Andrzej Miciuła is a professional percussionist who has turned his passion for music into a successful business selling percussion instruments and grand pianos to orchestras, theatres and music schools throughout Poland. Helped by the Enterprise Europe Network, he is now an official dealer for two top European brands and is busy expanding his business.
Miciuła, based in the eastern Polish town of Lublin, launched AA Instruments in 2008 to finance his music education in the US. Although he knew there was plenty of demand in Poland for quality instruments delivered straight from the factory, signing up suppliers was not easy for someone without any references or track record.
For advice Miciuła went to the nearest Enterprise Europe Network branch, located in Lublin Development Foundation. With 3 000 experts in more than 50 countries, the Network is a powerful platform to help entrepreneurs realise their full potential.
"We met Andrzej when he was just getting started," says Network expert Justyna Buchta. "He knew exactly what manufacturers he wanted to approach, but they were unwilling to trust an unknown. As a reliable business support network, the Enterprise Europe Network can open doors."
Lublin Development Foundation registered Miciuła in the Network business cooperation database its Business Cooperation Database and supported him in his search for new foreign partners.
The Lublin Development Foundation vouched for the client to Adams Musical Instruments of the Netherlands and German piano-maker Grotrian-Steinweg. Both companies were impressed and - assisted by the Foundation for signing of the partnership agreements - contracted him to sell their goods in Poland.
Miciuła today has over 60 institutional clients from the music industry in Poland, from opera houses to symphonic orchestras. He believes there is plenty of room for further growth in the niche market, especially as music schools upgrade their equipment, often with help from EU funding.
"I've been a musician all my life so the business world was like black magic to me, until the Enterprise Europe Network came along and showed me the ropes," says Miciuła, who regularly attends Network conferences and other events.
The original firm - whose turnover had tripled in the three years since 2011 - is now becoming a limited liability company, AA Instruments Europe. In 2012 and 2014, Mr Miciuła also created two new companies, Piano Center Polska (representing Grotrian-Steinweg) and Sound Forging Studios. A majority shareholder in both, he adds: "I've prepared my new catalogue, returned to performing and have a few new ideas for business - hopefully with support again from the Network."