Source: biz.nv.ua
In spite of the fact that Ukraine is one of the world’s leaders in terms of the population’s education, we have one of the lowest indicators of desire and opportunity to be an entrepreneur
People have been forced to unlearn this for almost a century, and only in the last 25 years, you will not put in prison because you use your mind to earn money. And this is not all the problems. I can’t claim that there is a certain and intended state strategy aimed at hindering business activities, but, obviously, the ineffective legislation and state apparatus do not help to conduct such activities.
No one is seriously engaged in business support. Officials do not consider it as a strategically important goal, forgetting that small and medium-sized businesses form the basis of the economy and the middle class in any developed country. It turns out that the state is interested in bribes, but not in business development. If we add a tax terror, the difficulties with starting own business and accounting, we will get a dangerous “Terra incognita” inhabited just by “dirty dealers”. For example, in Ukraine, even the perception of an entrepreneur is still somewhat negative.
I believe that “louses should be crashed”, and we need to listen to no one, develop and move forward. I follow these rules in all projects I’m involved in. For the same reason, I support a Start Business Challenge project, which is an information service with step-by-step instructions on how to open a business in Ukraine. They tried to explain, on the one hand, officials and, on the other hand, many young and inexperienced entrepreneurs who are just starting out that they should move forward and work harder, if something goes wrong, because there are tools and opportunities for this.
Indeed, I myself was ready to become an entrepreneur in 2003 and started my own business only in 2005. It turns out that I have been providing employment to others, creating new projects and developing business for the past 13 years. If we explain two thousand potential entrepreneurs how to start and tell them about all opportunities in a year, in Ukraine, there will be at least 5,000 employed people and about half a million serviced clients by 2020. This is an excellent KPI for “awareness-raising” activities.
About three tips before starting
I would like to draw the attention of future businessmen to written agreements with partners. It is very important to define and register them before going into something together.
The second point is competent legal and accounting support to ensure that everything is done in accordance with law.
And most importantly: never give up. 99.7% of all startups running are unsuccessful projects and bankrupts. However, people try back and are not afraid to lose. In general, our culture does not support losers. For example, some person spent $ 1,000 to open a bakery. If this business doesn’t work out, both friends, colleagues and maybe even relatives will treat this person like muck. But a healthy entrepreneurial culture should not consider such a story as a failure. This is an experience that will allow to work even better and more efficiently in the future. And this is my third tip.
About something important
In fact, formal preparation of documents is a technical task. The most important thing is to agree on a basic business scheme. It is critical to have all agreements with partners documented in writing. Even if
it is a car wash, it is important to define who buys a sponge, and who – gloves, or who washes a hood, and who – a trunk, in writing. And who does not wash anything, working at the checkout counter. It is also important to understand how to distribute the income and with what frequency: once a day, once a week or once a month. I confess that I myself was caught into such a trap. At Comedy Club Ukraine, our arrangements with partners were not registered, and when the project became effective, it was obvious that everyone understood the arrangements in different ways. As a result, we faced with a conflict within the company and a lack of profit, then one of the partners went out of business and, naturally, the project was closed. I hope this case will help young people who want to open, for example, the same bakery to avoid the mistakes. The main thing is not to be afraid.
Maksym Bakhmatov,
Managing Partner of UNIT.City, Chairman of the Board of Radar Tech