From designing metal structures to building private homes
I'm Dmytro Shevchuk, the founder of AXIO. Today, we build turnkey private homes and deliver interior design projects.
My first business was related to designing metal structures. I did that from 2010 to 2014 year. But over time, I grew tired of spending whole days at a computer and wanted to move from design to actual construction.
My family situation helped make that possible. My father-in-law had teams working on apartment renovations, and my wife developed design projects. Our first project was our own office in Brovary for the design business. That was how I gradually moved from working with drawings to construction.
From academic leave and construction work to entrepreneurship
How did you come up with the business idea?
My path to business wasn't a straight one.
One event that had a strong impact on me was taking academic leave from university. I worked as a construction laborer for eight months. That experience gave me an understanding of the work not just in theory, but directly on a construction site.
Another important moment was deciding to take my studies seriously. After my first university exam session, I passed every subject with top marks and decided to keep that standard going forward. As a result, I graduated with honors and landed my first job after my third year. There, I met people who later became part of my entrepreneurial journey.
Communication, sales, and confidence in a new role
What key skills helped you launch your business?
For me, the keys were strong communication skills and the ability to sell.
Even when you don't have enough experience, you need to know how to present yourself and your offering. The principle “fake it till you make it” resonates with me here—in the best sense of the phrase.
At the start of a business, you can't know everything. But you can communicate, find solutions, reach agreements with people, and gradually build your knowledge to match the level of responsibility you've already taken on.
Portfolio, team, and the founder's many roles
What 3 toughest challenges did you overcome in the first few years?
The first challenge was having no portfolio.
When you're just starting out in a new field, you have nothing to show a client yet. We had to convince them that we could deliver a high-quality project.
The second challenge was having no experience managing construction workers.
Design and construction are different things. I had to learn how to manage the process and the people, and to take responsibility for the result not on paper, but directly on the construction site.
The third challenge was a lack of time.
At the start, I was a salesperson, marketer, procurement specialist, client relations manager, and much more, all at once. I had to keep the entire business in my head while also handling its day-to-day operations.
27 projects, 100 people, and taking back control
What crises has your business faced, and how did you overcome them?
The biggest crisis for me was scaling.
At one point, we had 27 projects and more than 100 people. But our management couldn't keep up with that pace: deadlines began to slip, and over an entire year I personally earned almost nothing. That's when I decided to downsize and take back personal control of the business.
Later, I made another mistake: I trusted a project manager too much, and he was building his own portfolio at my expense. In the end, I took back the keys and finished everything myself. Then the war began and brought all the projects to a halt.
The main lesson I took from these situations is simple: act decisively right away instead of waiting for the problem to disappear on its own.
Fewer projects, better results
Which decisions proved most effective for growing the company?
I realized that I didn't need to simply make the business bigger. Instead, I decided to transform it into a boutique business. This let us take on fewer projects while earning several times more.
My friend and mentor Yurii Dmytriiev, whom I met at the Young Business Club, helped me with positioning.
For me, this was an important shift from the idea that “the more projects, the bigger the business” to a different approach: fewer projects, but more value and profit from each one.
The key lesson: rapid scaling without systems
Which of your mistakes do you now consider your most valuable experience?
My biggest business mistake was scaling quickly without a strong team and well-refined business processes. I increased the number of projects and people, but the management system couldn't keep up with that growth.
At the same time, I consider this mistake an enormous learning experience. It made me stronger and taught me that scaling without a prepared team and processes may not strengthen a business—instead, it can create new problems.
