POEMI on ZF: Building a Business from Scratch—The Story of the Workshop in Sibiu

In August 2019, Ziarul Financiar published, in the „Afaceri de la zero” (Businesses from scratch) series, a profile signed by Georgiana Mihalache about The Beginnings of POEMI. The article reconstructs the story of Florin Popescu, who started this business with no prior connection to ceramics, starting from another family business.

Regarding how it all began, Florin recounted:

„We also have another business, a floral studio; we were looking for props for a photo shoot and that's how we came across some handmade plates [...]”, he explains in the ZF article about the moment when ceramics went from being a prop accessory to a business in itself.

Regarding product market positioning, add:

„We are in the premium segment. You don't buy a plate just to put food on it, you have to like it too,” Florin said in the same interview.

The article mentions concrete figures from that period: a monthly production of 600 to 700 ceramic items, a team of 4 people with plans to hire 2 more, an income of 180,000 lei in 2018 and a target of 300,000 lei for 2019, supported by a total investment of approximately 100,000 euros, including funds obtained through the Start-Up Nation program. The stated target at that time was an increase in production up to 3,000 pieces per month.

Read it again, the 2019 article shows how far the workshop has come since those beginnings, but also how constant the principles have remained: premium positioning, attention to each handcrafted piece but a sustained growth, step by step, not in one leap.

Ziarul Financiar’s „Business from Scratch” series typically features entrepreneurs who are just starting out, with modest revenue but clear plans for growth. The fact that POEMI’s story was selected for this series as early as 2019 confirms that a ceramics workshop, launched without prior experience or significant capital, can become a topic of interest for the business press—not just for design or lifestyle publications.

Read the full article on zf.ro