About life / work balance, time management, mistakes of entrepreneurs in planning and implementing business, hobbies, wish list and secret to get everything you want from life, read in an interview with the founder and director of “K2-advertising online stores” Yuri Pirchem.
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About work / life balance
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“..I remember how the book Rework became an insight for me. An example of a company that generates millions in revenue, but the team lives on different continents. It’s about IT, but still .. I was fascinated by the fact that this is also possible. Before that, I already had the experience of devotion to my work.
He organized bicycle trips, then had a travel business “Time to travel”. I just lived in the office, went on tours myself, it was exhausting.
I was constantly studying and at one of the conferences I realized that my most important values are development and freedom.
And the way I live is not about freedom and I … turned to business. Because business had me, not me.
It became easy for me. I finished reading the books I wanted to read. I was in no hurry.
Colleagues in the market wondered: “Was it possible?” Things were worse for them, but they still worked.
My weakness proved to be my strength. I did not want to pour into business loans and made a decision. Today I often hear: “What a good man you are.” I hadn’t heard that then.
The search for himself began … He was a business assistant at the Business People’s Club. Established networking between entrepreneurs. Then – a marketer from 9 to 18. It was awful. It was necessary to ask the head for money for the budget, to wait for the agreement. Mistakes were not forgiven here. I could not stand such a violation of my freedom and was released. Another realization: “I will never go to anyone in my life as an employee.” And it’s about accepting yourself.
Then he looked for a remote job and a flexible schedule. He built sales tunnels, set up chatbots, online advertising. Two years of free swimming have shown how uncomfortable it is with uncertainty – will there be an order or not. Plus, I still felt that my knowledge was sinking.
And so I discovered a tool – advertising online stores. I remember lying with an angina in an infectious disease hospital and my brain creaking from learning something new. There was no Ukrainian information, and foreign experts poured a lot of water. I read, stormed Google to explain. When he adjusted, it was ecstasy. Although the first advertisement was ineffective, I had a thrill – I found my niche.
I finished all the “tails” and came to my ideal business model – one brand, one product, one target.
In my head, I’ve always loved analytics and researching features I didn’t use.
I remember getting to a conference for marketers and when I heard several times “I’m Andrew, a marketer, helping online businesses” – I realized how abstract it is, and I now had a clear niche.
First. I decided that the new business would not have me. There will be no binding to the office.
When I recruited the first people to work remotely, I was faced with the fact that people treated work like a hack. He recruited a team and explained the value of such work and his requirements.
Gradually I gave up the belief that I would do better than others. He learned to trust people. And at the same time – to allow them to make mistakes, which means losses for the leader. But the advantage is that I have free time.
When I go to Georgia or Kilimanjaro, I delegate weekly coordination to other employees. When I look at the recordings later, I see that they are even more interesting than with me.
Second, I believed in myself.
Even at the beginning of the work he did everything on his own and needed an assistant. But he was afraid that there would be nothing to pay. I believed that there would be people around me who would just want to work with me and do what I do. I wrote that I was looking for an assistant. He honestly admitted that the payment was small, listed intangible assets and showed prospects. And I found a wonderful person who has been working with me for 2 years.
Third, I believed in my business.
It may sound like a banal phrase, but it is about the fact that you are calmly experiencing failures, setbacks or setbacks, because you are sure of what you are doing. In order not to happen, you calmly continue to do.
It’s about faith.
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Do you know what is annoying about business clubs? Tightness and achievement. The other day I came across a motivational video where Chernyak asks a billionaire about his planning. He talks about every minute painted. Then Chernyak asks: “What about the weekend?” And the billionaire answers: “I spend with family”
This is a stereotype that achievers reach people.
Achievers drive into templates, and there must be flexibility in life. Well, that billionaire is on the road and the tree fell. And the tight schedule is falling apart. There should be a vector, but not painted every minute.
I learned to accept everything that elevates life and not make it a tragedy.
So the first thing is to stay flexible.
At the beginning of a new business, I passed a marathon of desires and was filled with new emotions. I am constantly looking for something new to drive. I go to new restaurants, try new types of recreation, climb mountains that I have not yet climbed.
The second is to fill your life with pleasures.
Third, I learned to listen to myself and say no. Even if others will not be happy and hurt. Hear yourself and allow yourself even if it contradicts social norms or runs out of money. Go beyond frameworks and templates and allow yourself to be yourself …
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Day planning and time management
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“I tried different things. Paper diaries and Google calendars have not taken root. Now I use the formula I heard from one entrepreneur – to determine one important matter of the day and 5 minor ones.
I did an important job – I’m a king.
And then, if I want to, I do five more. Yes, there is a routine, or hang in the chess, or went to cook to eat. One thing of the day gives the feeling of a well-lived day. It’s about flexibility. And that there is time for other important things.
Today, my business takes little time because there is an optimized system. That’s why I invest a lot of time in developing and improving my business.
Last year I lived with the slogan: “Kill your perfectionist” and started things not perfect.
I noticed that the sales manager, who is starting to work and still has no experience, but is trying – will still sell. Empathy prevails over scripts.
I have no plans for 3 or 5 years, I only have an understanding of the direction.
The only plan I made last year were key areas for business. We have already managed to become a partner of Google, increased the number of stores during the year reformatted into quality indicators of customers, launched the academy. It is necessary not to eat, but to do correctly.
We are constantly changing and so are our goals. The old goals would be close to me now.
I used to think that only Apple or Microsoft could sell a business. And now I understand that I could sell my business “Time to Travel” instead of closing it. I had a team and described all the processes, developed a base. And I just could not allow such a thought.
I remember back in the days of working in the Club of Business People, we talked with entrepreneurs about motivation. Some talked about material bonuses, some about intangible rewards. Yaroslava Pavliukovets, who was in charge of Hrydnytsia at the time, intervened and said: “People, people have been working for me for years. I love them, they love me. I don’t know how it works, so I have my own rules of motivation. “
It is very important to feel that not everything is taught – this is how it should work. Work as you see fit. Of all the tips I hear, I don’t take the ones that don’t suit me.
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You advise. What are the most common mistakes in business planning and implementation?
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I really like consulting, but I had a prejudice that only one of the top Forbes can do it. And then I heard from coach Igor Solodov that it is enough to be half a step ahead and teach this half step.
He pumped his training passion into K2, because he had to tell what online store advertising is. He started doing webinars. He overcame his “who am I to teach” and heard gratitude that everything is in essence, without a little water and Ukrainian.
Mistakes I notice in other entrepreneurs:
– do not close a business that does not work or is not a joy
– do not work with the customer base
– want a quick result
– do not plan the cost of errors
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There is chess and golf in your life. How does the game teach life?
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For me, it’s about “allowing yourself” and you don’t have to be a billionaire to do that.
I remember how I sent an application for golf to Eden Resort. I thought it was insanely expensive. I was called back and told: “3.5 thousand UAH for school”
He asked, “Not for class?”
To which the manager replied that everyone reacted that way. Sometimes they ask whether there are dollars.
Well, one more thing on my wish list has become less. It turned out not so difficult and it expanded my consciousness.
In the same Chernyak heard the phrase “Do not be modest, you already care about everyone” Allow yourself to the maximum. If someone doesn’t like your actions, they will stop you. Don’t worry about someone’s comfort zone.
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So you have such a wish list?
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Everything is already realized and there is peace to be here and now. Enjoy the moment, the fruits, think. Because when there is a list, there is a sense of haste to get everything done. So now there are only a few desires that do not distract from the present. It gives you the opportunity to be here and now.
I wonder if that billionaire from Chernyak’s video has time to idle and watch the sunset?
Once I was invited to read a training on goal setting.
So I googled and put my thoughts on the shelves. I came across a TEDx talk by a woman who worked in a hospice where people live to old age. She told how the poll “What do people regret the most over the years?” Top three answers:
They didn’t like them
That’s not what they did
We traveled a little
I reformatted the task and invited the participants to imagine that they are 80. What will be their thoughts? I remember almost crying at that event. I see myself as an old man reading a book, looking at the sun and getting excited that I have lived my life the way I did.
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You say you get everything you want out of life. What’s the secret?
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Hearing yourself, acknowledging what is valuable to you and no matter what others say about it – allow yourself. This willingness to receive and trigger the mechanism to do. As in the iceberg – work at the end, not at the beginning.