I've had some strange experiences with certain companies in Romania lately, which I won't give negative publicity to though.

From what I've noticed, everything in our country is based on direct phone conversations. I'm not sure if the person on the other end of the conversation takes notes or remembers what I asked of them.

The main idea is that I tried to order some screen printing supplies from a company in Bucharest that has been in the screen printing field for many years and has a tradition in this field.

I only do screen printing when I have time, because it's not my main activity that puts money in my account. It's a personal hobby and keeps me busy on long, boring Mondays when I have nothing to do. If I make a buck from screen printing, that's okay, if not, that's okay, it's not the end of the world.

I went to their website, requested a quote with the eternal "request a quote" form that we are all tired of. After a few days I was contacted by email and asked to leave a phone number. I don't want to talk on the phone at all, but I gave them the satisfaction.

Then I got a call the next day from a douche who kept directing me to their website for every question I had. So it's a continuous cycle. I don't want to go to the website, I've already been there. Plus, I have my hands a little busy with something right now (I was actually in the workshop, I was spraying white paint on some t-shirts and it was drying in the sieve and blocking all my work)

I just want some emulsion and some 230 sites. Of course, no order materialized, because she asked me to send them an email again, I wrote and wrote and it remained. The email probably didn't go anywhere or it reached someone who didn't read it. I left the next day, had a flight and turned off my phone on the plane. They would have called me again, but my phone is sometimes turned off.

When it comes to digitalization, we Romanians are practically monkeys descended from trees and we do business the same way as in 1992. The experience of an order should be simple, not a hassle, for the buyer. That's why I firmly believe that if we keep this principle we can have more profitable companies. Of course, the supplier in Bucharest doesn't even bother with my order of a potential 50-80-100 euros. But it made me waste my time with them.

What the supplier didn't realize from the start, however, is that I was placing a test order. To see the quality of their products and the delivery time and to see if I could rely on them. It's clear that we can't communicate, let alone talk about the products. Give me an order form, give me something. Or at least if you call me, write down what I want to order and send me a proforma or something. Nothing, zero.

If I were a recurring customer for you, you'd probably be making a few hundred euros a year off my account. Maybe a thousand or two a year.

I went back to my German supplier and will buy my emulsions there, because it is very easy to order from a website and add to cart and pay with a card. 3-4 business days later everything is at my door, beautifully packaged. I have been ordering from them for over 3 years and every year I am satisfied. And no one asks me anything why how when and they don't even bother to call me. No stress.

Screen printing season starts now, in February with Valentine's Day t-shirts and personalized prints. But why should the Romanian from Bucharest help me?

Let's move on to more serious things.

Digitalization is not actually something that has to happen. It is not mandatory at all. The analog system is very good and has worked. It still works now in Pakistan, Bangladesh, China. You go there, visit the shop and place your order. You shake hands with the owner, he makes you a "chai" and while you drink in peace, you have 10 printed t-shirts. And when you are dealing with a certain segment of customers, it is better to be analog than digital.

Digitalization is not happening because we still have old dinosaurs in society. It will happen when the dinosaurs disappear and my generation of miserable millennials takes over industry, the economy, politics, etc.

There are also dinosaurs that adapt. Otherwise they disappear. We will see the results of digitalization in the coming years in Romania as well. But we always apply a Romanian-style twist to everything we import from the West. We have e-mail but we still establish the important details by phone. We have a website but we don't have a shop. Everything is based on "request a quote", which means that I can charge you whatever I want after measuring you as a client. When you work on the basis of "request a quote", you charge George 200 lei and you charge Marian double, because Marian is a guy and drives a Mercedes.

It's not exactly the business model I want to build. No, my prices are visible.

T-shirt without print, white, personalized for 19 lei

Printing (customization of T-shirts) starting at 5 lei. It can't be clearer than that. Invoice and all that, without the Romanian gypsyism.

Then, be careful that I won't let you buy it (add to cart) if you don't attach the graphics. I mean, I don't sell blanks to anyone, because I get money for them from the supplier and I'm not interested in reselling.

That's all, good luck!