CEO Of VEVS, Veselin Stoilov, Discusses the Impact of Covid-19 on His Company

We talked to Veselin Stoilov of VEVS, the fastest and breeziest way to boost sales and enhance customer experience and here is what he said about it.

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times?

Veselin Stoilov: We are doing perfect, thank you! I am finding that I have more time for my family since working from home, which is great as it can often be hard to find a good work/life balance.

Tell us about you, your career, how you founded VEVS.

Veselin Stoilov: I am the founder of VEVS – the business website builder. It is an all-in-one business solution, offering e-commerce websites for selected verticals that come with a complete service pack: stylish and responsive design, hosting, domain, smart CMS, business-centric software features, customizations, and add-ons.

Seventeen years ago, I co-founded a company called PHP Jabbers. PHP Jabbers offer dozens of PHP scripts and web applications tailored for a wide variety of businesses worldwide. Throughout my career, my team and I have sold our apps and software to more than 40,000 clients from all over the world.

Software development & web design has always been my interest. After seeing a need for an all-in-one business solution that provides other businesses with affordable, professional web development services, I decided to put my vision for VEVS to fruition. Many years later, we are now servicing customers in a wide range of industries and continue to push forward in providing brilliant services for our customers.

How does VEVS innovate?

Veselin Stoilov: Our main focus has not changed since the beginning, making VEVS an easy-to-use and balanced website builder that delivers niche businesses with e-commerce software to help them digitalize, sell online and grow.

However, in our business, and in order to make sure we are achieving our goal, that means we still need to innovate all the time. We make sure to follow the latest trends and latest technologies in our industry, as well as the trends in the industries of our clients, so we are constantly in the know about where we can make improvements. 

We also do our best to respond to the changing demands caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. A great example of this is developing our Food Ordering Restaurant Website Solution, giving restaurants the ability to take online orders, allowing them to continue to operate and provide food for their customers, even during these challenging times. We develop our products to enhance our clients’ opportunities and capabilities to follow the limitations and respond to the changes in their customers’ behavior and buying needs.

How does the coronavirus pandemic affect your business finances?

Veselin Stoilov: We have not noticed too many changes in regards to our finances; however, it has been very interesting and insightful to watch the shifts in our revenue sources, and more specifically, which of our website solutions have risen in demand.

We have solutions for many industries, which helps us keep the revenue similar to the pre-pandemic times in 2019. While some business niches like car rental and vacation rental have suffered a lot, there is a significant increase in the search for online e-commerce solutions in other areas like restaurants and online retailers, since many of these establishments have been looking for ways to innovate and take their businesses online.

In the last quarter, we have also seen the first recovery signals in the heavily hit niches and industries. Some companies have started to research and even invest in new software solutions to help digitize their business and prepare for the expected after-pandemic growth in sales and orders. We believe that right now is a brilliant time for businesses to be thinking about their online presence and how they can further expand their customer reach and revise their business operations. 

Did you have to make difficult choices regarding human resources, and what are the lessons learned?

Veselin Stoilov: We have been very lucky and have been able to avoid making such difficult choices. The main change we have had to implement is to move our team members from the office to work at home. This comes with advantages and disadvantages, but as a company that is constantly evolving and facing new challenges and obstacles each and every day, we were able to quickly adapt to the changes.

How did your customer relationship management evolve? Do you use any specific tools to be efficient?

Veselin Stoilov: Since we serve our clients online, we have noticed no changes in regards to our customer relationship management. Regarding specific tools we use to be efficient when managing our customers, we have an excellent in-house ticketing system that allows us to keep track of all customer inquiries and communication and mean that we can be as efficient as possible when providing services for our customers. 

Did you benefit from any government grants, and did that help keep your business afloat?

Veselin Stoilov: We did not need to take out any form of government grants, loans, or forms of lending. As mentioned previously, we are a company that is familiar with a constantly changing environment and made the most out of the current situation by focusing even more effort on providing the best services possible and coming up with solutions that help our customers during these troubling times. 

Your final thoughts?

Veselin Stoilov: My thoughts go out to the families and businesses that are heavily affected right now by the Covid-19 Pandemic. I believe that even during times of struggle, there is light to be found and opportunities presented. VEVS is an example of that. Our ability to adapt to the situation and pivot has allowed us not only to carry on but continue to grow and help our customers’ businesses also thrive.

Your website?

vevs.com