Before starting your business in Belarus, it is worth reading the opinion of experts. The best experts are investors - people interested in making the analysis of the prospects of a particular industry as objective as possible. Investors determine how much the state of affairs in the industry depends on fluctuations in economic indicators within the state.
Leading industries
According to Roman Osipov, director of the Belarusian investment company Uniter, those industries that are subject to the least influence of economic fluctuations are considered stable. The company recently analyzed 300 industries. Based on these studies, areas of activity were identified that are practically independent of external factors.
There were found industries showing economic growth during the fall in GDP: food trade, telecommunications, rail transport, medical services. Moreover, food production, logging, forestry, toy manufacturing showed significant growth rates with an overall decline in GDP.
Roman Osipov emphasizes that, in addition to the growth of economic indicators, when calculating the prospects, the degree of penetration of the industry into the state economy is taken into account. This indicator is assessed in comparison with the developed countries of the West. Any emerging market must move towards the standards adopted in developed countries. Only this approach can help "catch up and overtake" the West.
We are looking for something of our own
When choosing a type of activity, one must also proceed from the market conditions. To date, the cheapest resource in Belarus is labor. The director of the Mikhail Borozdin Agency believes that success in Belarus can be achieved in any field of activity, since there is very little competition in private business. The most profitable scheme looks like this: “we produce here, we sell there”.
Mikhail Borozdin proposes to produce in Belarus and sell hand-made goods abroad. It can be hand-sewn clothing or handicrafts - goods made from local raw materials that do not require the use of skilled labor and sophisticated technologies.
Mikhail Borozdin also advises to find something of your own: a Belarusian product that is different from the goods of other countries. This is how Scotland found its Scotch whiskey, America found its hamburgers, and Italy found its pizza. Unique things are associated with the country of origin and negate all the efforts of competitors.
Import substitution
During periods of economic crisis, goods that replace imports are making good progress. It can be clothes made in Belarus according to Western patterns, an “exact copy” of Italian hard cheese, or local household chemicals. Such schemes are frequently and successfully promoted.
People who are unable to buy an expensive imported product compromise and buy slightly inferior quality products that are quite usable. These schemes stop working at the moment when the economy is booming: consumers again return to high-quality goods.
