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Posts by Englishpoznan  

Joined: 21 Apr 2009 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 20 Feb 2012
Threads: Total: 4 / Live: 2 / Archived: 2
Posts: Total: 102 / Live: 90 / Archived: 12 		From: Poznan

Displayed posts: 92 / page 3 of 4
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Englishpoznan   
26 Jul 2011
Work / Why is Polish workmanship so bad? [52]

You would think that they would just design them with a screw in each corner. Apparently they don't do this because it doesn't look nice but if you ask me it would look a lot nicer than it does with them all hanging out the walls!!

The guy who does all the odd jobs in the block where we used to live said that half his time was spent putting plug sockets back in walls only to have to go and do the same thing a couple of weeks later! Doesn't make any sense to me maybe someone can enlighten me?
Englishpoznan   
30 Aug 2011
Law / Is running a business in Poland very profitable? [33]

As someone who know a fair bit about retail I can tell you this, Primark is coming to Poland very soon and there are a lot of other chains watching to see how they do. Primark will clean up over here because while there are clothes shops everywhere there is a severe lack of budget stores. This is also true of the sports shops which have been mentioned. I would never describe Intersport as a high end store they tend to sell end line products at very high prices and this is the problem most of these retail chains just don't get it. A large percentage of the market want cheap product (especially here where disposable income is so low.) There are going to be some tough lessons to be learned by Polish retail chains very soon.
Englishpoznan   
30 Aug 2011
Law / Is running a business in Poland very profitable? [33]

Ive always found Decathlon quite comparable to the rest of Europe in terms of price

It's funny because I was going to mention this store, they are cheap and good value for money, the one in Poznan is out of town though. I think if they were on the high streets competing they would take a big market share from the likes of Intersport.

TK Maxx does well- it does well everywhere in the world but I think it is so successful here is that Poles LOVE name brands.

Yeah and also because it is cheap. For example you can buy a pair of jeans in there for about 120zl yet in somewhere like Zara you will pay 200+
Englishpoznan   
31 Aug 2011
Law / Is running a business in Poland very profitable? [33]

120PLN and you call it cheap?

But thats just the thing that is cheap for here and to be honest everyone knows that you can pick up jeans for next to nothing in the states
Englishpoznan   
14 Sep 2011
Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]

For the backpacking idiot fly-by-night teachers; I love them. It allows me to charge double for undoing all their mistakes. The ones who sell Conversation Classes, Native Speaker Sessions and Speech Training without knowing their articles from their elbows will only make those of us with experience, qualifications and professionalism that much more valuable to the market.

You are right in what you say but it only makes the market better for people like you, because I'm guessing you are well known and respected. I would say that for a lot of people the average "backpacking idiot" is making life harder especially as we are talking about a declining market
Englishpoznan   
16 Sep 2011
Law / Opening a Mini Market Store in Poland. Starting cost / Expected monthly income? [22]

Hi,

1. You should allow about 40,000zl to fit the shop out and stock it. I don't know the town yoblyu are talking about but i guess somewhere about 50sqm will be about 3000zl per month (depending on location i.e town centre ) You will probably need to pay a two month deposit and if you rent through an agency their fee will probably be one months rent.

2. No one can tell you this it depends on what you sell, location and a million other factors.

3. If you are selling everyday items such as food you will be working with very small margins in terms of profit I would guess about 25% gross profit margin.

I would give you this advice, unless you have a very very good location I wouldn't bother. This is a very saturated market in Poland, for example within a two minute walk of where I live there are four small shops selling everyday items and a bakers.

Your total start up costs would be well over 50,000zl and I can think of a hundred better investments for this kind of money.
Englishpoznan   
23 Sep 2011
Law / Starting a car junkyard in Poland [27]

I listen to loads of business ideas every week and this is one of the best I have heard recently. It sounds like you have the land you need and in a good location, the Poles love stuff like this i.e a cheaper option. Good luck if you decide to go for it and keep posting here with any questions you need answers for.
Englishpoznan   
2 Oct 2011
Life / How much money did you spend today in Poland and what did you spend it on? [33]

Ok, this isn't a big dick contest! It just may prove usefull to people who want to get an idea of how much it costs to live here.

You don't have to say if what you spent today is typical of a normal day but please list the items you spent money on and the cost of them.

So I will start it off today I spent: 7zł (pack of fresh pierogi), 11zl (pack of fags), 4zł (tin of cat food), 12zł (four cans of beer), 25zł taxi into town and back) and 50zł (pub!!) In total 109zł.

(I would say for me this a pretty typical amount to spend (although I must say I don't go to the pub everyday, I normally find I spend more on everyday items.)
Englishpoznan   
3 Oct 2011
Life / How much money did you spend today in Poland and what did you spend it on? [33]

Are there no trams or buses near you, or did you just take a taxi for convenience?

To be honest there is tram stop about ten minutes walk from me but I prefer to take a taxi, I don't run a car so I don't have the expense of petrol or anything.

I prefer beer, and I can't drink 50zl worth of beer in a pub. :)

I drunk three beeers and had a jd and coke to finish the night off with!

As an American, I always chuckle when I hear/read that

I thought someone would comment about that sooner or later!!

Guys thanks for posting as I said this could be useful for someone who wants to get an idea about day to day living costs.
Englishpoznan   
3 Oct 2011
Life / Expats/Immigrants in Poland: Needy, Greedy or contributor. Which one are you? [118]

A mixture , originally came here because of a chick. I do live the expat lifestyle, play golf and socialise with mainly expats etc. I would say though that mainly I'm a contributor i own a business which employs around nine people and I'm currently working with a large charity/foundation in regards to helping them with a new model on raising money based on an existing UK model but don't get me wrong if the money dried up I would probably be off1 I don't see this as greed though more a need of survival.
Englishpoznan   
24 Oct 2011
Life / Do I have to do something to start receiving mail in Poland? (moved from the US) [33]

I never had a notice to come pick it up at the post office or anything else that might have indicated a delivery attempt.

The postman doesn't always leave a slip, you need to find ourt where your local post office is and go with your id every couple of week and just ask if they have anything for you.
Englishpoznan   
31 Oct 2011
UK, Ireland / What do you like about living in Britain? [134]

no one orders them so they have probably been in the jar for years

Used to have pickled egg eating competitions with my mate after a night on the lash, managed five once!

BTW cheers for the heads up Seanus will be popping in on Wednesday as well!
Englishpoznan   
24 Nov 2011
Travel / How expensive is it to live in Poland in one week? [28]

250zl a week is 35zl per day, after you take away money for public transport, phone credit, toiletries, clothes and other expenses that pop up how is this enough? And that doesn't even include food or socialising which the op asked about.
Englishpoznan   
25 Nov 2011
Travel / How expensive is it to live in Poland in one week? [28]

Quite easily, you dont buy all those products every day do you?

No but you have to buy most of them at least mothly.

100pln a week is far enough for food and shopping.

Do you still live in Poland? Things are getting more expensive here all the time. 100zl a week is about 14zl a day please break that down into buying food and socialising.
Englishpoznan   
25 Nov 2011
Travel / How expensive is it to live in Poland in one week? [28]

cost me at most 500pln

Yes but that is about 35zl per day and as you were on holiday you didn't have all the day to day expenses that someone who lives here would have. Please explain in deatail how 14zl per day would be enough for someone to live.
Englishpoznan   
20 Feb 2012
Life / Living Costs and life in Poznan? [70]

You are not very clear about anything in your post but maybe this will help a little.

Rent (small studio flat) aprox 1000zł
Bills (electric, cable tv, internet etc) 200zł

Litre of beer in a pub 8zł
Cheap meal out for two 50zł

Can't really help with food shopping as I don't have a clue if you can cook or what you eat! But I would say for two people absolute minimum would be 300zł per month.

In regards to looking for work I don't know what kind of work you are in but if it is teaching then this is one of the worst times of year to look and also from what I have been told it is getting harder and harder to find teaching work in Poznan. What do you do now maybe if you let me know I might be able to sugest some places you could look.

Your savings may get you through two months at a push but if you have to find somewhere to rent don't forget most places will want a deposit which take a large chunk out of your savings.

In short you will find everything more exspensive in Poznań than in a small town.