfied.

What is the secret of success?

Gabriel Cojoc:The secret to success is hard work. A lot of work. I work harder than the employees, I come in first and leave last. On Saturdays and Sundays I'm in the field, every day I'm at the factory, I take the orders myself. You have to make sacrifices if you want to be successful.

What would you advise the following woodworking entrepreneurs who want to open a business through Start-Up Nation?

Gabriel Cojoc:For a Start-Up Nation business, if you don't know the market beforehand and if you don't have any equity capital to invest (because what the state offers you is not always enough) it is very difficult to succeed. I know many cases who have tried to open a business through Start-Up Nation and have not succeeded. Apart from the conditions imposed by the funding programme, which are difficult to meet, there are many aspects that you have to think about, calculate three times and cut like a skilled tailor if you want to succeed.

If you are among the future entrepreneurs who want to open a business through Start-Up Nation, find out what you need to consider in order to succeed, but also what were the first steps that Gabriel Cojoc took in the furniture industry, reading the full interview here.

The interview with Gabriel Cojoc - Rody Mob Lux is part of the Felder stories campaign that you can read here.