Running an entrepreneurial business demands the ability to listen and understand trends, stay present, provide solutions, innovate, collaborate with an interdisciplinary team, and manage diverse opportunities and challenges simultaneously. It requires staying connected to everything happening around you and always moving forward with intention and ease. This approach perfectly encapsulates the operating philosophy of the Goldbach Group, a holding company comprising eight businesses across various sectors, including construction, interior design, retail park development, renewable energy, and business consulting. Elena Oancea and Florentin Avadanei, Romanian entrepreneurs with a combined experience of over two decades, share the role of CEO of Goldbach Group like riding a tandem bicycle. They both sat down with Business Review to tell the story behind the Goldbach Group’s success.

By Anda Sebesi

This exclusive interview was featured as the main cover story of the February 2025 issue of Business Review Magazine:

What does it mean, from a business development perspective, to build a group of companies operating in such diverse sectors? What are the biggest challenges? What about the most significant professional rewards?

Florentin Avadanei (F.A.): We see the fact that we operate in a variety of fields as an opportunity. The biggest challenges I’ve encountered in my entrepreneurial journey are common to the business environment in Romania. Access to financing, especially in the early stages of business development, along with the instability of the legislative framework and lack of predictability, can represent significant issues for businesses. However, we continuously strengthened our ability to tackle these challenges and we focused on building teams with deeper expertise which are able to manage complex projects in dynamic environments. Our growth is largely due to our exceptional teams.

Elena Oancea (E.O.): My entrepreneurial journey so far has shown that an essential factor for success is the ability to continuously adapt and learn. It is what guides me in coordinating the group’s work, across all business fields and with teams with diverse specializations. I trust every one of my colleagues, and it is this professional autonomy that we offer at the group level that generates the best results. Focusing on customers’ needs and truly understanding them are part of the philosophy that has guided me throughout my career and has always proven effective.

What is the story behind the Goldbach Group? How did you manage to successfully integrate all the companies into this holding?

F.A.: The Goldbach Group has experienced organic growth over the past 13 years, in step with the expansion of the markets we serve. Each company within the group represents a direct response to the increasing number of client projects and the opportunities we’ve identified across various sectors. As a result, the Goldbach Group team has evolved and specialised in line with our clients’ changing needs. From this perspective, it’s less about integrating companies and more about fostering unified development. As Romanian entrepreneurs, we are deeply rooted in the local and regional business landscape. The Goldbach Group is our strategic answer to the demands of dynamic markets, where we see immense potential as industries embrace cutting-edge technology, sustainability, and innovation.

E.O.: The diversity of companies in the Group is perhaps our greatest strength. Teams work both independently, addressing our clients’ specific projects, as well as collaboratively, tackling interdisciplinary initiatives that bring together professionals with proven expertise from various fields. At this moment, the Goldbach Group comprises more than 60 professionals who work together to creatively and technically solve any managerial or administrative challenge in the business sectors where we are present.

Last year, we set a strategic objective to strengthen the Group’s business foundation while expanding into high-growth sectors such as interior design—spanning residential, office, and hospitality projects—and the development of retail parks across the country. We are committed to continue raising the benchmark for quality and performance across the Group, ensuring we consistently exceed client expectations, foster innovation, and lead in the industries we serve.

What can you tell us about the companies in the Group and their strategic development plans?

E.O.: Our development strategy for the coming years involves strengthening each company’s market position and growing the business. At the Group level, together with Florentin and the ma-nagement teams of each company, we aim to grow on solid foundations and maintain the sustainable pace of development, which has already been established over the last decade. In 2024, we contri-buted to the economic revitalisation of small and medium-sized cities in the country through the investments we made in various sectors: construction, architecture, urban planning, EU funds consultancy, renewable energy, and the development of retail parks.

F.A.: We estimate that the Group’s 2024 turnover will reach EUR 16 million, approximately 30% higher than in 2023. The main sources of growth last year were the civil and industrial construction, urban planning, and architectural design sectors. We aim to strengthen our operations in these business segments and expand into several others with great development potential in the future: the development of retail parks at the national level under the K2 brand, the construction of photovoltaic parks through Goldbach Energy, and the national and international expansion of our interior design division, K2 Design Lab.

What are some of the most important projects currently being carried out by companies in the Group?

E.O.: We have big plans and inspiring projects at K2 Design Lab that will transform and innovate the interior design industry in Romania. In 2024, the K2 Design Lab team completed 15 cutting-edge projects for our clients. Our ongoing talks with potential customers make us confident that we will have more projects and creatively transform more spaces in 2025. We will also continue to invest in local communities through K2 Retail Properties projects, dedicated to the development of a nationwide retail park network near small and medium-sized communities. People’s spending habits are changing, and retailers need to keep up with these transformations. By 2030, our aim is to reach a total area of 100,000 sqm for our network of retail parks under the K2 brand. At the moment we have 9 functional retail parks, one of which operates under the K2 brand in Rasnov, and 14 other parks are in various stages of development.

In the current context, how do you see the development potential of the retail, real estate, and interior design sectors? What do you think are the biggest risks of 2025?

F.A: Despite some challenging factors, the construction and real estate markets remain stable and are supported by strong demand, especially in the industrial and commercial sectors. The uncertainty surrounding the international geopolitical and macroeconomic landscape—including ongoing conflicts, political shifts, and rapid changes—may impact the market. Additionally, at a national level, rising wages and taxes are expected to put pressure on companies’ profit margins, potentially influencing the market in 2025 and beyond. However, there is a significant level of resilience within the sector, driven by continued investments and adaptation to evolving trends, which positions it for sustained growth and opportunity in the coming years.

What are your development plans for this year and beyond?

E.O.: The start of each year reminds us, as entrepreneurs, of the need for resilience and adaptability. This year, those qualities may need to be paired with sharp thinking and effective management. That said, I remain confident in the positive trajectory of the economy and our ability to turn challenges into opportunities. The Goldbach Group’s development strategy, however, extends well beyond the scope of a single year. In the coming period, our focus will be on strengthening the market position of each company within the group. While we remain open to new business opportunities, our approach is grounded in a clearly defined growth plan, already in motion thanks to the dedication of the entire team.

Goldbach Group in numbers

• Goldbach Group
  • Estimated turnover for 2024: EUR 16 million, +30% YoY
• K2 Retail Properties
  • 23 retail parks completed or in various stages of development nationwide, an investment of EUR 36 million.
  • At the time of completion, the 23 retail parks will sum up approximately 40,000 sqm, with an aim of 100,000 sqm by 2030.
• Goldbach Energy
  • In the last two years, Goldbach Energy has completed two projects, with a total installed capacity of 12 MW, in Mehedinti county, and has two other photovoltaic parks under development with a total installed capacity of 12 MW and 12 MW of storage, in Mehedinti and Gorj counties.
  • By 2027 the company aims to become a key player in the renewable energy industry and develop photovoltaic parks with a total capacity of 100 MW.
• Goldbach Construct
  • Retail, logistics, and civil construction projects totalling a built area of over 20,000 sqm and external systematisation for over 23,000 sqm of land in 2024 alone.
  • 2024 estimated turnover: EUR 11.5 million.
• Goldbach Design & Build
  • Urban planning services provided last year for an area of 3.5 million sqm; design services provided for over 50,000 sqm, a significant increase compared to 2023.
  • 2024 estimated turnover: EUR 1.1 million.
• Goldbach Development
  • Land development and ongoing projects on an area of 108,000 sqm in 2024, with a total value of EUR 7.5 million.
  • 2024 estimated turnover: EUR 600,000.
• K2 Design Lab
  • 15 interior design projects developed in 2024 in the residential, office, and hospitality industries.
  • 2024 estimated turnover: EUR 700,000.
• Goldbach Consulting
  • Technical assistance projects with a total value of EUR 12.8 million.
  • 2024 estimated turnover: EUR 700,000.

Read the article here. Original publication date: 10.02.2025