Internet Marketing Environment
is serbia a safe business environment in 2011?
i am planning to start some business development (not real estate) but rather business services and IT infustructure or referbished PC’s business. I am looking for ways to safely enter and develop in Serbian market in the mid 2011 period. My concerns after reading alot over the internet is if this is a safe business environment where your investment is protected and secure and money will be retrieved for services rendered or products delivered. Any business ideas or collaborations are welcome!
It is safe, but you cannot enter IT infrastucture, because of high competition. Serbia has a very long tradition in IT, centered around Electrical Engeneering faculty, which was and still is best in Southeast Europe (Tesla monument in front of it reminds of the high value of this faculty). There are many internet providers, and big guns run monopoly, it is hard to enter this branch also without really big money. As far as PC business goes, PC trade is very well developed, and during recent economic crisis many businesses went bankrupt (I know some cases). What is it that you have to offer that already does not exist there? Referbishment is also very well developed, and both software and hardware (and piracy) hacker community is strong. This is part of Eastern Europe that has strong elite mathematics and CS education for nerd teenagers – on international mathematical and CS Olympiads, Serbia places from 10-20 among 80 countries (Bulgaria and Romania are also strong), ahead of most Western European countries but behind Russia, China, India, Iran or Vietnam. Since people are impoverished, everyone knows some nerd that will fix any problem for free, while there are private owned services that can do this for small fee too. Working force is cheap, unemployment is very high – around 20-30%, but finding programmers is hard – they mostly go after getting a degree to some richer countries, and they earn 2-3 times average sallary, at very least. Web development is also a possibility, but there is a lack of cadre (most leave Serbia), and website providers have a monopoly. Facebook usage has reached more than 30%, around 2-3 million, and is activity of most teenagers. Online trade is still at its infancy.
Bank sector is well developed, but the main issue of doing business in Serbia is that there is no way to enforce a debt. Someone I know had a mid size PC business (sales and repair), and was doing well until crisis, but had lots of people who owned him money (mostly resalers). There is no way to get your money, law is very slow and hard to enforce. This is true for all other businesses. This person had do have connections in underworld. Other problem is monopoly, few tycoons like billionaire Miskovic own most of the wealth. You have to have connections in major political parties (any one would do), who are worse than mafia – they racketeer business by means of widespread corruption. However, if you deal with customers, you will be paid only if you charge them directly (credit cards are OK and widespread), but if you have subscriptions, than you are doomed. Mobile phone operators cannot get money from hundreds of thousands of people, and lawsuit is powerless there. Possibilities for profit are few, as people are now entering deep crisis, and competition in IT sector is stiff – market is more than saturated.
Internet Book Marketing Part 4: Market Environment Variables
|
|
New – CyberPower Standby UP825 825VA UPS – M14023 $156.19 General Information Manufacturer/Supplier: CyberPower Systems, Inc Manufacturer Part Number: UP825 Brand Name: CyberPower Product Model: UP825 Product Name: Standby UP825 825VA UPS Marketing Information: CyberPower Utility Series UPSs offer home and small office users the piece-of-mind of surge/lighting protection, and also battery backup in case of brownouts, AC power sags, and total power outage… |
|
|
New – CradlePoint MBR95 Wireless Router – IEEE 802.11n – KF1174 $161.99 General Information Manufacturer/Supplier: CradlePoint, Inc Manufacturer Part Number: MBR95 Brand Name: CradlePoint Product Model: MBR95 Product Name: MBR95 Wireless Broadband Router Marketing Information: The MBR95 Wireless N Home Router provides a simple and secure way to add high-speed networking to the home. Designed specifically for multimedia, gaming and home computers, the MBR95 shares a Ca… |
|
|
New – Pervasive PSQL v.11.0 Server 32-bit – Complete Product – 10 User – DQ1634 $1,375.10 General Information Manufacturer/Supplier: Pervasive Software, Inc Manufacturer Part Number: P11-150632-010-01 Brand Name: Pervasive Product Name: PSQL v.11.0 Server 32-bit Marketing Information: Pervasive PSQL v11 is specifically designed to increase scalability and performance on multi-core machines. Install Pervasive PSQL v11 on a multi-core machine, and the benefits are immediately attainable … |
|
|
New – Adobe JRun Server v.4.0 – Upgrade – Product Upgrade – 2 Processor – 38000374 $1,169.70 General Information Manufacturer/Supplier: Adobe Systems, Inc Manufacturer Part Number: 38000374 Brand Name: Adobe Product Name: JRun Server v.4.0 – Upgrade Marketing Information: Macromedia JRun 4 provides the speed and reliability required to deploy and manage your standards-based Internet applications. Loaded with features for accelerated deployment and powerful scalability, JRun 4 is an elegan… |