Reproflex: believing in yourself

Reproflex is an international company that produces labels for packages. “It’s a complex process that requires high-tech machinery for painting, printing, designing products and drying textiles too,” says Jeno Vancsa, founder of Reproflex.

“Before setting up Reproflex, I worked at another company also operating in the printing field. But I felt that we could increase productivity and take the company to a much higher level” says Jeno. Finding that his ambition wasn’t shared by the hierarchy, Jeno decided to start his own company, and he hasn’t looked back since. “There were many challenges along the way because there are variables that you have to get right – equipment, staff, management…it’s not a straight-forward process. However, I had a clear vision of where I wanted to take my company, and my experience came in handy when designing products and market strategies,” he explains.

“I had to demonstrate to everyone - especially banks, clients and employees - that I was credible and that I could build a successful company,” he says. “To clients, I had to prove that we offered better products than our competitors,” explains Jeno, “And I needed excellent staff if I wanted an excellent product so I had to offer them Western-European salaries to attract them. Above all, we had to show the banks that Reproflex was a self-sustainable, financially viable business capable of repaying the loans we needed to finance our investment in high-tech machinery, which is essential in this business if you want to have a competitive product,” he adds.

In 2017, Reproflex needed such a loan in order to purchase expensive machinery, and an EU-guaranteed loan from ProCredit Bank, backed by the EIF, was the perfect match. “The conditions of the EU’s loan were ideal for a manufacturing company like ours, with highly expensive equipment that we need to purchase before we produce or sell anything,” he explains. “It allowed us to scale-up the business comfortably, ultimately creating 5 new jobs.”

What started as a personal conviction is now a solid, viable business. “Only fifteen years from the creation of Reproflex, we already have a strong presence in the European continent, with partners and clients in France, Italy and The Netherlands,” says Jeno.

Company: Reproflex (Romania)

Type of business: manufacturing

EIF financing: SME Initiative Romania

Financial intermediary: ProCredit Bank

For further information about EIF intermediaries in Romania, please refer to: http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/where/ro/index.htm