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RUSSIA
was so bad that nobody desired
to even hear about them.
“Right before the launching of our plant, there was a company named Neokom, operating in Novosibirsk. They shut down their line shortly before we emerged, and we discovered that they had completely destroyed the local market,” Yadrishnikov claimed.
Neokom was building tyres, which were blowing up during use, causing big problems to the customers and sometimes even threatening dangerous accidents on the road.
“So, when we started, nobody wanted to talk to us, as everyone thought that the retreaded tyre was something bad, it was thought to be a product of very poor quality, that no-one would wish to deal with,” he recalled.
As the result, trying to change the situation, Technoshina started retreading tyres and delivering them to the customers for free, or on an installment plan. At that point that was the only way to convince the local market that not all retreaded tyres have the same quality.
“We were supplying retreaded
tyres for the local companies and getting no money back. We were asking customers to try and test it, and if they were happy with the result, they could pay in 2-3 months, but they were not compelled to pay,” Yadrishnikov said.
In the next six years the company struggled with all its efforts to change the public perception of retreaded tyres and it finally succeeded, although it did not make their business easy, neither for them, not for any newcomers. “During that period, there were three companies that were trying to launch retreading plants in Novosibirsk Oblast. However, because this is hard and tough business, they eventually failed. They operated for 2-3 months and then shut down the line,” Yadrishnikov said.
At the same time, the same rumour mill that was hampering the company’s business in the very beginning now became its strong competitive advantage. At some point, Technoshina had started cooperating with the industry association named Transporters of Siberia. It unites 40 transport companies, each
with the fleet of trucks, handling cargo flows throughout the region. As a result, the company now does not face a shortage in demand for its services.
“On average we are retreading 300 tyres per month, but I would not say that this is our ceiling. In our business, the real problem is the shortage of the casings of a good quality. If we were not facing this challenge, we could retread 1,000 tyres monthly, or even more,” Yadrishnikov said.
There are a lot of standing customers, but the company now bets on the new customers, who are coming with their own
casings.
“The rumour mill is the main channel of our promotion among the customers. People do know that our tyres are able to cover the declared mileage without any problems. This is really valuable, because this is reputation that must be gained,” he added.
At the moment, Technoshina retreads only 20-25 per cent of tyres on the casings of its customers. The rest is from its own casings, the company collects all over the Novosibirsk Oblast. “We collect casings everywhere it is possible. We are cooperating with various fitting centres, urging