Law /
Investors/Entrepreneurs.. Steer Clear of Poland. [77]
This is going to be good!
My bookkeeper told me the first time we met "you choose the worst country in all of Europe to do business in" and now I am completely in agreement with her.
Worst country? What about Bulgaria, where corruption is rife? What about the UK, which has such a ridiculous tax system that you cannot even obtain an official judgement without going all the way to the very top court in the country? Or we could talk about Greece or Spain, where the bureaucracy is absolutely stifling - worse than Poland! Or even just France with their protectionist measures and ability to drown you in paperwork if the local mayor doesn't like you.
Poland has problems, but what country doesn't? Even Switzerland has all sorts of problems related to being outside of the EU and the cost of domestic goods being sky-high.
However, after investing almost one million złoty into the business and going through hell, I'm going to stick it out. So your "if you don't like it, leave" comments are falling on deaf ears. I have nothing left to loose.
In all honesty, anyone who does their homework in Poland doesn't go "through hell". But it does require planning ahead - isn't there a saying about **** poor planning leads to **** poor performance?
I guess what they say about all the "good workers are in other countries" is true. It has been a real PITA to find good workers. Everybody wants a job, but nobody wants to work. I have no idea what the problem is. The CV's are constantly coming in, but out of 100, there might be 5 that are worth interviewing.
Nothing new there. But then again, it's related to wages - after all, money is what motivates people.
We hire students to work thus saving lots of money not having to pay ZUS for them. 90% of our workers are having their first job ever.
Then don't hire students, but hire experienced staff. The fact that you're hiring 90% inexperienced workers says a lot about your business practices - that you're cutting corners on staff. I'm really not surprised that you're having problems if you're hiring only inexperienced workers!
I know someone who owns a restaurant here. All of his staff came highly recommended from other employers, and he pays them significantly more than minimum wage. Guess what? He doesn't have problems. It's Business 101 - or more accurately - pay peanuts and get monkeys.
Then when it comes to the interviews 4 of the 5 candidates are no-calls/no-shows thus wasting our time.
Which is why you don't interview people with no experience if you want your place to succeed - unless they show a desire for the job that goes over and beyond handing in a CV. Again, basic hiring rules.
When we hire someone, they are having to learn how we do everything. It's really easy work. Some can pick it up easy, others just can't figure it out and are let go.
Or you could pay more, pay ZUS and get people who are actually capable of doing the job properly. What serious restaurant hires people who are completely inexperienced? Sounds like a recipe for disaster!
It really chafes my a$$ when I come in and see that the supervisor/workers are sitting on the prep tables, yet there is something that could be cleaned. "Time to lean, time to clean". I don't pay ppl to sit around.
Anyone who quotes "time to lean, time to clean" has been reading the McDonalds guide to employment. Seriously - if you don't show a human touch, are you surprised you get useless, robotic workers? Expecting people to work hard for just above minimum wage - seriously...
I look back to my teenage/20's years when I had my restaurant jobs, I busted my butt to learn everything and move up through the ranks of the kitchen. I never see that with my workers. e.g. Leaning up against the sink while drying a tray just shows me that you really don't care to be here. Thanks for coming in... you'll get paid on the 10th of the next month.
Yes, but most of them are students and aren't going to have to "bust their butt" through the ranks of a restaurant - because most of them will be doing far better jobs. Somehow, if you're hiring inexperienced staff and not paying ZUS, you really aren't going to get a superior quality of worker. Seems to me like most of your problems are related to the fact that you're simply trying to cut corners on staffing - which never works!
All utilities companies amaze me that they actually can do the job. Nobody knows what to do & they just keep passing the client from office to office, with the hope that the client will get frustrated, give up and go home.
No different to how it was in the UK prior to deregulation. In fact, you should be thankful that you can even visit them - those days have long gone in the UK.
Now I just go to Makro/Selgros and get my produce and other items. Screw private companies that just can't do the job.
Did you not think about going with companies that came recommended from other restaurants? Trying to cut corners again, I suppose.
(I must admit - I wouldn't want to eat somewhere that obtains their supplies from Makro/Selgros - it shows what kind of operation you're running!)
No company will keep their date for when you need something. E.G.- Print shops will typically be 5 days over the "expected day of completion" & there will always be a problem.
When you have a piece of machinery which is in need of warranty repair, the company will do everything to try and weasel their way out of honoring the warranty. They see a foreigner and will try to milk you for "a costly repair", even though you know it is a warranty fix. I stand my ground, and will not be pushed over. I'm lucky to have a good lawyer who can draft letters reminding companies of their responsibilities. Also communication with UOKiK doesn't hurt.
Completion dates are never a problem for me - possibly because it's made clear from the outset that doing the job late means that they won't get paid for the job. It's just the way things are here, no different to dealing with Indians or the Chinese.
As for warranty repair - nothing new in Europe in general.
I have a Spółka Komandytowa and it is a real PITA when I need to make any change to it since it's inception. The last change took 9 weeks to be completed. They always needed to see the originals of the documents that they took copies of earlier and so on and so on. They are so incompetent. They have many gatekeepers and you can't get to speak to any one regarding why it is taking so long. Be prepared to bang your head on the wall regarding this.
Things are changing, but what do you expect when these laws were formulated in 1990 when no-one had much of a clue about anything? Of course, the sensible thing to do is to get it right first time, rather than bothering them with constant changes. I haven't had to change a thing about my business since I started - but that's because everything was covered, registered and dealt with at the time.
FYI- In order for you to get any credit from your bank or credit company, your company must exist for 1 year and have trading for over 6 months before they look at you regardless of your deposits in the account. Luckily, I never had to ask for credit, but I did look at it for the purchase of some of my restaurant equipment. It was better for me to buy everything outright for tax purposes.
Good for them - the Polish banking system has always been very responsible in this respect. You really can't complain about banks being responsible lenders - deposits mean nothing, because you could easily borrow the money from a friend. Seems to me like you're complaining about a positive thing!
You will have one hell of a time when it comes to your residency status shall you not be an EU national and not be married to a Polish spouse. They will give you a form with all the necessary documents(20+) to supply for them. Just wait for them to ask you for another 10-20 documents regarding the operation of your business, employees, U.S., ZUS etc. You will need to get zaświadczenias for everything and supply a boatload of documents.
Yes, and? Life is difficult for Polish citizens to go and live in Canada - why do you expect them to make it easy for you? You're hardly a huge investor here - and the fact that you're employing people without paying ZUS doesn't exactly make you attractive either. Ultimately, you should be thankful that you can even get residency here - you'd find it nearly impossible in Germany, Austria or the UK.
My business partner and friends can't believe all the trouble that I have gone through. They are actually embarrassed that it is so difficult for a foreigner to live and set up a business.
It's not difficult if you can follow the rules as published.
Perhaps you should learn how to manage people, this does not appear to be your strong point, otherwise you would not have failed miserably.
Sounds like it's his weak point to be honest - hiring monkeys, failed deal after deal with other businesses, inability to get credit - it sounds all like he doesn't have a clue. Then again, it's the same guy who couldn't understand why the police took away his documents for having an illegal car.
You honestly expect someone to chop his butt for minimum wage? Get real. Instead of ******** give them an incentive (a raise) or roll up your own sleeves if you want your business to prosper, what makes you think it would be any easier in Poland? Because the wages are low?
Expecting students (who have a bright future ahead of them) to bust their butt for minimum wage is really unrealistic. Perhaps things are different outside of Europe - but here, no-one is going to bother. If he paid 15zl an hour, things would be different - but he's obviously too cheap to do that.
do you know how much i pay my workers? No. So you have no grounds to say anything about it. I pay more than minimum wage btw. Between 8-9 brutto for start on an entry level job. I pay more than KFC, McDonalds etc.
8-9zl? And you expect people to actually work hard for that? Hahaha. The minimum to motive people in a city in Poland is at least 12zl an hour - otherwise, forget about it.
Typical, a foreigner complains about exactly the same things that Polish people complain about constantly - lazy employees - awful bureacracy - idiotic self-defeating regulations - bad business practices and suddenly these turn into things to defend at all costs and it's his fault for thinking his job is to run a restaurant and not know the Polish legal code ahead of time.
The funny thing is, at least as far as I've found - the great rule in Poland is simply to take your time. Things aren't done here quickly, which is a blessing and a curse - but when you learn to accept it, life is much less stressful.
