By Marian Craciun

Unofficial statistics show that Romanian customers spent around 800 million Euro on cosmetic products in 2014, accounting for a five per cent increase from the year before. With their solid expansion, online sales had a significant contribution to the overall sales growth, nearly one third of all local customers making the transition to the virtual shopping environment. Even so, the average annual per capita expenditure on cosmetics stands at just 40 Euro, representing 3.3 Euro per month, which is one of the lowest levels in Europe and four to five times below the average value recorded in western Europe.

Răzvan Drăgoi started working in cosmetics sales in the spring of 1998, while still hoping to build a profession in textile engineering.

There is a popular belief that childhood friendships are the most durable. And it seems to be perfectly true in the case of the founders of FAN Courier. The three shareholders consolidated their earlier bonds, when they decided to make a team and start a business together.

As head of amb Holding Romania, a member of the Austrian consortium amb Holding, Victor Ciupercă continues to look for new investment opportunities. He has been involved in the projects developed by Austrian investor Alfred Michael Beck since 2003, and he currently focuses on consolidating the Austrian group's businesses in Romania.

Shareholder and CEO of ADC Blackfire Entertainment Romania, Loredana Barbu sees her recent transition towards entrepreneurship as a natural progression. She has 11 years' experience in acquisitions and distribution, five of which were spent in the game and toy market. Having also gained management experience in the retail sector (Diverta), she took the challenge and became involved in the launch of a start up for an investor in the toy distribution segment. However, in August 2014, she started her own company. She talked about her objectives and future plans in an interview with Business Arena.

Razvan Cuc got bitten by the entrepreneurial bug right after the 1989 revolution. He started with small businesses, such as importing audio cassettes and selling clothes. But his first true step into the world of entrepreneurship was made in 1999, when together with his brother, Tudor, he set up Plus GSM and tapped the telecom retail market. In 2008, he sold the business, but could not stay away from entrepreneurship. In 2013, Razvan started developing the RE/MAX network on the local market.

Having graduated from the "Iuliu Hatieganu" Medical School in Cluj-Napoca, Susana Laszlo became a resident and specialized as a pediatrician in Hungary. However, when she returned to Romania in 1995, she decided to join her family in its efforts to develop the business, Cosmetic Plant. In 2009, Susana took over the reins of the company and since then she has led a constantly growing operation, which posted a turnover in excess of 1.6 million Euro last year.