Antон Перетяка

Marketing is not a pretty picture, but numbers, profit, and growth

My name is Anton Peretyaka. I am an entrepreneur (Social Expert) and someone who has spent most of his life building businesses, launching new ventures, and looking for growth opportunities where others often see only chaos or risk. In addition to the Social Expert agency, I am a co-owner of the Ukrainian Digital Community and the consulting company Alpha Marketing.

Over the years, I have taught more than 1000 entrepreneurs lead generation through the Target Bootcamp project and personally advised more than 100 businesses on marketing and business models. That is why I understand the challenges facing small and medium-sized businesses: a lack of systems, chaotic marketing, poor understanding of finances, and no clear scaling model.

At Social Expert, we do more than just create websites, manage social media, or run ads. We build marketing systems that directly affect business performance. To me, marketing is not about a pretty picture, but about numbers, profit, and growth. Our goal is to help companies become leaders in their niches and achieve results much faster than they could on their own.

As for advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, the first thing is to know how to manage money. To avoid going bankrupt at the start, it is important to keep finances under control and not squander resources. Many people want to delegate every process right away without first understanding how it works. I believe you should first go through the key stages yourself: understand the product, sales, marketing, and operations, and only then hand them over to the team. Otherwise, it is very easy to lose control of the business.

Another critically important factor is choosing the right market. It is much easier to grow along with a market that is gaining momentum than to try to scale in a niche that is gradually losing relevance. That is why I always look at new ventures and growing segments. Today, the AI market is an obvious example. It is one of those areas where a huge number of new opportunities are emerging right now.

Over the next five years, I see myself working beyond marketing. I plan to launch new projects and move into real estate development and property. I have long been interested in this field, and I have a lot of related experience from promoting real estate development businesses. I am already gradually building relationships with people who work in the field so that I can enter into partnerships in the future.

The Ukrainian Digital Community holds a special place in my life. It is an online community that my partners and I launched in 2022, at the beginning of the full-scale war. At the time, while outside Ukraine, I became actively involved in the information front: we ran campaigns targeting Western audiences, spread the truth about events in Ukraine, and worked on digital campaigns.

It was during this period that the idea of creating a community for people in the digital industry emerged. From the very beginning, we built charitable giving into the business as part of the project’s DNA. For the first three months, we donated 100% of membership fees to United24, and then agreed to consistently donate 10% of our income to support Ukraine and charitable initiatives until the end of the war.

Although this is a commercial project, it was essential to us that social responsibility be part of it from the outset. In addition, I regularly contribute to targeted fundraisers and support people or initiatives where I can be helpful.

What does happiness mean to me? Probably an inner state of calm and balance, when there is a sense of stability both inside and out. If I look at it in binary terms, I can say that I am a happy person. I have a wonderful family, a wife, children, interesting businesses, freedom of movement, and the opportunity to do what truly drives me.

But if I assess it in more detail, I currently feel about 80% happy. This is probably a typical entrepreneurial occupational hazard: it always seems that things could be a little better, a little bigger, and that I could realize my potential a little more fully.

Perhaps this inner sense of incompletion is what drives me forward, to launch new projects, explore new markets, and never rest on my laurels.

24 thousand hryvnias after the first meeting—and my father believed in the business

How did the business idea come about?

While studying in my third or fourth year at university, I realized that graduation was approaching, which meant I had to choose between employment and starting my own business. I had never worked for an employer, so I decided to use that time to look for opportunities.

That was when I met my first mentor, Dias Ismailov. He offered me a training program with a clear goal: to earn my first thousand dollars within two months.

We started testing different directions. At first, I considered three niches: an SMM agency, hookah tobacco sales, and wedding planning. The SMM agency was the logical winner—this field was the closest and most interesting to me.

I started out promoting businesses on VKontakte, which was a popular platform at the time. Later, I realized that SMM alone limited our growth, so we moved into more comprehensive digital marketing: advertising, traffic, and strategic promotion.

Today, we work with all the key platforms: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Telegram, LinkedIn.

It also mattered that I started living apart from my parents at an early age: they stayed in Luhansk, while I studied and lived in Donetsk. This gave me more autonomy in making decisions.

I remember finding a client—a dental clinic in Luhansk. After the meeting, I brought home 24 thousand hryvnias, which at the time was about 3 thousand dollars and more than my parents’ income. That was when they realized I really knew how to make money.

My father said something important to me then: «This is your life. Do whatever you want, just don’t get arrested =). The decision is yours». That had a big impact on my sense of responsibility and freedom.

Captain on the field and in business: how sports shaped a leader

What key skills helped you launch your business?

Communication I have always found it easy to meet new people, and for many years I consciously worked on this skill. Business is built between people, so it is important to know how to negotiate, listen, and understand the other party’s interests.

Leadership I played a lot of sports from school onward: football, volleyball, and basketball. I was captain of the team almost everywhere. This shaped my leadership mindset and taught me how to bring people together and lead a team forward.

Entrepreneurial thinking I have launched more than ten business ventures over the years, both online and offline. This gave me a strong feel for the market: I can quickly spot a need and build a business model around it.

My strength is launching new things. I am less interested in doing the same thing for a long time. I enjoy creating new products, testing hypotheses, and launching businesses.

Conferences for 400 people in Donetsk in 2010: challenges without resources

What are the 3 toughest challenges you tackled in your first years?

At the beginning, it was still hard to call it a business—it was more like self-employment. I was the salesperson, the person doing the work, and the manager all at once.

One of my mentor’s key assignments was simple: go out and do cold sales.

I would walk into beauty salons, offer marketing and SMM services, and learn not to fear rejection, how to sell, and how to communicate with strangers.

Another major challenge was public speaking and event organization. As early as 2010–2011, I was organizing conferences for 400 people in Donetsk. At the time, that was quite unconventional even for Kyiv.

I have always liked a challenge. When resources are scarce but the desire to earn is strong, you develop quickly through practice.

14 years without a single cash-flow gap

What crises has your business faced, and how did you overcome them?

In 14 years, we have never had a cash-flow gap. I believe this is the result of a compact, optimized business structure.

Even during COVID and the full-scale war, we managed to get through difficult periods thanks to our financial cushion and careful management of resources.

Entrepreneurship itself means constant emotional ups and downs: today you feel like a future billionaire, tomorrow it seems like everything is falling apart. But to me, that is a natural state.

I enjoy solving problems, adapting, and navigating controlled chaos. That is often where the greatest growth happens.

From SMM to 26 virtual reality clubs: marketing as seed capital

What decisions proved most effective in growing the company?

One of the most effective decisions was moving from a specialized SMM agency to comprehensive digital marketing. This allowed us to expand our offering and business model and move to a different level of working with clients.

Another important decision was not to limit myself to the agency alone.

Thanks to a strong marketing foundation, I started launching my own businesses and entering into partnerships in existing businesses. One of them is CUBE, Ukraine’s largest virtual reality club chain: before the war, we had 26 clubs, while our closest competitor had only three.

We also launched the PvP zone computer club chain, an HR agency, a partnership marketing agency, and other ventures.

My key business decision is to never rest on my laurels and to keep launching new projects. That is what gives me energy, growth, and scale.

Business with my brother: a valuable lesson that did not ruin our relationship

What mistake do you now consider your most valuable experience?

The most valuable lesson I learned from a mistake was going into business with my brother. I was the one who invited him into the business, but later we parted ways as partners.

It did not become a catastrophe: we maintained a good relationship and stayed in touch. However, the process was difficult at the time. It gave me practical confirmation of why doing business with relatives often creates additional risks and tension, even when you think things will work out differently in your case.

From handing out flyers to a first apartment for $100 000

How did you earn your first $100?

I earned my first 100 dollars during my school years doing odd jobs — handing out flyers.

How did you earn your first $1 000?

I earned my first thousand dollars in my 3–4 year at university, when I started working in social media marketing. I took on a few first clients for promotion, including local venues in Donetsk, in particular a coffee shop and a small restaurant.

How did you earn your first $10 000?

I was able to consistently reach 10 thousand dollars about five years after getting started. By then, in addition to social media marketing and targeted advertising, I was offering comprehensive marketing services and consulting, and had a broader product range.

How did you earn your first $100 000?

I built my first 100 thousand dollars in accumulated capital around 2017–2018. That was when I bought an apartment.

Revenue Growth Partner: I find where the money in a business is sitting idle

For a long time, I led the marketing subgroup in Kyiv and regularly shared my experience with entrepreneurs at in-person and online meetups.

From time to time, I advise businesses on marketing, traffic, and scaling. In the club, I’m well known as an expert in high-volume lead generation.

Among my clients is the business club itself, which I’ve been working with for many years.

My core expertise: traffic and marketing; building effective business models; lead generation; and finding growth opportunities to increase profits.

My current positioning is, in essence, Revenue Growth Partner: a partner who helps companies increase revenue through various tools.

Sometimes that means marketing, sometimes sales, changing the business model, or changing the product. My task is to find opportunities that help a business earn more.

I also provide one-to-one consulting and help entrepreneurs find crisis-response solutions and answer the key question: where exactly is the money in the business that is currently being left on the table?

An operations director for systems; I focus on launching what’s new

Your experience: how do you systematize a business?

There are two ways: systematize the business yourself or delegate it to strong operations management.

I’ve tried both approaches. In my first business, I built the system myself: drafting procedures, creating a knowledge base, recording video instructions, and formalizing processes.

Over time, I realized something important: I’m not at my best in routine management. My strength is launching new businesses and developing new areas.

So I chose the second path for myself—delegation.

My main business now has an operations director. We sync regularly, and then she coordinates the team and is responsible for keeping things systematic and managing processes.

For me, this is the optimal model: she enjoys structure, order, and systematization, while I enjoy launching new ventures, testing ideas, and scaling. This helps us maintain a strong balance.

In 2011, I grew alongside the SMM market—and today I see the same potential in AI

Your experience: how do you grow x2 in a year?

Most often, to grow x2, you need to change not how hard you work, but the model itself: the product, the market, or the business model.

If you’ve been doing the same thing for years and aren’t seeing sustained growth, the problem is most likely not a lack of effort, but the very structure of the business.

Sometimes the best decision is to stop and take an honest look around: which markets are growing faster?

It’s very important to consider the scale of the business: for a small business, x2 in a year is often the baseline; for a medium-sized or large business, it’s much more difficult.

I was lucky to get into SMM and targeted advertising at a very early stage, when almost no one in Ukraine knew about them. It was 2011–2012, and the market was growing rapidly. I grew along with the market.

Today, I see a similar situation in artificial intelligence. I know many people who were still trying to find their path a few years ago, but after AI emerged, they focused on this niche and achieved very strong results.

So one of the key growth strategies is to get into a growing market at the right time.