How do you evaluate this Covid-19 period that we are passing through?

Like most of the population, we didn’t expect that we could be in such a long and serious quarantine period. I can clearly say that it was good for me at the very beginning. Especially the first 2 weeks was so smooth and relax for me. I was so tired physically and psychologically for many years of traveling.  Later, as the quarantine period get longer, we understood that seriousness of the situation. Of course, I made compulsory changes in my routine life and gained new hobbies during this period.

As Covid-19 spreads all around the world, production and international logistics stopped. How do you spend your time under these conditions?

As you mentioned, production and internatioal logistic completely stopped in our sector. In this pandemic period we try to maintain our good relationships with our existing customers all around the world with phone and video calls. In addition, we continue our studies on R&D.

Have you made any attempt to reduce the impact of this situation caused by COVID-19?

In addition to our exporter identity, we had a passion to create a new brand within our 2020 targets. So we more focussed taking steps for a creating a website for our new brand ‘Pimiento Jewelry’. We plan to open both our website and Instagram within 1 month.

What is your concern about the jewellery sector after CV-19?

I am much more optimistic about our sector compared to many of our friends in the industry. If gold rates don’t fluctuate much and remain close to constant, I believe that our sector will not be shrink, on the contrary especially in the first quarter, it might catch an uptrend.  As you know that interest in gold is very high, especially in our geography. Gold and jewelry were not using only as an investment but also as a fashion accessory. Especially with the technology and new trends that have developed in recent years, consumers have changed their shopping habits. People started to spend more money on the sunglasses, watch, mobile phone, or buying car. However, as you know, when you want to dispose of these products, there is a great loss of value. I believe that when the gradual normalization period begins, people will return to their old shopping habits and spend more money on segments that keep their values, such as gold.

How can this challenge to be transformed into an opportunity?

We all know the Pareto principle; as a summary for those who do not know, we make 80% of our turnover from 20% of our customers. I think it would be more beneficial to concentrate on our existing customer, instead of focusing on gaining new customers in the near future.

• Country: Turkey
• Number of Employees: 7
• Markets: UAE, Saudi Arabia, USA, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Switzerland, South America
• % Export Volume: 33,500,000 USD
• web: www.simayocalan.com ; www.pimientojewelry.com