FRANCESCO FRATTINI: THEORY AND PRACTICE OF BUSINESS SUCCESS IN BULGARIA

When Francesco Frattini visited Bulgaria for the first time, in 1990, the country was in turmoil – the Communist regime had collapsed and the free market was being established. With time and more visits, Mr Frattini began to see a pattern – the country presented many opportunities for businesses, but potential Italian investors were in the dark of how the local law, administration and economy worked. In 2005, after helping an Italian client to invest in real estate in Bulgaria, Mr Frattini decided it was the right time to found his own consultancy, Alias Group. It is a company offering expert advice and help in a wide area of fields: strategic consulting and company establishment, property buying and management, assets acquisition, consulting and access to EU funding. The company has over 35 employees, has serviced more than 700 firms and is the largest consultancy working with Italian enterprises in Bulgaria.

Mr Frattini is satisfied with what he has achieved, and recently he committed his energy to a new field of activity – filmmaking.

What are the three most important qualities that a man, who is a leader in the business world, should have today?

First, is competence and experience in the business he deals with. Second comes optimism and third is courage. I want to single out two more, as just three qualities are not enough – perseverance and honesty. Optimism because you have to believe in your business and ideas, courage because it is required to face the risks, perseverance because you must never give up when you face difficulties, but move forward and be honest because it always pays off at long term, since shortcuts to making money in an illegal way often don't last long.

As the founder of Alias Group, what part of the company's activities reflects your specific leadership style? Do you perceive the company as a "reflection" of you and to what extent?

I am convinced that leadership is acquired only by involving your collaborators, giving them trust and treating them with respect. My philosophy of life is always based on the motto: Until proven otherwise I trust you, and if you do not respect the trust that I gave you, you're out. This most of the time works if you are able to understand people and make a good selection at the beginning. In my career in Alias Group, out of over 60 people who have worked in the company in 18 years, two or three have not maintained these conditions.

The Alias Group has proven to be a sustainable and reliable partner. How do you see the company in five years?

The situation is not easy, the local political uncertainty, the recent inclusion of Bulgaria in the grey list in the European Union and the inability of the local banking system to evaluate and differentiate bad customers from good ones make our work particularly complicated. So today, judging what will be like in five years is very difficult, it will depend a lot on the next steps that the country will take towards greater political stability and ability to manage the challenges of the time. Let's say that our company is quite flexible, we have had some difficult years during the pandemic, but we have passed unscathed and we are still here and therefore, as I said at the beginning, optimism leads me to believe that in five years we will still be here.

What is the most difficult managerial decision you had to make at the helm of the Alias Group?

The most difficult one is the dismissal of someone who has betrayed my trust because for me it always means that I have failed. Luckily it has happened I think three times in 18 years.

You are also known for your successful film project, the movie Block. Do you find similarities and differences between cinema and successful business?

Yes, there are many differences. A normal business usually has many values that can be expressed with a certain reasonable percentage of reality. If I decide to produce furniture, I can reasonably understand what my reference market is and how many pieces of furniture I could place compared to the competition and I know with certainty the costs I will incur (energy, personnel, raw materials, etc.) so I can make very few mistakes. In cinema, however, you can invest 100,000 euros and lose it all or earn 10 times as much because it is a product linked to many factors of taste, of period, of communication, of genre etc. It is a very risky business that if you don't have passion to do it, it's better not do it all. On the other hand, there is nothing comparable to the making of a film, seeing your thoughts, dreams and fantasies realised in real life. It is like rubbing Aladdin's lamp and seeing a wish come true.

Sofia, 14 Georgi Benkovski St

phones: +359 2 983 20 71, +359 2 983 35 96

www.aliasgroup-bg.net