EKIP– Expert Club for Economics and Politics A Different Opinion
Дори не ми е минавало през акъла, че ще се наложи да се изказвам публично по тази тема, че и да дефилирам по телевизии, защитавайки очевидното. Но уви, вече знам, че нищо, ама абсолютно нищо не може да ме изненада в българската управленска мисъл.
The chronology of events
Once upon a time, there were people who wanted to get from point A to point B...
…And the means they had to do it were either on foot or by horse (horse-drawn carriage). And everyone lived this way, until one day the car came along as the new and modern means of transportation. Faster than the horse, it doesn’t get tired like the horse and most importantly – it doesn’t pollute the urban environment as much as the animal with its dung. The initial reaction of society, which has lived this way for the last 3000 years and more, was to denounce the car as dangerous, unprofitable, complicated…a devilish creation.
But, as always happens, progress overcomes these obstacles and today road transport is among the most popular in the world. Not long ago, buses appeared as a way to provide the same service - "Physical transportation from point A to point B". Along with technical progress, the state has sought to keep things under control, regulation, licensing regimes and other formatting of business, while business itself has sought to build its services precisely according to the given format.
Just a note that when this was happening, humanity was still writing on a typewriter...
Fast forward to today, where we have flat-screen TVs, smartwatches, flights to Mars and…the internet. Lots of internet. The internet has increased our ability to communicate, organize groups of people and…provide services many times over. Alas, the internet can only transfer information units from point A to point B, but it helps us organize ourselves so well that we can help each other get from point A to point B in a much cheaper, faster, more convenient and environmentally friendly way – the so-called shared ride. About 80 years have passed since the appearance of buses. However, the regulations for carrying out this type of activity have remained almost the same throughout this time.
It is obvious that when you have a cheaper, more convenient, more reliable, faster and more environmentally friendly product than its predecessor, it makes sense to use it. As, by the way, almost no one uses typewriters, landline phones, calculators, telegraphs, etc. anymore. It is obvious. But not for the National Association of Bus Carriers in Bulgaria (NABBC). Imagine them as the trade union of typewriter manufacturers in the era of the first computers. Obviously, technological progress has completely outpaced the service you offer and you are suffering terrible losses from this.
No one wants to give you their money anymore, they choose the newer one. What could be your useful moves?
Option 1 – capitalism
You see which innovations in business are desired by your customers and integrate them into your product. This is what sustainable industries and entrepreneurs do.
A brief historical background about the Nokia company. Nokia has a 160-year history behind it. The original activity of the company was the production of rubber products.
During this long period of development, it went from rubber products, through electricity, cables, wood processing, consumer electronics and televisions... until one day the management made the revolutionary decision for that time - to concentrate its resources on the production of mobile devices (and the year was only 1992).
Just a decade later, the Finnish company, which started with rubber boots more than a century ago, has become a global leader in the fastest growing and most desirable business of its time. The key to Nokia's success can be formulated very simply - follow the customer. Understand what they want, what they would like in 1, 2, 5 years and try to meet their needs. The thing we dream of seeing more often in Bulgaria, but unfortunately many businesses choose...
Option 2 - Shurobadzhanashkiya
You see that you are no longer relevant, that new technologies are more desirable than your product and… you try to stop them. You, by yourself, turn out to be unable to do so, so you go to your friends in power. After all, you are an industry, a taxpayer for many years, a creator of jobs and electoral support, of course. For the appropriate amount or service, no politician would have any qualms about helping you, favoring your aging business model at the expense of the new and modern… and at the expense of the citizens of the state they govern. The politicians win, one of the businesses wins too. The big loser is the lowest level in the chain – the citizens. Instead of the modern, practical, cheaper, they will be artificially obliged to use the old, expensive, unreliable.
This also happened with the bus transport industry organization. A business that is highly dependent on state licenses, orders and patronage and a state that has an interest in the electoral support of employees in this industry met on April 18 to negotiate. The state side presented the idea of introducing tolls on the republican roads, which would harm the transporters' business, and they, in turn, demanded a ban and filtering of ride-sharing groups. There is a deal, as a popular presenter likes to say.
What was not taken into account in the bargain is precisely the interest of the citizens, and this can be most simply reduced to having more options to choose from. The best position for the average citizen is to be able to choose for himself whether to travel with a licensed bus carrier or with a random person he met on the Internet, or in any other way. More options to choose from are the biggest guarantee of success.
The lesson of history is that technological developments are like a stream of water, and regulations in favor of retrograde, backward cronyism are a straw barrier. Always, always, always technology will be one step ahead of those trying to stop it. Always, always, always the free bargaining of individuals will find a way to bypass the straw barriers, and when necessary... and crush them with force.
If this cause piques your interest – check out the other things the Bulgarian Libertarian Society is involved in.
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Ако
