I want FRR Concept to be seen as a Natuzzi of Romania in 25 years' time

Sometimes it only takes 15 minutes to get to work with someone. How he introduces himself, how he gains your trust, how he shows you that you need him and his product are decisive from the very first minutes of the meeting. Such was the meeting between Marius Feraru of FRR - Concept and Dan Pruteanu, from Rubiq CNC. Marius went to a BIFE SIM with a friend of his, planning to buy a CNC together. They didn't know much about CNCs, but wanted to learn. They made furniture and interior design and such equipment would be a great help. They received from Dan Pruteanu all the details about the machine and the information they wanted to know, and although their discussion lasted no more than 15 minutes, for Marius it was enough. He left there saying "I'll buy a CNC from you". Happening at the 2018 exhibition.

Meeting at the fair - enough for trust-based cooperation

Things did not turn out for Marius Feraru as he thought at the time. In the meantime, the plans he had made with the friend with whom he went to the fair were no longer valid and everyone went their separate ways. Marius has moved on with his interior design company, developing a unitary concept, with services that are as complete as possible and of very high quality for the beneficiaries. He became more and more known in the market, the demands for his services diversified and the need for a CNC became more and more pressing.

In 2020, 2 years after the first meeting, Marius called Dan to place the order.

"We met and chatted for about 15 minutes at a BIFE SIM fair and after 2 years, he called me and gave me the order. He told me everyone was telling him: Do you know this man well? How did you give him so much money in advance? And he replied that he had seen me only once in his life, but it was enough for him to understand that I am honest and my company is serious." - says Dan Pruteanu.

It was the beginning of the collaboration, because things didn't stop there. Together with 2030 Pro ATC CNC, part of the the new generation of Wood IQ CNCs, the next level of performance compared to that seen 2 years ago at the fair, Marius also ordered a circular. This one turned out quite quickly to be too small for the company's needs so in the middle of the year (2020) he contacted Dan Pruteanu again for a bigger circular. Right around the same time, a friend of Marius' was calling Wood IQ looking for a circular. Dan Pruteanu was out of stock and as the customer was in a hurry, they decided that the small circular would go to him and to get a bigger one for Marius. And since he was making the effort for formatting circular with engraver and moving table, said to be the complete package by adding a abricht and a Thick slicing machine.

When I spoke to Marius on November 30, the machines had just arrived. Even though it was a day off, anxious to see them up and running, he was on the job at the firm. We had agreed a few days before to talk on November 30, precisely because the rest of the team was off and we could talk in peace and quiet. The arrival of the machines threw our plans into a bit of a mess, but we still managed steal a few moments to talk about the new machines and the relationship with Dan Pruteanu, but also about his passion for wood and interior design and about FRR Concept.

FRR Concept - complete interior design services

Marius Feraru discovered his passion for wood, furniture and interior design by chance. He had nothing to do with the field, being a licensed lawyer and even dabbling in medical school for a while. By 1999 he was looking for a company to furnish his home, with furniture and everything he needed to make it look like something out of a magazine, but he couldn't find anyone. "It's true that at that time the offer was very limited" - says Marius. That's when he set himself the ambition to make his own furniture and discovered not only a passion for woodworking but also a business opportunity. He worked for a while at a company to learn as much as he could about the field, then decided to start out on his own.

Gradually he realized that there was a big shortage in the area he was focusing on. The construction market was offering houses in the red, but very few firms offered a full service, i.e. to take such a project and hand it over to the client fully furnished and with the dishes in the kitchen cupboards or the goods arranged on poles, if the client wanted that. It was also a great help for architects or interior designers, who could work with a single firm offering everything from making and assembling furniture, to fitting and finishing floors, doing stone and ironwork or building and finishing partitions.

Marius Feraru and FRR Concept are now known on the market for the quality work they do. They work with solid wood, MDF or chipboard, finish the wood and MDF, bring old quality furniture back to life or make antique furniture with reclaimed wood. They work with great attention to detail and don't consider the job done until everything is perfect.

"With us there's no such thing as just going. We work with quality materials because we make quality things. For example, we buy grade A oak paneling from Holver. We might buy grade C, that's 50% cheaper, but we want quality. We want everything to be perfect and the customer happy. I don't want problems after I finish and people say look what Feraru did. Because flaws are always visible. What you've done well is not visible, it's normal, but what's wrong is immediately visible. I want FRR Concept to be seen as a Natuzzi of Romania in 25 years' time."

FRR Concept addresses a specific market segment. It does not work with low-quality materials or cheap labor. "We offer quality at the right price" - says Marius. If he doesn't feel that the beneficiary understands his way of working, if there is no chemistry between them, he prefers to abandon the project. He doesn't want to work anyway, just to earn money, he prefers to leave quality things behind, improvements for which he is recognized.

Future plans

Although the pandemic period was difficult for other areas, it was not so for them. Can't say they grew much more than in previous years. The trajectory has been in the trend of the last few years, a growth of 10-12% per annum, which also enables them to invest in new, quality machinery. As a result of recommendations from customers at home, they have several projects abroad. Even this year he had a project in Austria, but the pandemic put it on hold. It's the recommendations from former clients that bring them new customers, and the fact that they work well doesn't leave them time to rest.

I ended the discussion with Marius Feraru with a good feeling given by the obsessive bringing up the word quality and the idea of a job well done so that people remember you and recommend you with confidence. I wish to have as many such discussions as possible. Good luck FRR Concept!