Sonya Kosta Di Nova, President of Transcon Trading Company

MidlandsBiz:
What is the core business of Transon Trading Company?

Sonya Kosta Di Nova:
Transon opens distribution channels for U.S. manufacturers looking to sell their high quality products in various marketplaces around the globe. 

Transcon was founded in 1979 by local entrepreneur Jerry Smith.  Based on the success of representing our first product line, nutritional supplements for horses, Jerry built a company structure designed around the idea of export management.  Initially we functioned primarily as a company’s export department, but that model has evolved to now include a whole range of international business tools.  Equine products still represent one of our main product categories, but we have diversified now into a range of other products. 

MidlandsBiz:
What are those other products?

Sonya Kosta Di Nova:
We have focused on a small number of niche industries or industry clusters where we can develop expertise and be effective at establishing relationships around the globe.  We engage with companies that manufacture innovative products that are not available in other markets.  After starting with equine products (basic care for horses), we have moved strategically into similar lines of products such as the broader pet industry.  Our human care cluster includes personal care products for skin and hair as well as vitamins and nutritional supplements.  Most recently, we have moved into medical supplies because of a key relationship that we signed with a manufacturer of surgical garments from Atlanta.  We are now looking to assist with builder supplies and hardware tools.  

MidlandsBiz:
How many manufacturers do you represent?

Sonya Kosta Di Nova:
We have relationships with about 100 U.S. manufacturers and we sell their products in over 100 countries.  We usually have more than one distributor in each of those 100 countries so our reach is truly global.

MidlandsBiz:
What is your business model?

Sonya Kosta Di Nova:
When Transcon signs a contract to represent a manufacturer internationally, we effectively remove any financial risk that it might face in exporting its goods.  We buy the product from the manufacturer (we take title of the product) and sell it overseas.  We take out insurance on the product and assume any and all risks including fluctuations in exchange rates.  

MidlandsBiz:
Why would a manufacturer come to you and not just sell his goods directly overseas?

Sonya Kosta Di Nova:
Exporting is more than just the physical movement of goods.  Navigating the complexities of rules and regulations in scores of different countries can derail an export strategy.  I can’t tell you the number of calls that we receive from manufacturers who have their goods held up in customs in a foreign port. 

It is expensive to research international opportunities and to strategize about which product will be successful in which market.  We provide value to our clients by giving them information about what is driving demand in international markets.  We are also involved with some of our suppliers from the research and development stage to ensure that they are using materials and ingredients in their production that will pass foreign regulatory agencies.  We are also engaged in sales and marketing efforts such as trade shows to make sure their product will be successful in overseas markets.

MidlandsBiz:
When did you start to work for Transon? 

Sonya Kosta Di Nova:
My interest has always been international business and international trade.  Importing and exporting – that is what I love to do.  Based on its status as the top school in the country for international business, I came to Columbia in 1996 to study in the MIBS program (now the IMBA) at the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina.  During the program, I was introduced to Fred Monk, the head of the local Export Consortium, who helped set me up to work as a consultant for small businesses on a variety of export related issues. One of those projects was to work with Transcon to make strategic recommendations on opening new markets in Europe. 

MidlandsBiz:
Did they offer you a job after you graduated?

Sonya Kosta Di Nova:
Prior to the MIBS program, I received a Fulbright Scholarships to do a Masters degree in Political Science and Public Administration.  Upon completion of the degree, the scholarship required that I spend two years working to further contribute to the democratic development of my native country, Bulgaria.  I was able to postpone that home country requirement until I completed the MIBS program.   

So after the MIBS program, I went to work for Solvay, a multinational company based in Brussels, Belgium that had acquired a chemicals company in Varna, Bulgaria. I worked two years in Bulgaria and decided to come back to the United States.  Transon had an opening and I was fortunate enough to start here in June 2000 on a full-time basis. 

MidlandsBiz:
What was it like growing up in Bulgaria, a communist country?

Sonya Kosta Di Nova:
I always had an interest in the world beyond Bulgaria. My home town, Varna, is a beautiful city located on the Black Sea that always attracted tourists from the West.  This was really my first glimpse into what life was like on the other side of the iron curtain. 

I could never understand the logic behind all the rules and the pervasive, controlling aspects of the government.  Looking back on the first part of my life, it was very surreal.  When I was in high school, I decided to sneak into a church to see the Christmas service at the cathedral downtown.  Somebody saw me and reported me to the principal of my high school who forced me to sign a paper promising that I would never again set foot in a church. Later on, I visited a monastery and bought a cross.  When the school administration saw the cross, a second infraction, they told me in no uncertain terms that I was not going to receive a third warning. 

After university, I worked for a foreign trade organization engaged in negotiations with Western businesses.  We were given a manual with strict rules about what we could and could not talk about on the phone and during business meetings. Only idle chit chat about the weather was permitted! 

When I was at the University of Varna studying economics, I inevitably started to meet other intellectuals and to read Western books.  I tried to fight against the system, but that only raised the risk factor for my family.  The only time the world started to make sense for me was when I first stepped foot in America. 

MidlandsBiz:
You must have been thrilled when the wall came down in Berlin in 1989.

Sonya Kosta Di Nova:
It became an amazing opportunity to help transition my country to democracy and to assist with the privatization of our economic resources.  All the enterprises at that time were state-owned and I was part of a team that worked closely with the Adam Smith Institute in London to come up with a template of how privatization should take place.  We visited other companies around Europe to see how things worked and to seek advice.  It was exciting, but extremely complicated.  Starting with an industrial and chemical complex close to Varna, we looked to establish a model that could be duplicated in other regions across the country.  The theory part of the transition was one thing.  Implementati
on proved to be another matter altogether.  The problems started early on. 

MidlandsBiz:
What problems?

Sonya Kosta Di Nova:
The first was the proliferation in the number of political parties after 1989.  With literally hundreds of parties, it made it incredibly complicated to work with the legislative body of the government. 

The transfer of state owned assets into private hands was complicated and fraught with emotion.  There was a lot at stake. How do you value the assets?  How do you come up with a fair process of tendering offers for those companies?  The former communist directors no longer had political control, but they still held enormous economic clout.  Before they handed over control of their organizations, they socked away large amounts of money.  They were the main candidates for buying the new private company, and they did not want to pay face value. 

Between 1993 and 1994, as implementation of our models started moving beyond the region to the whole country, I became one of the heads of the privatization committees.  The Red Mob, as it came to be known, offered me suitcases of money for a favorable ruling in some of these decisions.  I turned the money down, but…if you don’t play by the rules, people start using other methods to get what they want.  It started with threats on the phone, then in person, then they stole my car, then they robbed my apartment, then they burned my house, and finally – they attacked me and my son on the street.  We were put in the emergency ward with broken bones.  (Pause). When I got out, I was kidnapped.  (Pause).  I escaped, fortunately, but… 

I really wanted to be a part of the solution in Bulgaria and to continue to fight for a proper transition, but at that point, I could no longer expose my family to that kind of abuse.  We had no money, my son was sick, but we were lucky enough to have passports.  I left everything behind and escaped to Italy and eventually to the United States.

The person who took over my position back in Bulgaria was shot to death one month after we left.  

MidlandsBiz:
How and why the United Sates?

Sonya Kosta Di Nova:
Shortly after the fall of the iron curtain, I had also established my own entrepreneurial startup, an import and export company called Sunrise.  It was through that company that I was able to make some international connections including Pam Harpootlian here in Columbia, SC. 

After escaping, I was encouraged to apply for the Fulbright scholarship and that is how we arrived in the summer of 1995 in Illinois.  The whole time period is very painful for me to talk about; it was a very difficult time for me, my son, and my family. 

MidlandsBiz:
Skip ahead a decade or so, and has Bulgaria made progress towards democracy?

Sonya Kosta Di Nova:
Bulgaria today is a member of the European Union, but unfortunately the EU has recently issued a very critical report of Bulgaria and severely cut back on the financial support flowing into the country.  The same problems persist: crime, groups fighting for power, and a corrupt government.  It’s still all about who has economic and political power. 

MidlandsBiz:
How many employees do you have at Transon?

Sonya Kosta Di Nova:
We have 12 employees.  We also have affiliates overseas in Chile, Japan, Germany, China, and England who work for us on a commission basis. 

MidlandsBiz:
What is the ownership structure of the company?

Sonya Kosta Di Nova:
I became President of Transcon in 2004 and signed a buy/sell agreement with Jerry Smith that allowed me to purchase the company over time.  Just recently I have acquired a majority stake in the company. I am blessed to have met Jerry Smith at a time when few people knew much about the export business.  I have the greatest respect for Jerry and we have joined forces in a very productive way.  Since Jerry started the company 1979, exports have become a major driver of the South Carolina economy.  We are blessed to have one of the top ports in the United Sates with the Port of Charleston. 

MidlandsBiz:
How has the economy affected your business? 

Sonya Kosta Di Nova:
Because we are involved with literally hundreds of companies across the globe, our business is a pretty good barometer of the world economy.  We saw signs of a global slowdown as early as 2007.  Looking to make up for lost volume with higher margins, many of our clients  were increasing their prices starting about 2007. 

We had close to  50% growth in 2007, 10% in 2008, and we are maintaining sales in 2009.  We have seen a few outright cancellations of orders overseas and a trend towards American manufactures cutting back on the variety of their product offerings.  We are fortunate to be diversified not only with the product categories that we represent, but also the number of markets that we sell into.