Nikita kurakin. Can Business Blogging Make You an Entrepreneur? owner of the network of early development centers "Baby Club"

Despite another crisis, the second half of the 2000s provided young businessmen with many opportunities for growth. “The biggest plus in Russia is competition at a different level [compared to the West] and a huge number of unaddressed topics,” Maxim Nogotkov, president of the Svyaznoy group of companies, said in an interview with Forbes in 2009. Since then, "Svyaznoy" has had several new projects, and its founder was included in the rating of "200 richest businessmen" (No. 82, $ 1.3 billion). In addition to Nogotkov, there are five other entrepreneurs under 40 in our rating: Vyacheslav Mirilashvili - co-founder of VKontakte (No. 114, $ 950 million), Andrey Andreev - Badoo owner (No. 127, $ 800 million), Vitaly Yusufov - President of Nordic Yards (No. 153 , $ 700 million), Maxim Liksutov - now the Deputy Mayor of Moscow (No. 157, $ 650 million) and Ivan Tavrin - co-owner of UTV Holding (No. 200, $ 500 million). All of them came to business very young - someone started on their own and from scratch, taking advantage of the opportunities they saw, their parents helped someone.

Do young people still have chances in business? We think so. You can become, if not a multimillionaire, then a noticeable player in the chosen market. This is what our photo project tells about. Choosing young and successful ones, we set the age bar - 33 years (there are many interesting startups among entrepreneurs under 30, but the scale of their business is still relatively small). They were supposed to found their companies in the second half of the 2000s and by now have achieved annual revenues of at least 200 million rubles, or in the case of a sale of a stake in their business, capitalization of at least $ 10 million (such a unification of conditions is due to the fact that for different markets business success is measured in different numbers). How did we look for heroes? We asked experts and analysts, asked questions “ Business Russia"," Support of Russia "and industry associations, talked with investors and business angels who are investing in projects of young entrepreneurs.

Along the way, we once again made sure that Russian realities do not yet meet the expectations of young entrepreneurs. Several owners are enough large companies did not want to participate in the project, fearing to attract the attention of tax and other inspection structures. “I'm afraid,” one of the refuseniks replied succinctly. “Our economy is crooked and is not getting straighter,” another explained. In the production areas of young successful businessmen very little. “We don't have any,” is the standard response from industry associations. Finally, the third observation: having succeeded in business, many young people make their way to officials and politicians. “You are late, I am no longer a businessman, but a vice-governor of the region,” a 30-year-old entrepreneur who has managed to establish high-tech production in his city disappointed Forbes. But there are those who do not change course. “It’s not easy to catch up with us, but in principle it is possible,” says 33-year-old Andrey Romanenko, head of the board of directors of the Qiwi group of companies. "This is what makes us move forward with leaps and bounds."

» Interview with Nikita Kurakin. Founder social network Ya-Do.ru

The first years.

It all started when I was 4 years old, when I was sent to hockey. We had two workouts a day, it developed my stamina and fortitude. After that I was noticed, and at the age of 8 I was invited to play in Canada in the professional team "NotreDame". I played there until I was 17. When I started my hockey career in Canada, I was one of the worst players in Russia.

It was then that I set myself the goal of breaking out of the worst and staying after all the trainings of our team, to train until my strength left me at all. And then I realized: 1). the main thing is to make as much effort as possible on yourself, not sparing yourself and time - then it doesn't matter whether you have talent or not, you can achieve a lot; 2). the number of attempts will grow into the final quality. So, I am from a weak team, I grew to the best youth team in the Canadian league, moreover, I became a captain there. The success was difficult, but inherently simple. My motto is: "If you want to achieve something, look at the people who have already achieved it." If you want to become a millionaire, go and ask a person who is already a millionaire how he made his first million. In hockey, I did the same, went to the very best, began to train with him, learn, follow him, and I became the best. Of course, there is still a great merit of the coach. We had one three hockey players in our team, whom the coach left on the ice until exhaustion.

Once I approached the coach and asked why we? And he replied that only the three of you will achieve greater results in sports and in life, I will squeeze everything out of you, you have great potential. Then I realized that in reality a person uses his potential by 5-10%. We can use everything else, but we need an impetus, we need to understand that our possibilities are endless, that everything lies not in our strengths and capabilities, but everything is in our head, we set ourselves standards, thereby limiting ourselves. The coach believed that we can do more than others, that we have great potential, which is why he promised to squeeze the maximum out of us. And of course, after that we got good results. But even after training, the three of us, and remained on the ice alone, repeated each throw over and over again.

What was your hobby?

Hockey, sports, languages, reading, read everything…. Classical literature helped me especially. She made me understand the Russian mentality, made it clear how Russians think, since I lived in Canada - this was the only way. And now classical literature has given me a lot in business. Although at that moment I was not thinking about business, the only goal until I was 17 was to become an outstanding hockey player. Everything changed dramatically after the injury. I was told that the hockey career is over. And then I found myself in real world... A sharp reassessment of the meaning of life. I realized that I had to somehow move on.

Because if I don't pull myself together right now and start moving on, I will simply fall and then it will be much more difficult to get up. It is very important at this moment not to lose yourself and find a new hobby, find a new meaning in life and embark on your own path. It is very important for me, in the sphere of life that I choose, to become number one differently, I just do not see the point in doing this.

After hockey, the first place I was drawn to was business. While in Canada, I decided to open my own cleaning facility in Moscow time. Despite the fact that there was a big time difference with Moscow, and, in principle, in the village where I lived, there was bad internet. At that time, there was no knowledge, no experience in business, no finance in general. But I took a chance. After all, studying in Canada is not bad enough, I realized one thing, study, it teaches to learn, the main thing is not to be afraid to learn something new, to have the aspiration, desire, and then there will be quick learning. This motivated me and that's why I graduated from Canadian College with excellent marks and was the best graduate of the course. Then I realized that nothing is impossible and learning you can be the best.

The main thing is not to be afraid and try, because it does not matter where you are, and in what situation, with what knowledge ... do not look for excuses for yourself, if a person wants, he can do a lot - our possibilities are endless, break your stereotypes. Do it here and now. Tomorrow may not be at all.

And so, how did I open my own business, with almost no finance, with bad internet without connections in Moscow?

During the night, I watched the video, as on the constructor, to create my own website for free. I created a website according to elementary instructions. And then the question arose of how to attract clients, who would clean the apartments and accept applications. I began to think who could help me, and the first person I called was my grandmother, she accepted applications. She agreed with the cleaning ladies from the entrance, for a part-time job in cleaning, People were attracted through a group in VK, I still don't understand how they trusted me)) Well, then I didn't have any fears, that's why I think it's better to open a business as a teenager when you are not afraid of anything. This business taught me to be unique in my niche. I studied competitors, and saw that they clean everything and count square meters, and it was expensive for clients, I made an hourly payment, 1 hour - 300 rubles. Thus, I had competitive advantage, the cleaning ladies were cheap. the quality is good, the standards are met. The flow of customers was built in this way, wrote to VK, let's say 100 people, three of them answered, two agreed to cleaning. The cleaning ladies went to the house, and then remotely transferred money to me on QIWI. About 1200 rubles fell from three orders per day, and then I was very happy about that.

Then I realized that I needed to move forward and try to discover something related to sports, because that is where I am an expert, and this is what I really like to do. At 18 years old. I already moved to Moscow and opened a football school there in Luzhniki. Since I was not afraid of anything, and in principle I know how to negotiate with people. Plus I had good motivation earn more money... Therefore, I managed to agree on a football field in Luzhniki. It was much easier to attract parents to Luzhniki than clients for cleaning. After all, one name "football in Luzhniki" - aroused people's confidence. And of course, I was already making more money there. After all, whatever the crisis, parents still want to give their children all the best and will always take them to the leisure and additional sections. education. They would rather save on themselves than on children. This business gave me a new level of thinking, how to make money on all kinds of business processes. It is important to earn the first 100 thousand rubles, and then the principle is the same everywhere.

Uniqueness.

Make it affordable without lowering quality. Therefore, it is important to achieve the minimum cost, and for this you need to find such teachers, materials, etc. It is even possible to run own production, so that it would be cheap for yourself and for others to sell with a wrap. This is how we capture most of the market. Therefore, such my business projects as the drawing studio YaDoArt, ExpertPartner for selling franchises, the social network YaDo…. there are certainly competitive advantages.

Of course, we face difficulties, but the main thing is to believe in what you are doing, to love it and to benefit people with your product. For example, I created the first useful social network to achieve the goals "YaDo". She helps to correctly formulate a goal, choose a deadline for its achievement and achieve it. Since in this social. networks of many like-minded people, ratings of participants, etc. it motivates people and makes them go towards the intended goal. Every day they write to me "Thank you, Nikita for creating such a social network that develops people and helps them to be better, thanks to her I was able to earn my first 100 thousand." Although this project is not yet profitable, the fact that I help people does not allow me to stop there. Therefore, there are plans to introduce this platform into the education system so that schoolchildren and students also have additional motivation. We are actively promoting our social network, now, for example, we have reached the Final All-Russian competition Microsoft's Imagin Cup is just the beginning.

The cost of implementing each project.

We invested up to 30 thousand rubles in our first niches. Now we invest from 300 to 500 thousand. And to this day we use only our own money. And I advise young entrepreneurs to rely only on their own income, because in order to feel the value of money, you have to earn it yourself, only then you can invest money more or less wisely. And of course, to become an expert in a particular niche, you have to start from the beginning from the bottom. For example, if you want your own restaurant, find yourself first as a waiter, then as an administrator, director, and only then, perhaps, your business will not burn out. But first, understand what you really love and what brings you pleasure.

Would you like to meet with investors?

Yes they were. Now we are attracting 10 million for the development of our social. the YaDo network.

Investors need a certain approach, they don't care how many businesses you have, they don't care that I study at Oxford, they generally care about the team that we are. And only when they begin to believe in the team, then they begin to consider your project. After all, without a team, nowhere. Second, the uniqueness of the idea itself is important to them. Third, monetization itself, how we plan to make money from it. Advice, not to write complex business plans for 40 sheets, it is important to hook at the beginning, and then it is better to explain important points on Skype. At first, no one will delve into your 40 sheets.

Social network for entrepreneurs - http://ya-do.ru
Community on Nikita's VKontakte (Entrepreneur's Diary) -

Specially for the portal Moneymaker Factory Nikita Kurakin (Expert Holding) spoke about his path of becoming, having only 5,000 rubles as an entrepreneur. in the pocket.

Abstracts

Start in business: 2013 (at age 19)
Initial activity: Marketing agency
Start-up capital RUB 5,000
Place of business: Moscow
Current activity: Holding Expert
How to become successful:

"Never be afraid of anything, do not listen to the opinion of others, read the book" The Highest Goal "and understand your purpose, develop it! ...."

Nikita, tell our readers a little about yourself, what does your company do?

Hi, my name is Nikita, I am from Moscow, temporarily living and studying abroad. In the past I was a professional athlete, but I had to retire from the sport.

I could not sit still, and a year and a half ago I opened a marketing agency ExpertMarketing. Later I started to open more companies who were also involved in the service industry.

To date, we have formed a small Expert Holding consisting of 9 companies: Marketing, web studio, call center, sports programs, coffee shops, a drawing studio, training companies and so on.

How did you decide to become an entrepreneur? Why business, and not a job as a manager in the same "Gazprom"?

I didn’t have such a thing that I said to myself “I will open my own business”. It was just extremely boring for me to always look at the comfort of the sausage-television world, have a boss over me, get up at the same time, wait for a vacation, leave and come at the same time. It's boring for me. So I started my business. There was almost no money, because of this, investments were initially only enough for a remote business.

You are 19 years old, and you have already organized several companies, how did you manage it? My personal opinion is that in order to be successful leaders need to have experience and significant professional knowledge in their field. Let's say that at 19 I was not ready for leadership. To be honest, if I see / read about very young entrepreneurs who have organized several companies, first of all I think that their relatives helped them.

Now it's already 20.

Regarding the money, no - here I will not agree. It doesn't matter how old you are. A person may be 16 according to his passport, but his head is already 30, and vice versa. So anyone can open a business, and small investments are needed here. For example, I started my business without parental help, I had less than 5,000 rubles in my pocket. It was difficult, but it disciplines you well.

Tell me, how do you think anyone can become an entrepreneur? Or is there a set of criteria that a person who wants to start a business must meet?

No. Everyone has their own talent, first of all, I strongly discourage everyone from becoming entrepreneurs, since everyone has their own inherent potential. You must understand what you are intended for, first of all, you must be happy with what you are doing. You need to develop your potential, and not what the crowd says "fashionable" and "necessary." Someone sells well, someone heals, and all these people are needed and talented in their essence.

Tell us about the role of the Business Youth in the development of you as an entrepreneur?

I had a desire, perseverance, but something was missing, I would say - it was knowledge in business. There they put everything in place for me (and for free - video on YouTube). I'm glad this project for business training.

The hardest thing about entrepreneurial activity in your opinion?

Find a good team of professionals. Understand your management style. Colossal responsibility to your team and customers.

Now the country's economy is going through a difficult time, but is it worth starting at the current time, or can it be better to wait for a more favorable period?

During what is commonly called the "crisis" profit Holding Expert only increased. For example, in marketing, our profits have increased 3.5 times since December. Don't wait for something, take it and do it! It won't get any better, so do it now!

For many of you, the crisis will be a time of opportunity.

How difficult is it to run your business in Russia? Do reviewers come often?

It is difficult to do business now in any country. If we talk about Russia, I would say, it is not easier than in the same England.

Observing one simple rule, we will be able to increase the number of businesses and money in the country at times - the government does not interfere and does not help the development of entrepreneurs. I am not asking for help, we do not need this. But at least don't bother us.

"Checkers-bribe-takers" come often, it is worth focusing on the second word. We always pay taxes, we work completely white, but there are always people who will find where to find fault for their own benefit.

What is your opinion that it is better to start a business on your own or use a franchise?

It depends on the person himself. It was easier for me to open mine, I wanted to go through everything myself, although it is much more difficult.

Many people just want not to waste time, get all the tools, all the mistakes and training at once, start their own business so as not to go through all the difficulties. For me, this is also quite logical, because of this it depends on the person.

What are the most promising niches in your opinion for organizing a business in 2015-2016 in Russia?

Every niche that they make with all their hearts - promising niche... I often answer this question - marketing, consulting, PR, recruiting, and much more. And the person starts to do it. He does not succeed since he is a former artist, in his case a niche - a drawing school would be much more promising than some kind of marketing.

How do you assess the role of the Internet for small businesses? How can the internet help you do business?

The Internet is a very powerful tool, you can live anywhere, even in a village, and earn 300-400 thousand rubles per month just by working on the Internet. Let me give you an example: When I started marketing, I recruited the whole team to myself at remote work (managers, designers, programmers all worked remotely), so I opened a business without risks and without an office. At remote work, we went to 280,000 rubles, and after that I already opened a business.

What online services do you use in your business?

We probably have over 200 online services. If we talk specifically about me, then I most often use CRM system- it's like an online office, Mango Telecom, LP trucker.

By the way: useful service for retail: automation system for trade and warehouse Subtotal.

How many employees do you have in the company? Do you use freelancers as employees?

Now we probably have a little less than 100 people, if we are talking about the team that makes decisions with me, there are now 7 such people. Freelancers, yes, of course, half of the work can be done remotely, and there is no need to spend money on these people and put them in the office, because of this, about 40% of the remote team.

As I understand it, you went in for sports professionally, if Yandex is not mistaken, then this is hockey. How much has sports helped you in business?

Yes, everything is so. Sport is one of the secrets of success. Make it a rule to have at least 2 hours of sports every day.

What does your working day look like? How do you combine study and work? By the way, who where and who do you study for?

I am studying in London at the Royal Holloway University, I am studying to be a financier. My working day always looks different. Let's take an example today:

7.00-9.00 - Sports.
9.00-10.00 - Breakfast.
10.00-11.00 - Answers to interviews.
11.00-12.00 - Interview.
12.00-13.00 - Mail.
13.00-15.00 - Interview.
15.00-20.00 - Meetings.
20.00-21.00 - Systematization.

What plans does your company have for the near future?

Now our most important task is to equip the entire team with professionals. Next, we will begin to scale already.

And finally, to be successful in business, what do you need?

Never be afraid of anything, do not listen to the opinion of others, read the book "The Highest Goal" and understand your purpose, develop it! Change your surroundings if they don't help you achieve your goal, but rather drag you down.

There are orders of magnitude fewer business blogs in Russia than in the West, because there are many times fewer entrepreneurs themselves, says Alexander Zhurba, co-founder of Sapfir Capital. “If in the West about a thousand people are blogging about business, then in our country there are only a few dozen,” he compares.

In our country, business blogs are just beginning to gain momentum, agrees the founder of the Like holding Ayaz Shabutdinov. The lack of competition in this field gives an entrepreneur a unique chance to become a renowned expert in his industry, he points out.

The interlocutors of Rusbase agree that the phenomenon of the business blogosphere is in the purely applied nature of content. In addition, bloggers are promoting entrepreneurship in front of a mass audience and provide a certain philosophical and inspiring component, says Alexander Zhurba, co-founder of Sapfir Capital.

Nikolay Mrochkovsky,

Blogs provide an opportunity to see some daily work entrepreneur. Not a finished result, by which it is difficult to follow the path in steps, and not a polished book version, but real everyday life - how a person moves step by step towards success.

This provides three important resources: motivation, successful cases that can be applied to your business, and specific tools that can often be gleaned from the notes of the writing businessman (for example, what CRM system he uses, report forms, key KPIs, etc.) ...

Rosalia Kanevskaya,

founder of the publication about PR Mediabitch.ru

There is a demand for business information and manuals for solving specific problems. Business bloggers and columnists have uncovered the need for applied information, which on Russian market very little. Theoretical calculations about successful business there are more than enough books in the books, but you will not find examples of calculations, tables for solving business problems and keeping records, graphs, cases with fire during the day.

We recently published a column on how an entrepreneur can calculate the effectiveness of a PR manager. The author illustrated it with an example of a table for keeping records. Several readers later wrote to me asking me to drop this table in Excel - they found it so useful. Russian businessmen are still reluctant to share practical information - they are afraid to either jinx it or fall victim to competitive intelligence.

I think those businesses that have built a "mentor halo" around themselves - a group of fans of their style of doing business - will really prosper. After all, content is a king. Sometimes it seems to me that I even buy Splat paste only because of the letters from the CEO inside the box. What can we say about businesses that build franchise networks - such as Coffee Like. Ayaz is a real role model of a modern startup. And the blog only strengthens this halo on his head.

Andrey Pometun,

Director of the Perm company Task & Solution Marketing

The business literature looks at theory and makes little reference to the reality of business. The blog reflects personal experience the author, so to speak, "off the wheels." Plus, no book or business course will allow you to start a dialogue. In the blog, you can ask the author questions to decide whether to apply this experience to yourself.

In essence, a blog is a virtual consultation with those who have achieved success. This access to authority helps budding businessmen to feel the atmosphere of entrepreneurship and quickly understand "how much is a pound of dashing."

Blogs or books?

Bloggers themselves clearly distinguish themselves from business literature, although books are often born out of blogs. For example, the head of CallbackHunter Ruslan Tatunashvili has already written his book and is actively promoting it among his subscribers.

In his opinion, books and blogs are not interchangeable and are useful in different ways - although a video blog is much more intelligible. “These are the same words from the book, but from a real person, not an editor, not a proofreader or someone else,” the entrepreneur explains. - The book is perceived much better after eye contact has already been established, when trust has appeared. We released the book when trust was already formed. And now it is not yet available anywhere, but the demand is already high. "

Business blogs tell about what is happening here and now, and not stories covered in dust, adds Nikolai Belousov, founder of the online store Madrobots.

“Some go to extremes: they only read blogs and completely forget about books,” notes the founder of the Like holding Ayaz Shabutdinov. - And this is wrong. A book is a powerful tool for self-education, a blog is an excellent source of inspiration and practical advice... One does not replace the other. "

“Blogs show real examples: mistakes and problems, solutions,” agrees the head of the photo school Like Galiya Berdnikova. - We just show our lifestyle, ways of making decisions, and are happy if this helps someone in life. The main thing is that the reader does not adopt the blogger's worldview by 100%, does not forget to be himself, to make his own decisions, to make his own mistakes. "

Blog like a kick

In the reviews, blog readers talk about the motivation they received, and the opinion leaders themselves talk about how many people left their jobs under the impression of their texts.

Yuri Belonoshchenko,

center network owner early development"Baby Club"

I regularly read Fedor Ovchinnikov. He has a franchise network of pizzerias, and I have a franchise network of children's development centers. Fedor writes very openly about what he is doing, and I am happy to introduce some ideas in my place. The technologies for building a franchise business are similar, and I am interested in his entrepreneurial experience.

Kirill Bigay,

co-founder and managing partner of Preply

I cannot say that I have scooped up useful technical information from business blogs. But the bloggers' texts inspire the development of the project in difficult conditions - competition, lack of money, etc. We love stories about how passionate entrepreneurs build their business not because of, but in spite of.

I remember the article by Ayaz Shabutdinov on Slon.ru, in which he talked about the formation of Like Hostel in Kaliningrad, and urged him to visit the western outpost of Russia. At that time, Preply's revenue was just comparable to the revenue of the hostel of the novice entrepreneur Artyom, who in a few months was going to open another one, despite the fact that Shabutdinov was campaigning to open a Coffee Like coffee shop under the franchise. The note was called "Through hardships to the stars."

At that time, we had just begun to gain a foothold in the markets of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, but I realized that Preply would move further to Poland, adjacent to the Kaliningrad region. Of course, there were many objective prerequisites for this expansion, but on an intuitive level, the idea was born, among other things, under the influence of a post about that entrepreneur.

“I don’t know for sure, but obviously more than one person quit their job under the influence of my texts,” Nikolai Belousov, founder of the online store Madrobots, answered Rusbase.

“We get a lot of feedback from subscribers,” says Ruslan Tatunashvili, founder of CallbackHunter. - I will not say the exact figure, but in the personal messages of VKontakte there are a lot of messages with words of gratitude. For this, everything was started. "

“People periodically write about what prompted my texts to do,” says Alexander Zhurba, co-founder of Sapfir Capital. - Someone bought a franchise (I remember that a couple of people bought the Dodo Pizza and Subway franchises), someone just started to move more actively. Everyone has their own business and their own problems, but the effect is definitely there. For all the time, 50 people have written. "

“Every day, readers ask me questions about starting a business in a particular niche,” says business blogger Nikita Kurakin. - I know that many have discovered different businesses from knitting to sports schools».

The founder of the Like holding Ayaz Shabutdinov names specific people: for example, Anastasia and Fyodor Kuznetsovs from Togliatti opened 5 Coffee Like coffee shops in a year, and Elya Mikhaleva from Ufa launched 6 KidCity design sites for children in Kazan, Samara, Ufa and Moscow in six months.

Business blog as a business

Ruslan Tatunashvili,

founder of CallbackHunter

This is one of the most important ways to drive traffic. A lot of clients came from the YouTube channel. And not only clients, but also partners and even friends. For us it is marketing article, which works in a plus. Plus, we just enjoy doing it, which is the most important thing.

Nikolay Belousov,

founder of online store Madrobots

A blog helps open doors and find new partners.

Alexander Zhurba,

co-founder of Sapfir Capital

The advantages of a blog are PR activity: you don’t need to tell people what I do, you don’t need to remind about yourself once again. People often write in a personal message, so a certain stream of contacts comes to me through the blog.

Nikita Kurakin,

business blogger

Among the readers of my blog, I find business partners, employees and investors in my projects. But the blog was created not so much for my business as for myself - this is how I give a lot to others and feel great.

Ayaz Shabutdinov,

founder of the Like holding

Blogs are new sphere influence and an excellent means of communication with the consumer. Readers now have more trust in blogs than in many mainstream media. “He is being led by a person like me,” this thought evokes sympathy for the blogger. Digital technology establish connections between people, and when good governance they become powerful business tools.

The blog "Goal: 1 billion rubles per year" is one of the main components of my business. The name Like was chosen by my readers, they also participated in the choice of logos. We got a business done on VKontakte. And what to hide, most of our franchisees are people inspired by the blog. Blogging provides a competitive edge, and companies should start exploring these weapons now - I'm sure most entrepreneurs will need to use them.

Who should blog?

Alexander Zhurba,

co-founder of Sapfir Capital

Everyone should probably write. In addition to quick search partners and solving business problems, blogging helps to structure thoughts, conduct introspection. And you need to understand that the blog will bring the desired results only in 3-5 years.

Nikita Kurakin,

business blogger

The business community niche is growing. It makes sense to create your own if you want to convey a unique idea to people, and not just sell something. First of all, a business blogger must be a businessman himself. Only those who have gone through all the mistakes and difficulties of an entrepreneur can give competent advice to people about business.

Part 2. To dream and like: what subscribers of business publics "VKontakte" dream about

In Odnoklassniki, business topics are practically not represented, on Facebook and YouTube people follow opinion leaders, but VKontakte has its own atmosphere. Here the public interest in entrepreneurship is expressed in a community format.

A search for "VKontakte" on the words "business" and "startups" gives out hundreds of thematic publics and blogs. The share of business media in this array is small. This niche is dominated by the so-called business quotation books and near-business communities. Their combined audience is in the millions. What is this crowd looking for?

Fedor Skuratov,

community management specialist

The audience of business publics for the most part is those who want to earn a lot of money, pay off loans and live no worse than those who are shown on TV. The desire is laudable, but, as a rule, is not supported by anything. The role of motivation is overestimated - such an audience most often has neither the skills nor unique knowledge, no competencies in order to create something breakthrough, but few people know how to do their job accurately (and this applies, in principle, to everyone, including you and me).

Publics urge you to work for yourself, promise to reveal magic formulas and business secrets that in themselves guarantee success.

It is sometimes difficult for young people to find their calling. Sometimes, doing what you love and devoting yourself to it, you have to turn 180 degrees and get up on a completely different path. This is what the hero of our interview, entrepreneur Nikita Kurakin, did. He, like a locomotive, burst into the world of business several years ago with his ambitious projects. In an interview, Nikita shared a story about how a hockey player became a businessman, told if his early millions ruined him, and much more.

- Please tell us about your childhood and youth.

- I was born in Moscow, but spent most of my childhood with my mother and grandmother in the village of Zaborovye, Tver region. At school, I always studied so-so, not really straining in those subjects that were not interesting to me. The priority was not study, but sports - most of my time I spent on sports activities.

- As far as I know, you were a professional hockey player and were even invited to the Canadian national team?

- Yes. As a teenager, I moved from Moscow to Canada, where I lived for six years. There I played for the junior team of the famous academy "Notre Dame". He started out not quite successfully, but after a while he became an assistant to the captain, and then the captain of this team. Playing for Notre Dame, I achieved good results - I became the champion of Canada in its line-up. Life in this country was "tough" and seriously re-educated me. In Russia, I was a rather undisciplined person, a "freeloader" who tried to do something, but didn’t really do anything.

I came to Canada without knowing English, completely alone - I was 13 years old. After a month and a half, I already began to think on English language... Academy "Notre Dame" was located in a village located 80 kilometers from the nearest more or less large settlement... Living conditions there were harsh - somewhere 60-70% of the same young people like me, "escaped" from the academy within two weeks after arrival. Let me give you an example: for going out with mobile phone on the street you could get 60 hours of work - washing dishes, mowing grass in the fields, etc.

I think that life in Canada has played a huge role in my development as an entrepreneur. There I learned what discipline is, learned to work with a team. Of course, at first it was very difficult, but I decided for myself that if I now "merge" and give up everything, then further in life I will merge in the same way and will not achieve success.

- What prompted you to go into business? Maybe an event or a specific person?

- I got my first earning experience living in the academy and selling pizza. The food ration of the students could not be called varied, and the children always wanted to eat something “tasty”, for example, pizza. But we did not have the opportunity to order it due to the remoteness of the academy from large cities.

I thought, why don't I go into pizza delivery and charge a certain percentage for it. No sooner said than done! I put a sign on the door of my dorm room stating that I accept pre-orders for pizza delivery. As a result, in three days I collected three pre-order sheets. The scheme is simple - I bought a pizza for $ 10 and sold for $ 15. The benefits were quite significant. I went for pizza in a taxi, so the costs were also certain. In this "business" I did not hold a monopoly for long - after a couple of weeks my idea was copied, and many similar schemes appeared. I started thinking about what else to do to make money.

I started selling hockey sticks on the same principle. Everything was a little more interesting here. In practice, clubs often broke, and if there was a game the next day, the hockey player could simply sit all of it on the bench simply because he had nothing to play with. Accordingly, I decided to organize the delivery of clubs - the marginality of the case was much higher. The "base" club cost is $ 200, and with my markup it is $ 250.

I got injured and realized that because of it I would not be able to continue to play hockey as intensely. Plus, I focused on my studies. In the same college, I plunged headlong into studying proccess and began to devote less and less time to hockey. Since there was more energy in me, I began to look for new ways to use it. Due to the fact that I began to devote less time to hockey, there were financial difficulties.

Excess energy and lack of money are two factors that prompted me to "stir up" my first real business. The idea was formed in just a few days, I would say chaotically, and this business was cleaning apartments in Moscow. I acted remotely: I recruited personnel over the Internet, looked for clients. He did not earn much money, but he gained invaluable experience.

- At a fairly young age you began to earn a lot of money: they didn’t turn your head? Have you ever had a desire to immediately use the earned finances for various "worldly" pleasures?

- Life in Canada also influenced my attitude to money, or rather, the discipline that was instilled in me there. When you live from the age of 13 alone in a foreign country, you become a very responsible person. Roughly speaking, by the age of 20 I had formed the thinking of a 35-year-old person. I saved more than half of the money I earned, rather than mindlessly spending. Thus, at 22, I was able to buy myself an apartment in Moscow and a Jaguar.

- You have founded several companies working in the service sector - how do you manage to keep up with everything? Which companies do you currently run?

- About six months ago, I realized that I had ceased to enjoy what I was doing. Formally, everything was fine with me - I made good money, owned several businesses, but the buzz from work disappeared somewhere. I started getting rid of my projects. He sold his drawing school, one of the largest in Russia, in December 2017. Then I sold my own call center in Nizhny Novgorod and marketing agency, and also "scored" on a project to develop a social network. It turns out that in just six months I got rid of almost all my businesses and launched the AntiNorma project.

As part of this project, we work with entrepreneurs, take them abroad, and conduct master classes. We also built a whole village for entrepreneurs. Over the course of three days, businessmen have received a powerful "reboot" there. For the past six months, I have been really engaged only in this project. For now this business It is not super successful and even today has not yet reached the "plus", but it brings me satisfaction, and I am interested in developing it. I believe that sooner or later "AntiNorma" will "shoot" and people will start talking about it.

- What difficulties did you face when starting a business?

- I still face difficulties, and there are more of them now than when I just started my career in business. When a person begins to engage in entrepreneurial activity early, then a very good trait is inherent in him - fearlessness. He does not think about the negative consequences that may come.

Although the absence of fear, in my opinion, more often helps than hinders. For example, when I launched a cleaning company in Moscow, while in Canada, I did not even think about the fact that for its successful development it was necessary to officially register an LLC or individual entrepreneur. I was a hockey player and did not know about such "nuances". Also, I did not think about the fact that an unscrupulous cleaning lady could steal something from the apartment. Accordingly, certain difficulties arose.

Now I have much more fears than I did several years ago, and I have become slower and more careful in my actions and decisions. The slowness of actions is now the main problem that interferes with my work. It is connected precisely with the fear of making a mistake.

Many difficulties arose when I fell ill with "star fever". Many young entrepreneurs are struggling to avoid this state of affairs. I started making good money and thought I was getting incredibly cool. My conceit and an exorbitant ego swelled up. I began to look down on people as if they were midgets, I stopped listening to their opinions.

This hit my life very hard - I closed myself off from the world, stopped studying, gaining new knowledge, lost many friends and ruined my relationship with my family. As a result, I became depressed - with money, but completely alone. From what happened, I learned a very important lesson: no matter how much you earn, the main thing is not to "star" and understand that one day you can lose everything that you have. In addition, to prevent fatal mistakes, it is important to periodically feel “stupid” and constantly strive to acquire new knowledge. For example, if I communicate with someone who is smarter than me, then I try to ask questions, write down. And sometimes I look like a poor student.

Another serious problem that I encountered on initial stages entrepreneurship, - cash gaps. I just didn’t count the money and one day I was caught in the 7.5 million box office gap. This was very unpleasant. My company was growing very quickly at that time, and I began to lose sight of some important things. As a result, we produced a low-quality product, sold it, and customers began to return it en masse. This greatly affected the reputation of the company - enough negativity poured out on us.

Then I realized that I must be personally responsible for all the failures of my business. I took 2 thousand customer phone numbers, called each one, apologized, heard a bunch of profanity addressed to me and returned the money to everyone who was dissatisfied. We managed to satisfy customers and stabilize the situation at the cost of a cash gap.

- Do you plan to launch other business projects in the near future?

- In parallel with AntiNorma, I am launching a project to create turnkey restaurants. I also plan to launch a project in the near future, the essence of which is the assessment and "spreading" of the ideas of entrepreneurs by professional experts. That is, businessmen will bring their ideas to experts, and they, in turn, will critically assess them, express their opinions and give advice. The format is similar to the "Voice" show only in the field of business.

- How much money does the business bring you?

- The question is a little incorrect in relation to me personally, at least at the moment. For example, in December I went to minus seven million. In March - the net profit was 2.3 million, in April - 1.6. I am critical of myself and do not consider myself a good entrepreneur yet, just because of such instability. If I immerse myself in the project, the profit is high; if the business becomes not interesting to me, the indicators drop. It seems to me that this suggests that I am not an entirely solid entrepreneur.

- What makes you different from other businessmen? If possible, share with our readers the "chips" that you personally invented and implemented in your business?

- Most businessmen like to talk about their successes, brag about their achievements, cars, apartments, travel and others material goods... However, more often than not, this is just an illusion. In fact, many entrepreneurs cry more often than laugh in their expensive cars.

I call myself an anti-entrepreneur. My main difference from other businessmen, precisely as a person, is that I like to talk more about my mistakes than about my successes. I believe that it is mistakes that make an entrepreneur smarter and stronger. Unfortunately, it is rare for a businessman to speak openly about the realistic side of entrepreneurship. And this side is far from being rosy.

My second difference is focusing directly on the product being produced. At business trainings I often hear: traffic, packaging, sales. But no one says that the emphasis should be on the quality of the product. I believe that a truly high-quality product does not require "makeup" in the form of tempting packaging and powerful advertising campaign... Almost no training is taught how to make a really cool product.

I constantly communicate with my clients to find out their wishes and identify shortcomings in the company's activities. Six months ago, I ran four companies, and they were all market leaders in their field. Why? Because we created the product “as for ourselves”, and it brought success. Let's say I created an atmosphere in art school that I felt comfortable in. It turned out that others are also comfortable and pleasant to paint in such conditions.

- Formulate, please, a recipe for your success.

- I would not call myself a successful person. If we list in one sentence the qualities that are important for achieving success, then this is hard work, self-criticism, as well as the ability to work in a team, clearly formulate tasks and motivate people.

- What advice can you give to those who do not know where to start?

- You shouldn't think long about where to start. Just do what is available at the moment - even though you can sell water on the street.

If we compare a business with a lake with cold water, then a novice entrepreneur does not need to walk along the shore for a long time in thought, he just needs to jump into it with his head.

Also, I would advise to be open to knowledge - study, study and study again. Try to find yourself an experienced mentor - someone who has already achieved certain results and has experience in running a business. And the last tip - surround yourself with more successful people and communicate with them constantly.

- If it's not a secret, who could you call your mentor?

- I had several of them. The person who most significantly influenced me was Artem Mikhailovich Tarasov, the first Soviet millionaire. At one time I worked as his assistant.

- Business and personal life - are they compatible concepts? Isn't it sometimes necessary to sacrifice one in the name of another?

- I think that for a reasonable person these are compatible concepts. However, at the moment I am a little unable to combine them, and I have to make sacrifices.

- What do you associate with the concept of "thirst for business"? In theory and practice?

- For me, the concept " good entrepreneur"Is synonymous with" hungry entrepreneur ". Even when a person has a lack of some kind of knowledge, this very "hunger" or "thirst" gives him the strength and ability to achieve success. If an entrepreneur has a "thirst" for business, then he learns much faster and achieves the desired result in his business.

- What day of your life will you remember in the smallest detail in 20 years?

- I will definitely never forget the day of my arrival in Canada and the first goal scored there, which helped me to believe in my capabilities.

I also remember very well the day I received a letter stating that I was accepted to Oxford. I also remember the day when I realized that there were already more than a million rubles on my account.

Our dossier

Nikita Kurakin, 25 years old, Moscow

Founder of the AntiNorma Entrepreneurship Center and many other business projects

The total annual turnover of all businesses is 900 million rubles.

Is the first person in the last hundred years to receive two higher education in Oxford with a degree in politics and economics.

Briefly

The main character trait?

Hard work.

What qualities do you value in people?

Honesty, sincerity and kindness.

Sources of inspiration?

People, books and new places.

Life credo?

Never give up or be afraid of sudden changes!

Last book you read?

The film is "Moving Up" and the book is "The Green King" by Paul-Louis Sulitzer.

What is the most memorable gift for you?

As a child, my mother gave me a bicycle.

Everyone who earns more than me. In terms of personalities, these are Igor Rybakov, Sergey Galitsky and, to some extent, Oleg Tinkov.

What was the most memorable trip?

To Thailand.

In 10 years I will be ...

... be in the top 100 of the Forbes list.

It might be helpful to read: