From passion for wood to own furniture workshop through Start-Up Nation: the success story of Ecodamari Prod, Bistrita-Nasaud

Dana-Mihaela Pop: The secret to success isn't really a secret, it's a lot of hard work and creation! You feel accomplished to see that something beautiful comes out of your hand, that you have satisfied customers and that you can work at your own pace and according to your own will. If you want quality furniture, you have to work with committed people and quality machinery. We chose the machines from Felder Gruppe Romania because it was the best offer we received, both from a technical and qualitative point of view, as well as financially. (INTERVIEW)

Dana-Mihaela Pop, administrator of Ecodamari Prod from Bistrița-Năsăud, discovered her passion for wood while renovating and redecorating an apartment where she wanted to make her own personal furniture prints, and the first piece of furniture she made was a rustic oak wood coat hanger personalized with colorful prints.

This passion led her to pursue a PhD in wood engineering and to open her own furniture workshop by Start-Up Nation 2017.

Key points:

• Production: custom-made wooden and chipboard/MDF furniture
• Machinery purchased through Start-Up Nation:
  • Hammer K4 perform circular saw with mobile forming table
  • Hammer A3 41 2-operation combination machine for thickness straightening and planing
  • Felder FW 950 classic sizing and grinding machine with 1 machining unit
  • Felder AF 22 Professional Stationary Exhaustion System
  • Festool hand tools
• Criteria for choosing the machinery supplier: technical characteristics of the machines, value for money and convenient payment methods
• The secret of success: hard work and creativity
• Tips and advice for future entrepreneurs:
  • bear in mind that well-trained people in this field are increasingly hard to find
  • take into account that they also need hand tools in production, budget for them in the budget
  • to analyze suppliers' offers both technically and qualitatively.

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

Dana-Mihaela Pop: During the renovation of an apartment, I wanted the furniture to have a personal touch, which led me to create some furniture and decorations to my taste. Through this experience, I realized that wood is a living, interesting and challenging material and discovered a passion for working with wood. I also pursued further studies in this field, a master's degree and now a doctorate in wood engineering, which has amplified my passion for woodworking and given me new ideas.

What does Ecodamari Prod produce?

Dana-Mihaela Pop: Our specificity is furniture production. We work on an order and project basis so the products are according to customer requirements. We make mainly solid wood and particleboard furniture. We produce one piece of bedroom furniture in solid wood (oak, pine, etc.) and 2-3 pieces of kitchen furniture in MDF or chipboard every month.

What were the first steps in the industry like?

Dana-Mihaela Pop: The first steps were with many trials, we faced unforeseen aspects when writing the business plan, an example would be the multitude of hand tools that we did not foresee to be needed in production. Sure, not large amounts, but that's a lot of tools. If you want to get quality furniture you need to have good tools and ensure a high quality finish.

On what criteria did you choose your project consultant and suppliers for the project?

Dana-Mihaela Pop: We did the consulting. As far as the equipment supplier is concerned, we requested several offers from several suppliers, we analyzed the offers from a technical and qualitative point of view. Felder Gruppe Romania presented the best offer, both from a technical, qualitative and financial point of view. We chose the best quality/price ratio for the machines. We have a good partnership with Felder Gruppe Romania, the collaboration is continuous and quality. I appreciate their promptness.

What were the problems you faced in running the programme? What were the biggest obstacles you overcame?

Dana-Mihaela Pop: The biggest problem has been finding qualified personnel in the production of solid wood furniture because vocational schools that trained furniture carpenters have disappeared. We found an experienced furniture carpenter, aged 63, who started training two young people on the job.

What would you advise the following woodworking entrepreneurs looking to start a business through Start-Up Nation?

Dana-Mihaela Pop: From my personal experience, I recommend them to calculate their staff structure very well, especially that in the 2018-2019 funding program the conditions have changed and the criterion of the number of employees matters a lot in the sorting. Keep in mind that well-trained people in this field are increasingly hard to find.

Find out what steps Dana-Mihaela Pop took on the road to a successful furniture manufacturing business by reading the full interview here.

The interview with Dana-Mihaela Pop - Ecodamari Prod is part of the Felder stories campaign that you can read here.