Portrait Safak Civici – A successful Anatolian businesswoman

Making headway in a male-dominated world is not easy, but Safak Civici has done it. Born in Stuttgart, in 1992, she moved to Kayseri in Turkey, where her husband was stationed. She initially worked as a translator for an American firm, but had to change direction when the project ended. In 2003, Civici became self-employed and with her husband, started a furniture company concentrating on selling chairs in Italy and metal beds in Germany. This was not as easy as it sounds because Turkey's biggest furniture manufacturer is based in Kayseri. But Safak Civici used all her skills and diplomacy to set her young business on the right course. Report by Ute Walter . ___________________________________________ It's minus 10 on the day we meet Safak Çivici in central Anatolia, but she's used to cold weather. Although she was born in Stuttgart, Germany, the entrepreneur has lived in Kayseri for 16 years. Sefes is the name of her company; the factory is located in an industrial area, several kilometres out of town. Forty-eight workers produce furniture here. Now they're making beds for a Swiss client. They're custom orders which are being covered with leatherette. Safak Çivici aims to please and accepts small orders. The entrepreneur explains: "Here we do a lot of the work by hand. There still aren't any machines that can do upholstery." Çivici went into production five years ago with just six employees. Exports account for some seventy percent of her sales. Most of her clients are located in German-speaking countries, but she also receives orders from Israel and Iran: "For example in 2004, direct furniture exports from Kayseri -- and these are the official statistics from customs -- totalled 100 million US dollars. Two million were from us. So that's why I say we're good." Safak Çivici has just found out that her employees want a pay increase. Then there's a delivery problem. So she decides to deal with that first. She'll talk to the unhappy workers tomorrow, when there's time to sit down and talk. "We'll have to see; we must keep things in balance. Those who can't live with that will have to go. I won't be blackmailed." There are problems with the Customs. And at the store she learns that a good customer has changed his mind -- he wants red chairs instead of the black ones he ordered ... as soon as possible. Çivici takes it all in her stride. Now, it's time for lunch ... free from disruptions. Çivici wants to use the time before her next appointment to do a little shopping. She has to look after her family, too. Çivici's last appointment of the day is a meeting at the chamber of commerce. The 44-year-old is an active member. For the last two years she's been involved with the running of the organisation. "The main thing is that we were the first chamber of commerce in Turkey to have a women's committee. I'm happy about that and proud too." Elsewhere in Kayseri, associations are still run almost exclusively by men; business networks remain closed to women. But Safak Çivici and her fellow businesswomen want to have their say. So they've organised a meeting for women entrepreneurs from the industry association for the following week. They hope to help other women start their own businesses. But now it's time to start cooking dinner. Safak Çivici prepares the food -- with a little help from her twelve year-old son Efe. This week it's just the two of them. Safak's husband is away until Sunday. That's a problem, because she has to make a business trip to Istanbul on Saturday. Son: On Saturday? - You can't. Mother: Why? Son: My friends are coming. Mother: Oh no. Son: You can fly if you order pizza first. Mother: Good. I'll order the pizza. Son: Can we have cookies too? Mother: Yes, you can. Son: I'll do the rest. Mother: OK. Safak Çivici's friend Sennaz drops by. But it's not really a social call. The women end up talking about business -- Çivici just can't get away from the problems at work. But Safak Çivici wouldn't be an entrepreneur if she didn't view difficulties as challenges to be overcome. After all, her favourite expression is "We'll manage".

DW-World | March 25, 2008

Tags:. .fellow. .account. .turkeys. .theyve. .manufacturer