Mr. Stefan Gugushev – Founder and Managing Partner of Gugushev & Partners Law Office is one of the experts who yesterday took part in the webinar “Business Restart During a Pandemic”, organized by Investor.bg. Together with the other participants – Mrs. Teodora Petkova (UniCredit Bulbank), Mrs. Diana Nikolaeva (Ernst & Young Bulgaria) and Mr. Viktor Bilyanski (Scale Focus), discussed the adaptation and reorganization of the business to the changed conditions following the Covid-19 pandemic, the effectiveness of government support measures and the prospects of attracting new investments for development.
The experts were in agreement that the main transformation that the business has undergone in recent months is the digitalization of critical processes that can now be performed without the need for physical presence in the office. Mr. Stefan Gugushev shared his observation that in the new home office conditions employees have even increased their concentrated work span, as well as their “work productivity” due to the better work-life balance and the motivation to effectively deal with the complicated situation. According to him, the pandemic has enabled the company to “preserve and enhance” its efficiency by optimizing digital technologies and restructuring activities.
When asked whether the business has managed to coordinate and successfully take advantage of government support measures, Mr. Gugushev gave a good example with the increased number of consultations in the field of labor law, which indicates that the business is motivated to take advantage of the provided opportunities. According to him, the difficulties are caused by the inability to meet certain details and financial criteria, such as the requirement for equity. In this regard, probing is needed to analyze what are the most practiced measures and how to streamline their implementation in order to avoid the tendency of business being overwhelmed with a bureaucratic burden and to lag behind on its main functions. The experts agreed that the main role of the State in enhancing the measures already taken is to create predictability of the economic situation in the country by making accurate forecasts of possible scenarios and to prepare for the most unfavorable ones. The necessary step for the companies in this direction would be the internal reorganization, aiming at cost optimization, combined with increased efficiency and more conservative investment policy.
Mr. Gugushev underlined the key role of the “dynamic communication with business”, which prepares precise statistics and analysis of how many and what companies have reached the allocated funds. Mrs. Diana Nikolaeva pointed out that at the moment the business is still working on assignments received before the crisis and the main challenge for it is how to attract new investments, and respectively, a dialogue is needed to identify the industries that would have the greatest multiplier effect. Mr. Gugushev added that despite the serious withdrawal of investors, the pandemic has given us the opportunity to “get our ducks in a row” and determine what is sustainable for the business and how to move forward. He indicated “time and good planning” as an appropriate strategy for these challenging times, because “habits based on stress and instinct for self-preservation” are currently developing, which would fade slowly and only commitment to detail and good communication would administer a long-term positive effect for the future.
He concluded that Bulgaria is facing a difficult process of recovery from the crisis following Covid-19, and therefore companies must stay close to their customers and respond with effective solutions to their questions and needs. Mr. Gugushev also emphasized the positive aspect of the crisis as a “filter for the business”, which will provide new horizons for development of the capable, innovative and ready to adapt businesses.
You can watch the whole discussion on Facebook by following this link: https://bit.ly/GPLO_IvestorWebinar
