Doing business in Bulgaria

Many entrepreneurs run into cultural differences when doing business. This can happen even in your own country, let alone when you’re doing business in other countries. Often, neighbouring countries are easy enough to handle but the further afield you go, the bigger the differences can get. It is therefore often a case of preparing in advance and obtaining information on the culture of the country and especially on its business customs. For example, if you wish to do business in Bulgaria, there are a number of customs and habits that you need to bear in mind.

Take your time to build relationships

On the whole Bulgarians, especially the older generations, are a cautious folk. Give your business contact the time to get used to you and take your time to build a business relationship. It may take longer for you to actually start doing business but at least then you will have built some level of trust. This does not mean that you have to leave the initiative up to your Bulgarian counterpart because in a lot of cases that won’t work. Keep the initiative in your own hands, but try not to be too quick and hasty to get down to business. This could in fact end up scaring off your counterpart and potentially make the deal fall through.

Body language and corporate gifts

Body language in Bulgaria is definitely something to bear in mind. These signals are often different to what we are used to. The head movements for ‘yes’ and ‘no’ are entirely reversed in this country: when someone shakes their head from left to right, it means ‘yes’ and when someone shakes their head up and down, this means ‘no’.
Corporate gifts are greatly valued and are recommended for a business meeting. Make sure that you don’t buy any very expensive gifts because that is not customary. However, small details - especially from your own country - are highly prized.