Maria Băcioi from Doroțcaia village of Dubăsari district turned her passion for flowers into a business. The entrepreneur opened a flower shop and a small café-type business in the locality. Thanks to the support offered by foreign partners, the start-up was expanded with a parking lot for bicycles that can be rented by locals. The story of the business developed in Doroțcaia was related by Maria Băcioi in a public debate hosted by IPN News Agency.

Maria Băcioi said that her passion for flowers made her to start a flower business in her native village. In order to popularize her flower shop, she decided to create a small terrace where customers can enjoy a coffee.

“There was no flower shop in our neighborhood. Since in Bucharest, as a student, I worked part-time at a flower shop, I fell in love with this profession. At home, I decided to open a flower shop in the village, but not a simple one, but with flowers and coffee. I thought they’d fit well. Knowing that we didn’t have a terrace in the village where young people or families with children could have a rest, I thought it would be nice to have a flower shop with a small terrace,” said entrepreneur Maria Băcioi.

“After one year of work, we were contacted by the “Heart of the Nistru” cluster, whose activity is facilitated by a project of Switzerland and UNDP. Without thinking much about it, we took part in the project. We won the project and managed to purchase ten bicycles - eight for adults and two for children - and we set up the terrace in Igloo style. This helps us to make it more comfortable for customers to stay on the terrace in winter. In addition, we have a parking lot with bicycles for rent.”

Maria Băcioi noted that maintaining quality standards is the biggest challenge for any entrepreneur. In the future, she intends to expand the business in Doroțcaia and create new jobs.

“Maintaining quality and increasing it are the hardest thing for us and I think this is true in any business. This is our goal. Our goal is also to create new jobs. There is a great demand for “something that goes with coffee”, which is something related to pastry. This is what we strive for, to also make a small pastry shop,” said the entrepreneur from Doroțcaia.

The public debate entitled “EU4Business Initiative, contributions to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Republic of Moldova” was the eighth installment of the project “Benefits of the Republic of Moldova’s accession to the EU for people, community and country”. The project is supported by Soros Foundation Moldova.