You may have heard about Stup before, but if you’d like to find out how the whole concept came to life, we invite you to read this interview.

Published in Revista Biz, the interview with Tiberiu Moisă, Deputy CEO, MidCo & SME, has the answers to all the questions you might have about Stup. Take a look! 😊

What happens at Stup

In the first week after BT’s opening of Stup in Bucharest, it had already reached 1,000 accounts opened by entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs. Under the #sefacelastup banner, BT has built the infrastructure to connect entrepreneurs with providers of services and products for setting up, running and managing a business.

What inspired you to launch Stup?

I wish I could tell you a story with that special moment when inspiration strikes and you know exactly what to do. It wasn’t like that. Stup didn’t emerge from a creative process. It was born out of our everyday conversations, from a series of explorations that weren’t necessarily linear, but were driven by one question: how can we help with the needs that arise in the first years of a business?

We don’t claim to have it all figured out or to be the only ones who know what to do. That in itself is an achievement because it helps us break out of our own fixed ideas and look for a broader perspective. Everything is changing, and the list of needs is dynamic. We’re not fixated on today’s needs; rather, we want to understand how they evolve over time. That’s how the idea of Stup took shape. It’s a place where the common thread is constant exploration, experimentation and a deep connection to entrepreneurship.

Banca Transilvania and BT Mic have a close relationship with small and medium-sized companies, but we talk a lot about access to finance and you can end up believing, unintentionally, that everything revolves around access to loans. Thinking about Stup, we actually widened the perspective and kept looking for new directions so our services address real needs that matter. We knew relatively quickly what we didn’t want. We didn’t set out to create a coworking space for entrepreneurs, or to be an incubator or an accelerator.

Bucharest already has such initiatives and they’re great. Usually they target a niche, a certain entrepreneur profile. With Stup we want to be for any entrepreneur, regardless of the industry. They don’t even have to be a BT client. We want to look at the whole picture, to understand in the most practical way the challenges of the first years in business and, where we can, to come up with systemic solutions.

How long did it take from idea to implementation, and what were the main challenges?

Almost four years. Once we knew we needed a generous space, we started looking. We wanted a traditional area of Bucharest, well connected to public transport, without the overwhelming presence of big office buildings next door. We even considered old industrial buildings with a rich history that we could repurpose and give back to the city.

It wasn’t to be. We had options, but we were concerned it would take too long to get permits and bring the project to life. Ultimately, the heart of our story isn’t real estate; it’s about getting things done and making the most of what we have. After a year of searching we became very pragmatic and focused on specific areas. Tineretului and the vicinity of Carol Park immediately appealed to us.

We eventually opted for a new building — we liked the U-Center project and realized the opportunities of designing our space right from the construction phase. We were getting ready for the home stretch when the pandemic hit. More delays followed. But that no longer matters — we’re ready.

The biggest challenge came six months before opening, when our concept, which sounded great at a story level, had to be broken down into concrete, operational elements. And we asked ourselves “Okay, but what do these people actually need?” hundreds of times.

How did you choose the name and what does it mean to you?

The name didn’t come easily. Internally we called the place all sorts of things. We weren’t happy with the options, but we weren’t stressed either. We always felt that at some point it would come naturally.

It didn’t. At one point we professionalized the search and contracted naming services. We saw many proposals — that part was actually enjoyable. Then one of our collaborators came with suggestions, including Stup. Love at first sight! It’s memorable, short, points in the right direction and looks good visually. In short, it had that certain something.

How did you choose the partners you set off with?

Once we had defined the list of needs to start with, we wanted the proposed solutions to be high quality. We wanted a good product or service. We looked at how long it has been on the market, how many users already rely on it, and how high a priority it is in each partner’s development plans. And not just to have a good product now, today, but to keep that level of quality over time.

We also looked for partners willing to join Stup with an experimental mindset, with everything that entails. Collaboration started in the project design phase, when we agreed not just on what products to bring in, but also on how to set up the activity framework so that everything is easy for entrepreneurs to absorb. The same goes from here on: we have a unified communication line, we evaluate together what happens at Stup, and decide together how to improve things.

We’re connected to each other. Stup is a collaborative concept and we believe it’s the right approach for a broad view of needs. BT plays the role of orchestrator, but every partner is connected in a very real, hands-on way. And that says a lot about everyone’s desire to contribute to strengthening the entrepreneurial fabric.

Will there be special offers from these partners for entrepreneurs who are part of the Stup community?

There are special offers for all products and services provided at Stup. That’s how we started and that’s how it will remain. Each business partner offers their product at a discounted price versus their standard market offer.

Beyond that, we have an extra-discounts area for entrepreneurs whose businesses are born at Stup. As you know, anyone who wants to start a business can set up the company here from a legal standpoint, get an invoicing/accounting solution — including an accountant — a cash register if needed, and we’ll set up a basic online presence. A good part of these products/services are free for the first year of activity.

What we believe is truly valuable is that any entrepreneur benefits from advice on any need they have. And this is free for anyone, anytime. People come and ask questions, and depending on their context, they need clarification. It’s not that they don’t know — often they don’t know what they don’t know. They’ll have someone to talk to and they’ll get answers.

Beyond business services, Stup also has a space dedicated to entrepreneurial dialogue of all kinds — workshops, training sessions, networking, various events. All focused on entrepreneurship topics and all offered free of charge to any member of the Stup community.

What can be done virtually and what absolutely requires a physical presence? Why?

On btstup.ro, entrepreneurs can find relevant information about what we do and can create an account on the platform. This allows them to book an appointment for a specific discussion or for an event hosted at Stup. If you sign up for an event, you can, if you wish, interact in person or connect online with the other participants. Once you become a member, you’ll be the first to know what’s happening with us.

That’s our setup at launch. But we already have a whole list of ideas in the works. We’re convinced we’ll discover valuable new directions as we interact with entrepreneurs. That’s how we’ll learn the most.

What are your targets for 2022–2023?

We’re starting with two major objectives for the next 12 months.

The first concerns Stup’s awareness and positioning. We want to show as simply and clearly as possible what we do. We believe it will take time to make it fully understood. Stup is not another hub, not another coworking space, not a typical event venue.

Stup is a place where you can find a concrete, tailored solution for your business, with guidance at every step. You can access these services whenever you need them, whether your business is 1 month or 5 years old, whether you are a BT client or not. And that’s something new in the market.

The entrepreneurial dialogue side — events — follows the same principle: highly practical content and quality networking. Beyond that, Stup also hosts our microfinance activity, which facilitates access to loans for small businesses. We’re talking about a one stop shop that provides concrete solutions, on the spot, in a responsible way.

The second objective is to generate as much entrepreneur footfall as possible for the activities we run. We want a lot of people to come, because that’s how we can fine-tune our direction. The entire infrastructure is designed for accessibility and inclusivity. For this autumn we anticipate 600–700 entrepreneurs a month, and next year we expect to reach 1,000, maybe even more.

What role does creativity play at Stup?

We’re not directly focused on creativity, but on freedom and autonomy. The common thread at Stup is experimentation and exploration, so that we can understand the real needs of the first years in business. For that, the Stup team needs freedom of movement — and we believe creativity will follow naturally.

What would you say are the biggest needs entrepreneurs have right now, and why?

Today’s entrepreneurial environment is very dynamic. As an entrepreneur, it’s not easy to keep up with the avalanche of news and information — especially if you’re a start-up or a family business. That’s where questions relevant to many entrepreneurs arise, regardless of business size or sector: how do I choose the best solutions for my business? And once chosen, how do I make the most of them in my business?

In a world where everything moves incredibly fast, where almost every development narrative is about digital, where solutions are built to integrate with other, new solutions, you wonder how you can keep pace. How you can organize your business in the new economy so that it stays relevant and, more than that, grows. From this starting point, a series of needs comes into focus — from staying plugged into information about things that can impact my business, through to choosing and using solutions that fit my company.

At the core, things haven’t changed much. Ultimately, every entrepreneur wants to grow sales and optimize costs — but the tools to get there keep changing. And we’re going through one of the most accelerated periods of transformation. That adds an extra layer of stress to any business.

What can you actually do at Stup, as an entrepreneur or future entrepreneur?

We have a lot of business solutions. For example, someone who wants to start a business will find at Stup the essential products they need, with guidance at every step: you can set up the company legally, get an invoicing & accounting solution — including accounting services — a cash register, a payment solution. These are all things you need in the very first month, and here you’ll find them in one place.

For those who already have a business and want to scale further through online, we take an integrated approach. As a first step, we have a consulting discussion about your business and how suitable it is for the online environment, to determine the right stage for you: a marketplace, an online store or a showcase site. Then we move straight to implementing the solution the entrepreneur chooses.

We also provide the ancillary services. For example, if you opt to build your own online store, at Stup you’ll find product photography, web hosting, payment solutions — everything you need for a functional online shop. Once you have an online presence, you need to think about online promotion, what marketing campaigns to run, how to set them up, how to evaluate results — you’ll find all of that at Stup.

In addition, we offer a series of targeted solutions. A few examples: electronic signatures, consultancy for EU-funded projects, recruitment and employee benefits solutions, advice on opening a franchise business. Stup also hosts our small business lending activity, as well as current account services at the dedicated BT branch.

What do you think — would you like it at Stup? 😊