Technology Comes After There Is a Demand for It

Zdravko Zdravkov has been the Head of Business Development at Out2bBound since the founding of the company. Before that, for nearly 3 years, he was the Operations Manager of TaxiMe. He worked in the sales team of Danone Bulgaria. For about a year, he headed the Bulgarian representation of AIESEC, the largest international organisation, which develops the leadership potential of university students. He graduated from the Sofia University “Kliment Ohridski” and has a Master’s degree in Corporate Management from the Shanghai University.

Companies are created when there is a need for them and the story of Out2Bbound is an example of this. The idea for this business model was born after Teofil Shikov, who was working in the sales team of an IT company, surprisingly received 7-8 proposals to start work in other companies. He saw it as a sign that there was a shortage of good sales professionals. Then, together with three of his friends – Dimitar Mitkov, Boris Georgiev and Zdravko Zdravkov, he researched the market and found out that such a need did exist and created the new company. The need gave birth to the service they are offering. Their main focus is selling on behalf of their clients. They get in contact with people who make decisions in a certain IT company and work with them. They work directly with leaders in technology companies to help them find more business clients on foreign markets and identify their key advantages.

Zdravko Zdravkov presents the opportunities that unfold before IT companies in Bulgaria in order to find new clients and reach new markets:

A good trader is one who not only knows how to sell and wants to sell, but also one who tries to solve the problems of their clients.

Our model is to find companies that create a great product or service and help them reach more business clients, but also to find the right partner for them. We enter as a remote sales team that works together with them. If the company does not know who its potential clients are, we explore the market, test what would be demanded, where they would best realise their products or services. Clients come after the team, because if the team does their job well, the clients will be happy and will continue to work with this company.

The IT business needs our knowledge about potential markets; companies appreciate our honesty and the ability to see their strengths and weaknesses, as well as the ability to connect.

Sales are not an end in themselves

but are a consequence of solving a problem. Companies accumulate knowledge in a certain area and they can sell this expertise in the form of a service or a product, but they often lack the knowledge of how to reach the markets in the best way. We help them focus their attention and start seeing things they have not noticed before. That is how we provide greater value, and our rich expertise makes us sought after.

We take know-how from the US and develop it further. The approach on the US market is one thing, the approach in Europe is another, and each European country has its special characteristics. Even the language we use to contact potential clients abroad, at least in the beginning, is important. The Asian market is an unchecked market, still, it is interesting for part of the Bulgarian IT companies. There, the way negotiations are conducted is quite different.

Our advice to everyone is: Look for a way to give

more value

to your clients. We have achieved the best results with companies that know what business value they provide and where their market is. So, my recommendation is for every company to find its segment, its niche, and to further develop its strengths. The results will come soon after, if everyone does the best they can, keeping in mind the specifics of those who need it. Our aspiration is also that our team is specialized in giving value.

To technological startups, I will say that the technology comes after there is a demand for it. Let’s not focus on creating the perfect product, but, based on the feedback given, to clarify how

to solve a specific problem

There are many startups that are afraid to sell and prefer to develop an idea for a long period of time just on the basis of the vision they have. This is not the right approach. Go out and talk to the users of your products. Make it in time; see if your product or service ideas do not go far beyond real needs. As a whole, there are few innovative projects that create a need. There must be clarity about the problem they are solving, and to what extent the solution is needed.

The knowledge we have cannot be easily accumulated and we cannot be easily overtook. This is probably why our competitors have not yet appeared in Bulgaria. If they appear, it will be an incentive to become even better.

For companies, we are a springboard to foreign markets. Let us turn Bulgaria together into a recognizable place where high technology is being created.

The founders of Out2Bound: Theo Shikov, Zdravko Zdravkov, Boris Georgiev and Dimitar Mitkov (from left to right)

Company Profile

Out2Bbound is a company created in Bulgaria by four founders (Dimitar Mitkov, Teofil Shikov, Boris Georgiev and Zdravko Zdravkov) three years ago. It helps technology companies find their clients abroad. They help them sell and grow. One of their functions is to be useful in finding a new business. The other is to teach the IT sector how to develop its competitive advantages. It also turns out that many IT companies have great ideas and a team, but they lack the knowledge on how to sell. Out2Bound provides this service not only to companies in Bulgaria, but also to those who work abroad and are looking for the right way to the market.

The Out2Bbound team is constantly expanding and consists of more than 21 people. They have several offices abroad, one of them in Singapore. There are also foreigners working in the company, not just Bulgarians with experience abroad.