Online breakfast with BALAJCZA: “How to become king”

On 8th September 2020, BALAJCZA Linguistic Services organizes another – this time the seventh – online breakfast for its clients, business partners and associates.

The theme of the meeting is: “How to become king”. We will hear an engaging story of market intuition and the innovative marketing concepts, thanks to which:

  • an inconspicuous hairdresser from Sieradz became a haircutting star and French celebrities waited weeks for an appointment with him;
  • Augsburg merchants served the Pope, and finally set up a business on the Vistula River;
  • the canny Chaja from the Krakow’s district Kazimierz became one of the richest women in history;
  • a modest poetry teacher became a European killer in business.

As usual, there will be a quiz, which will make the breakfast turn into a joyous game and you will remember new information with ease.

The lecture will be held by Hanna Dzielińska – journalist, Warsaw guide, author of online intercity (quarantine) walks, reportages and books on culture and the city as well as personalized company publications, popularizer of culture and art.

The meeting will be held in Polish language.

Are you interested in attending this meeting? If so, please inform me:

Timea Balajcza

📞 +48 601 913 446

📧 timea.balajcza@balajcza.pl

Online breakfast with BALAJCZA: “How to become king”

 

On 8th September 2020, BALAJCZA Linguistic Services organizes another – this time the seventh – online breakfast for its clients, business partners and associates.

The theme of the meeting is: “How to become king”. We will hear an engaging story of market intuition and the innovative marketing concepts, thanks to which:

– an inconspicuous hairdresser from Sieradz became a haircutting star and French celebrities waited weeks for an appointment with him;
– Augsburg merchants served the Pope, and finally set up a business on the Vistula River;
– the canny Chaja from the Krakow’s district Kazimierz became one of the richest women in history;
– a modest poetry teacher became a European killer in business.

As usual, there will be a quiz, which will make the breakfast turn into a joyous game and you will remember new information with ease.

The lecture will be held by Hanna Dzielińska – journalist, Warsaw guide, author of online intercity (quarantine) walks, reportages and books on culture and the city as well as personalized company publications, popularizer of culture and art.

The meeting will be held in Polish language.

Are you interested in attending this meeting? If so, please inform me:

Timea Balajcza
+48 601 913 446
timea.balajcza@balajcza.pl

Swiss Business Directory 2021/22

We announce with pleasure that we have started working on Swiss Business Directory 2021/22 catalogue in which we will present the member companies of the Polish-Swiss Chamber of Commerce.

The catalogue is published every two years and includes texts contributed by the Swiss Embassy and the Swiss Business Hub Central Europe. Swiss Business Directory is highly appreciated and builds the image of Swiss companies on the Polish market, being a showcase of Swiss business.

We encourage you to check the advertisement offer. This year we decided not only to reduce the prices and extend the offer, but also to prepare a special first minute option, available only until the end of August.

GESSEL distinguished in the Rzeczpospolita ranking

27 July saw the official announcement of the results of what is the 18th ranking of law firms compiled by the Rzeczpospolita daily. We are proud to announce that GESSEL has received an award in the Pro Bono category and GESSEL website devoted to the legal aspects of coronavirus has been recognised.

 

From its very inception, GESSEL has been a proud supporter of initiatives in the realm of modern art, education, and – generally – the public good (for more about our pro bono work, please see HERE). Accordingly, this award is a source of special pride for us. We humbly accept it as recognition of the selfless work of our lawyers – Dr Beata Gessel-Kalinowska vel Kalisz, Senior Partner and founder not only of our firms, but also of foundations dedicated to supporting the National Museum in Warsaw and the Zachęta National Gallery, Joanna Kisielińska-GarncarekMaria DudzińskaAldona PietrzakMichał BoryczkaMaciej BoryczkoMichał BochowiczMarta GrabiecKrzysztof JasińskiMarcin MaciejakKarolina OlszewskaPiotr Tracz, and Erazm Dutkiewicz, among others.

GESSEL has been keeping on top of ongoing developments in the legal aspect and discussing them in what has grown into a sizeable sub-section of our firm’s website – COVID-19. The existence and development of this site is owed to the GESSEL team coordinated by Bernadeta Kasztelan-Świetlik, partner and drawing on input from Adam KraszewskiMichał BochowiczDr Bartłomiej WoźniakJakub BrzeskiMarta GrabiecKrzysztof JasińskiKarolina Krzal-KwiatkowskaKatarzyna LisowskaAgnieszka NowackaJulia TrzmielewskaWeronika ZdebIwona Gielo-BenzaAleksandra GłuszekPaulina MaciągKarolina OlszewskaDiana Strzałkowska, and Piotr Tracz.

 

The ranking of law firms by the Rzeczpospolita daily has become a highlight in the annual calendar of the Polish legal circles. This year is a special one, not necessarily in a good way – due to the coronavirus pandemic, the organisers had to forego a traditional awards ceremony, settling for an online event which you can view HERE.

GESSEL distinguished in the Rzeczpospolita ranking

27 July saw the official announcement of the results of what is the 18th ranking of law firms compiled by the Rzeczpospolita daily. We are proud to announce that GESSEL has received an award in the Pro Bono category and GESSEL website devoted to the legal aspects of coronavirus has been recognised.

From its very inception, GESSEL has been a proud supporter of initiatives in the realm of modern art, education, and – generally – the public good (for more about our pro bono work, please see HERE). Accordingly, this award is a source of special pride for us. We humbly accept it as recognition of the selfless work of our lawyers – Dr Beata Gessel-Kalinowska vel Kalisz, Senior Partner and founder not only of our firms, but also of foundations dedicated to supporting the National Museum in Warsaw and the Zachęta National Gallery, Joanna Kisielińska-GarncarekMaria DudzińskaAldona PietrzakMichał BoryczkaMaciej BoryczkoMichał BochowiczMarta GrabiecKrzysztof JasińskiMarcin MaciejakKarolina OlszewskaPiotr Tracz, and Erazm Dutkiewicz, among others. 

GESSEL has been keeping on top of ongoing developments in the legal aspect and discussing them in what has grown into a sizeable sub-section of our firm’s website – COVID-19. The existence and development of this site is owed to the GESSEL team coordinated by Bernadeta Kasztelan-Świetlik, partner and drawing on input from Adam KraszewskiMichał BochowiczDr Bartłomiej WoźniakJakub BrzeskiMarta GrabiecKrzysztof JasińskiKarolina Krzal-KwiatkowskaKatarzyna LisowskaAgnieszka NowackaJulia TrzmielewskaWeronika ZdebIwona Gielo-BenzaAleksandra GłuszekPaulina MaciągKarolina OlszewskaDiana Strzałkowska, and Piotr Tracz.

The ranking of law firms by the Rzeczpospolita daily has become a highlight in the annual calendar of the Polish legal circles. This year is a special one, not necessarily in a good way – due to the coronavirus pandemic, the organisers had to forego a traditional awards ceremony, settling for an online event which you can view HERE

Online breakfast with BALAJCZA: “Effective intercultural communication”

On 21 July 2020BALAJCZA Linguistic Services organizes another online breakfast for its clients, business partners and associates.

The theme of the meeting is: ‘Effective intercultural communication’.

The ability to communicate with representatives of different cultures is one of the most important factors determining our success in the international arena. It allows not only to build effective teams or conduct successful negotiations, but also to understand the intentions of others, avoid many misunderstandings and unwanted conflicts.

That is why it is worth knowing:

  • Why it is important to be able to ‘read the air’ in Japan?
  • How to behave when a Portuguese refuses us?
  • Why a Chinese may not come to a prearranged meeting?
  • And how to joke in such a way that an American does not feel offended?

During the meeting, we will focus mainly on verbal communication in high and low context countries. We will find out what is meant by ‘reading the air’, or reading between the lines,  whether ‘no’ always means refusal, how to write emails and how to interpret a situation where someone does not write back for a few days. We will focus on this one aspect and look at a large number of examples.

We will learn more about effective communication with representatives of different cultures from:
Monika Guzek – intercultural trainer, project manager and university lecturer. She coordinates strategic and marketing projects, as well as is responsible for the implementation and adaptation of products to the requirements of foreign markets. For 10 years, she has been realizing her potential in the area of B2B and B2C marketing, actively supporting sales departments and adapting sales support methods to local client preferences. She has extensive international experience: she worked in Poland, Germany, China and Indonesia and since one year has been splitting her time between Poland and Portugal. She has been a Member of the Management Board of SIETAR Polska since 2019.

We would like to invite all persons interested in the subject to join the meeting. It will be held in Polish language. If you wish to participate, please contact us: Timea Balajcza, timea.balajcza@balajcza.pl, phone: +48 601 913 446

BALAJCZA Linguistic Services – special prices for legal and financial translations

We would like to inform you that despite the situation related to the COVID-19 pandemic, BALAJCZA Linguistic Services provides ordinary and sworn translations as usual. Due to the increased demand for legal and financial translations, we offer special prices for the above mentioned specialisations. This enables our Clients to receive the same high quality of translations at a new attractive price.

We are witnessing a revival and return to sworn interpreting at notarial offices, law firms or government offices. We also offer very attractive prices for such translations. On the other hand, on-line conference interpreting can be an interesting alternative for maintaining business contacts.

We continue to offer very attractive online foreign language courses conducted by our best experienced teachers. Use this time to learn with BALAJCZA Linguistic Services!

We invite you to contact our Customer Service:

BALAJCZA Linguistic Services – Customer Service

Tel.: +48 22 643 47 94; +48 22 643 47 98

Tel.mob.: +48 601 913 918

E-mail: balajcza@balajcza.pl


www.balajcza.pl

Firms are cutting costs and halting investments but keeping their workers

The Polish-Swiss Chamber of Commerce together with other bilateral chambers in the International Group of Chambers of Commerce (IGCC) carried out a survey among Polish and foreign firms concerning the impact of Covid-19 on business activity in Poland. Fieldwork was conducted between 10 and 24 June. Results were compared with a similar study carried out by the French-Polish Chamber of Commerce (CCIFP) when the first restrictions were implemented. The data, gathered as businesses adapted to lockdown, highlights the biggest problems encountered by firms in the last three months, emphasising the concerns brought to light in the earlier survey.

Four out of five of firms expect worse-than-planned financial results at the end of this year, according to a survey carried out by bilateral chambers of commerce in Poland. Nearly 90% have already reported a decrease in sales. A return to pre-pandemic levels will be possible at the earliest within the next six to 12 months, although some industries expect recession to last into 2021. In most cases, firms’ bankruptcy-prevention strategies are based on cost cutting (mainly those unrelated to their core business); laying off employees is seen as a mean of last resort.

 

Companies face cancelled orders but payments from customers are not being delayed

The biggest problem that entrepreneurs faced over the past three months has been the cancellation of orders by customers (51% of responses). Concerns voiced by the majority of firms in the March survey, in which 50% of respondents predicted that orders will be cancelled, have proved true. Delayed payments from customers or delayed execution of orders ultimately affected fewer companies than predicted in the first survey (27% and 29% of responses in June, compared to 56% and 41% in March respectively). Production output, on the other hand, fell on a slightly larger scale than expected (28% of indications in June vs 21% in March).

As 38% of respondents pointed out, travel restrictions and closed borders represented a major obstacle for businesses, especially for companies operating across multiple markets. This has led to the necessity of remote management of companies, and created problems with document flow, such as the signing of physical documents or contracts.

The situation was better than expected in the logistics sector. Nearly half of the respondents did not report experiencing a significant negative impact of Covid-19, a result nearly 10% better than in early March. Only one in three companies reported problems with the delivery of products from Polish and/or foreign suppliers. Issues with the transport of goods inside the country or associated shortages in inventories occurred in only 10% of companies.

Companies will be cutting costs at least until the end of the year

As a consequence of the drop in sales, companies have taken measures to reduce expenses and operating costs to maintain liquidity.
52% of companies have already reduced expenses unrelated to their core business, in areas such as marketing, advertising or training, and nearly 40% will continue to do so in the coming months. The scale of these cuts is significant, as in nearly two-thirds of the cases they amounted to more than 50% of the original budgets for these activities.
Other measures taken by companies are: recruitment freeze (45% of responses); salary-increase freeze (37%) and bonus freeze (28%). Salaries were reduced in 29% of companies (usually by between 5-20%); however, only 17% of them plan to keep those reductions in the following months.

Companies are trying to protect existing jobs at all costs and, despite the decline in turnover, with redundancies seen as a last resort. So far, 15% of companies have declared laying off between 2-10% of their employees.

Nearly half of the firms surveyed (48%) have benefited from the ‘anti-crisis shield’ measures offered by the Polish government. 43% of those firms positively assessed the aid granted; however, 54% said that the proposed solutions didn’t meet their expectations. Their main criticisms concerned complicated procedures, unclear rules and long waits for decisions.

The survey Surviving Covid-19:The Impact of the Pandemic on Companies’ Business Activity in Poland was conducted by the French-Polish Chamber of Commerce among member companies of bilateral chambers of commerce in the IGCC (International Group of Chambers of Commerce). Respondents were CEOs, presidents, executive directors and board members. The results are based on questionnaires completed by 189 companies operating in Poland, 26% of which were Polish, 16% German, 14% French, 7% American, 6% Swiss, 5% Austrian; and 26% have the majority capital from various other countries. Nearly half of the respondents represented companies employing up to 50 people, 32% were medium-sized enterprises (51-500 employees) and 19% were companies employing over 500 people. Most respondents came from the following sectors: manufacturing industry (13%), construction & real estate (13%), business services (12%), consulting (8%), IT services and telecoms (7%) and trade and distribution (6%).

International Group of Chambers of Commerce (IGCC) www.inwestycjezagraniczne.com

Media

Business Insider
https://businessinsider.com.pl/firmy/koronawirus-w-polsce-trudna-sytuacja-firm/ccrkxmt

Bankier.pl
https://www.bankier.pl/wiadomosc/Wsparcie-z-tarczy-antykryzysowej-nie-spelnilo-oczekiwan-przedsiebiorcow-7917567.html

Rzeczpospolita
https://www.rp.pl/Biznes/307019883-Firmy-tna-pensje-i-etaty-wyhamowuja-inwestycje.html

Puls Biznesu
https://www.pb.pl/wirus-uderza-w-firmy-ktore-m-in-wyhamowuja-inwestycje-995557

Online breakfast with BALAJCZA:

On 23 June 2020, BALAJCZA Linguistic Services organized the fourth online breakfast for its clients, business partners and associates.

The theme of the meeting was: “The key to success in intercultural relations.”

Do you know what is the key factor to achieve success in business? What is the basis for long-term professional partner relations?

That’s right, it’s trust! It constitutes the basis of interpersonal interaction, and largely determines whether or not we, as a company or an individual, achieve success.

That is why it is worth knowing:
• Why do the Japanese close their eyes during a business meeting?
• How to behave when a Finn invites you to the sauna?
• Why would a person from China ask if you had breakfast?
• Why would a German pay attention to your shoes?

How to build trust in intercultural relations is explained by Monika Guzek – intercultural trainer, project manager and university lecturer coordinating strategic and marketing projects, as well as the person responsible for implementation and adaptation of products aimed at the foreign markets.

Are you interested in attending these meetings? If so, please inform me in response to this Fanletter (fanletter@balajcza.pl). Everyone is welcome! 🙂

Tax Compliance in Poland

For years we have been observing the growing complexity and variability of the Polish tax regulations that is followed by alarming penal-fiscal consequences. We hear it also from you. That is why we have organised a survey on a group of 32 member companies to show the reality that companies active in Poland need to deal with.

The results of the survey were complemented with the information from the audit and advisory company Grant Thornton.

In the report you can also find commentaries of representatives of our member companies. They include hints, what should be changed to make the regulations more company-friendly.

Below you will find the attached English and Polish version of the report as well as many articles in Polish that were published in the media recently.

Media

Szwajcarska precyzja i polska biurokracja:
https://www.pb.pl/szwajcarska-precyzja-i-polska-biurokracja-994561

Biznes po polsku, czyli 4,5 tysiąca godzin na obowiązki podatkowe:
https://businessinsider.com.pl/firmy/podatki/duze-firmy-poswiecaja-ponad-49-tys-godzin-rocznie-na-obowiazki-podatkowe/6hm4l0c?utm_source=gtfr.inforia.net_viasg_businessinsider&utm_medium=referal&utm_campaign=leo_automatic&srcc=ucs&utm_v=2

4552 godzin pracy i 2,8 etatów. Tyle potrzebują firmy, aby zrealizować obowiązek sprawozdawczy wobec organów administracji
https://forsal.pl/biznes/firma/artykuly/7754580,grant-thornton-obowiazek-sprawozdawczy-4552-godzin-pracy-i-28-etatow.html

Grant Thornton: Sprawozdawczość wobec organów zajmuje firmom 4,55 tys. godzin
https://wyborcza.biz/biznes/1,100969,26059169,grant-thornton-sprawozdawczosc-wobec-organow-zajmuje-firmom.html?disableRedirects=true

Firmy w Polsce spędzają ponad 560 dni roboczych rocznie na państwowej biurokracji
https://300gospodarka.pl/news/firmy-w-polsce-spedzaja-ponad-560-dni-roboczych-rocznie-na-panstwowej-biurokracji

More articles:
https://inwestycje.pl/biznes/sprawozdawczosc-wobec-organow-zajmuje-firmom-455-tys-godzin/


https://alebank.pl/sprawozdawczosc-wobec-organow-zajmuje-firmom-az-455-tys-godzin-raport-grant-thornton/?id=331678&catid=22872&cat2id=361

https://www.pulshr.pl/zarzadzanie/koszmar-polskich-firm-tysiace-godzin-pracy-specjalistow-nad-analiza-prawa-podatkowego,74687.html

https://www.money.pl/gielda/grant-thornton-sprawozdawczosc-wobec-organow-zajmuje-firmom-455-tys-godzin-6524547827111553a.html