1.Situation

In 2007 I became Sales Marketing Director at Spicul, a company with tradition in the bakery’s industry. I was the first employee of New Spicul, a green field project based on a new production’s facility in Chitila / Rudeni, impressive by the capacity and versatility of the production lines that allowed to enter in new market segments (bread, sliced bread, pasta, biscuits, flour, crackers, pastry, Japanese pancakes) and targeted the modern retail (hypermarket, supermarket) with key investments in key account management, logistics, marketing and sales.

2.Task

From a professionally perspective, this project represented a huge professional challenge for me, so I immediately worked to define final products per each segment, marketing plans and budgets for categories, projections of market share in the medium-long term, contacts with key client hypermarkets, supermarkets and building the commercial team.

If on my area of responsibility all commercial projects evolved as per initial planning, but the production area faced significant delays in the sense that the products practically did not come out from the production lines and we did not have what to sell / deliver to our potential customers.

I initially estimated that this situation will not be solved within a reasonable time and I appreciated that in an optimistic horizon it takes 9-12 months for the production lines to operate at the projected parameters.

In this context I wondered if it would be appropriate to remain engaged in the New Spic with the corresponding top management benefit package, while professionally I did not have the subject of my work (the products).

3.Action

After some intense discussions with the general manager, where I was assured that production situation will be solve quickly, I realized that the production area is really problematic and that its resumption will not be materialized within a reasonable time horizon.

I then looked at my professional prospects over the medium and long term and I came to the conclusion that it is inappropriate to remain in the company, being paid but not doing anything at all.

4.Results

So I realized that from a professional point of view, staying in New Spicul represented a potential stagnation and a gap in my CV. As in my career, I have always pursued my professional challenges and responsibilities, the benefits package being a consequence of these interests not their generator, I presented my resignation from New Spice.

5.Key Leanings

It turned out that my analysis and decision was correct from two perspectives:

-I gave myself the chance to start working for eight years in Veteco, a company where I reached professional achievements that I am proud of

– the New Spicul’s problems became more acute, afterwards the company entered in the insolvency and bankruptcy procedure, so in 2016 Spicul factory was bought by Vel Pitar.

Even if the easy choices are more comfortable, do not hesitate to take difficult decisions. You may lose something in the short term but solid professional careers are built through difficult and perhaps uncomfortable decisions for a certain period of your life rather than by choosing the light choices.

Notification: MYPRODUCT reflects my real professional experience and expertise as well as my subjectivity. I do have a profound respect for all the companies I collaborated to and for all the people I worked with. It is not my intention to approach any sensitive, confidential or offending information related to companies, projects or people. If you the reader deduct or recognise companies, projects or people in my examples, I kindly ask you to respect MYPRODUCT and my professional and ethic approach and to not share any detail, information, situation, name, company.