Kitaichyk Dmytro Yuriyovych, 41 years

From two suitcases in Kyiv to accessories manufacturer StatusSKIN and StatusCASE

For more than 11 years, I have been the co-founder of StatusSKIN companies and StatusCASE — Ukrainian manufacturers of mobile accessories for smartphones. We focus on producing phone cases, polyurethane screen protectors, and gadget accessories, which are sold business-to-business in the Ukrainian market. Since childhood, I dreamed of owning a factory and becoming wealthy, so I read a lot of business books and entrepreneurs’ stories.

My father, a businessman, had a strong influence on me. Together, we launched my first project: a network of self-service payment terminals. We were the first in Luhansk and among the first in Ukraine. In 2014 the war forced us to leave Luhansk and move to Kyiv with my wife, taking only two suitcases. We essentially started our lives and business from scratch in Ukraine’s capital. This was a turning point that shaped my entrepreneurial path. The idea for my current business came about quite by chance, after a conversation with my future business partner following a movie. We discussed phone cases available on the market at the time and realized that we could make them better, with improved technology.

With an investment of 1000$ between us, we founded StatusCASE, and later the StatusSKIN brand, which specializes in screen protectors for smartphones and gadget accessories.

The key factors behind our growth were:

• developing our own mobile accessory manufacturing technologies
• taking a systematic approach to building the business
• experience establishing management accounting
• continually working to scale the product.

In 2022, the company faced a serious crisis: the full-scale war, betrayal by some members of the team, and attempted blackmail. We had to rebuild the business’s IT infrastructure completely — in three months, we rewrote all the software and databases, built a new team, and got the company back up and running.

One of the most effective decisions for growing the business was launching StatusSKIN’s innovative polyurethane screen protectors. At the time, this was a new product in the Ukrainian smartphone accessories market, which allowed us to be the first to enter a promising niche. In 2025, triplet girls were born into our family, and I now have five children. This gives me even greater motivation to grow our manufacturing business and develop new technologies and products in the mobile accessories sector.

An idea born after a movie and a conversation about phone cases

How did the business idea come about?

Quite by chance. After going to the movies with my future business partner, we discussed phone cases and smartphone accessories that were available on the market at the time. At some point, the idea came to us: to make mobile accessories that were better quality and more technologically advanced than those already being sold.

Management accounting, technical knowledge, and curiosity

What key skills helped you launch the business?

• experience systematizing a business and establishing management accounting
• technical knowledge of manufacturing
• curiosity
• communication skills.

These skills allowed us to build a smartphone accessories manufacturing business and scale it business-to-business.

Developing accessory manufacturing technology from scratch

What 3 most challenging challenges did you overcome in the early years?

1. Developing mobile accessory manufacturing technology from scratch
2. Rapidly scaling the production of phone cases and screen protectors
3. Launching a new technology product as a startup.

Team betrayal, lost servers, and blackmail in 2022

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

One of the most difficult crises involved betrayal by some members of the team, losing access to our servers, and blackmail. We made a difficult decision:

• assembled a new team
• completely rewrote the software and databases
• restored all business processes.

Within three months, the company was fully operational again, after which we entered a new stage in the development of our mobile accessories manufacturing business.

StatusSKIN polyurethane films as a breakthrough into a new niche

Which decisions proved most effective in growing the company?

The most effective was creating an innovative product: StatusSKIN polyurethane screen protectors. This was a new technological product in the Ukrainian smartphone accessories market, which allowed us to:

• enter a new niche
• scale production
• significantly expand our business-to-business operations.

Too much trust and unwritten agreements

Which of your mistakes do you now consider your most valuable learning experience?

Trusting the team too much and failing to put agreements in writing.