6 Challenges Of Starting Your Business In Bulgaria

By: Eric Nelson Posted on Fri, 15-05-2020

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It is not an easy task to start a business in another country. You need to know all the rules and regulations before starting your business in a foreign country. If you are thinking to start your business in Bulgaria you need to know its business environment and all its rules and regulations. 

No doubt rules and regulations and Bulgarian law are flexible and they warmly welcome foreign investors but one of the challenges you can face in starting the business in Bulgaria is a language barrier and using Cyrillic script can be more difficult to adopt. You also need to know Bulgarian culture to make your business venture successful. It is important for you to do your homework and do thorough research.

For this purpose, you can make a short trip to Bulgaria to know insights of business culture so that you can devise your business strategy and take input of Bulgarian people on your business plan. Generally, the immigrants that are doing business in Bulgaria are retired people, freelancers, and small business owners.

Cultural Differences

Every country has its own culture. If you are from Asia, America, or Europe, you will be doing business in different cultures but nevertheless you will face the same challenges in doing business that you face in your country. You need to be very patient, take plenty of time in knowing the Bulgarian culture and ways of doing the business. Bulgarian employees do not take any initiative. If you want to do something you need to say it clearly. Precise and accurate communication with your employees helps you to make your business venture successful. You need to tell your employees what you expect from them so that they can work accordingly and will save you from stress, delays, and overhead costs.

Define job descriptions of different hierarchical positions of your company so that everybody can work according to their job descriptions and you can evaluate them accordingly.

Motivation

Expats can find Bulgarian people very serious because they do not smile much. Many people feel that they are upset or angry but this is not the case, they are serious about their work. If you want to create a happy environment in your company, you need to motivate them and create a happy and healthy working environment that can support their work. If you see the other side of the coin, Bulgarian people are very task orientated and they prefer to complete their work before leaving the office.

If you want to motivate your employees then arrange a training module for them such as team building.

Bulgarians are Naturally Perplexed

Bulgarians are always perplexed about alterations. As per them, the boss is always right and they never argue with them. If they do not like the boss's idea, they never dare to argue and tell their point of view. Bulgarian people are considered suitable people for any organization because they are very good problem solvers.  You have to be very precise and accurate in providing business information to them so that they can support your business.

Give incentives and rewards to your employees so that they can become a problem solver of your company.

How To Deal With Bulgarian Institutions

It does not matter which line of business you are, for initiating your business venture, you need to deal with Bulgarian institutions. You will face some difficulties at the beginning so you need to prepare your official documentation and hire a competent accountant so that you can handle the Bulgarian bureaucracy. While dealing with you, government and administrative officials will communicate with you in English. It will be easier for you to take somebody with you who can communicate in Bulgarian because all the official documents in Bulgaria are not in English.

You need to hire a competent accountant who can assist you in all your business financial documentation.

Banking Sector In Bulgaria

The banking sector in Bulgaria is advanced. The interest rates of Bulgarian banks are like other European countries and they encourage small and medium enterprises by giving them small loans that are supported by the European Union funds. Despite all this, entrepreneurs in Bulgaria can face problems because of all information in Bulgarian language, high fees, and lack of competition among banks.

You need to be very careful in selecting your bank because advanced technology has taken over traditional banking such as e-wallets and virtual bank accounts. Furthermore, you can take professional Bulgarian translation services to translate your documents to or from the Bulgarian language if needed.

 Corruption in Bulgaria

Corruption is quite common in Bulgaria. Many people present gifts to authorities to get their documents approved swiftly. Likewise, many consider bribing the concerned party to let go of any abnormalities in the order.

In such a condition where corruption is common, it is a good chance for you to earn credibility. All you need to do is abide by all the rules and regulations. Stay away from corruption because corruption will hamper your company's quality and will destroy your image.

Taxation

For locals and foreigners, taxes are the same in Bulgaria. The personal income tax rate is 10 percent. Dividends are distributed with a withholding tax of 5 percent. Moreover 10 percent corporate income tax is fixed. To restrict double taxation for foreigners, Bulgaria has signed double taxation treaties with more than 60 countries. The labor cost in Bulgaria is cheaper than the European countries. Insurance and the cost of real estate are third lower as compared to European countries.

Wrapping Up

So are you ready to start a business venture in Bulgaria? If yes then Mars Translation is here for you. You can get professional Bulgarian Translation Services with the help of native translators in no time. We are here to cater to all your business translation requirements.