The financial crisis now spiling into 2009, The Network, an advisory network that follows the American pattern, preps its official debut on a Balkan market, not yet familiarized with this concept. Partners of the network vow to draw business plans for their clients and prepare a six-digit investment for the outset of the new company.
American pattern: a ‘swarm’ of consultants
“It is better to do a bad planning than no planning at all. The opportunity costs are too high”, said Eusediu Margasoiu (photo), founder of The Network. In April 2008, Margasoiu stepped down as marketing manager from Pepsi Americas Romania, after nine years. Later on, he decided to tap the consultancy industry, as apart from his marketing tasks, he was also drafting the strategic plan for Pepsi together with American advisors. “At a moment, I saw by mistake, the bills for the consultants. I liked the way they looked”.
Cristina Gheorghe, former manager at Procter&Gamble Romania joined him shortly after. Together, they prepared the groundwork of a company and a new brand, The Network.
Three top managers ‘signed up’ for the newly-born project recently: Mihai Ghyka, former managing director at InBev Romania, Paul Markovits, former Senior Brand & Communication Director at Vodafone Romania and Dragos Dinu, former CEO of A&D Pharma. Partners of The Network form a “consultant swarm” - an American informal pattern that started to compete with the large consultancy companies, such as McKinsey, Roland Berger, Accenture or Boston Consulting.
“There are people with extensive experience, who left their top positions and started to consult here and there, by recommending one to another. This led to a fierce fight in the American market between the structure and the man,” said Margasoiu. “Large consultancy firms are well-positioned organization, with well-developed tools and know-
