From gas station tips to electric cars in Kyiv and the automotive business in the US
Today, I am an entrepreneur at Greenwheels with an international focus and experience launching and relaunching businesses across countries. My journey began with early part-time jobs and sales. As a teenager, I earned tips at a gas station, and while at university, I took a job at a food trading company. Sales became my real-world education: it was where I first understood how results are achieved, what determines income, and where the limits lie when you work for someone else.
My main advice to entrepreneurs just starting out is to try as many iterations as possible and not be afraid to test different models. Everyone has their own path, and there is no universal formula for success. At the same time, it is crucial to find a balance between persistence and knowing when to change direction. Sometimes you need to keep moving forward even when results are not yet apparent; at other times, you need to acknowledge honestly that your resources would be better directed elsewhere.
In my view, one of an entrepreneur's key skills is knowing when to keep going and when it is time to change your approach or direction altogether. To some extent, this combines intuition, experience, and the ability to read market signals. To me, an entrepreneur is someone who can effectively move limited resources from one place to another, combine them, and direct them toward growth potential. That is why it is important to develop the ability to identify promising opportunities for growth and focus your attention, time, and energy on them.
Looking at the next five years, I am currently exploring areas that will genuinely inspire me over the long term. I am very interested in real estate, property development, construction, design, and architecture. These are fields I am naturally drawn to, and I see myself developing in this direction.
Alongside this, I continue to develop my automotive business. My main activity currently centers on exports, but in the future I plan to focus more on the US domestic market. It is a huge market with significant potential, where finding the right entry points, building sales channels, and adapting the business model to local conditions are essential. Strategically, I therefore see two main directions for myself: property development and scaling the automotive business in the American market.
As for social and charitable projects, I cannot currently say that I am involved on a consistent basis. I make donations and support individual initiatives, but more occasionally. Previously, I was more involved in joint projects through my network and the club community, but at present I do not have a dedicated social initiative that I could describe as a significant part of my work.
For me, happiness is first and foremost about having a choice. It means being able to decide for yourself each day how to live, what to do, who to be with, and where to go next. Even if you make the same choice every day, what matters is that it is conscious and voluntary. Without choice, there is no inner freedom, and therefore no happiness.
Do I consider myself happy today? That is a difficult question. Life always brings tasks, challenges, and issues that need to be resolved. I am one of those people who cannot simply set a problem aside and stop thinking about it — it keeps running in the background and affects my emotional state. I am quite reflective, so I experience these inner processes deeply.
At the same time, I consciously work on maintaining my energy, shifting my focus, and finding positives even during difficult periods. Experience has taught me that every difficulty is temporary and passes, while new challenges and new sources of joy always lie ahead. So I cannot say that happiness means constant euphoria for me. Rather, it is the ability to stay balanced, find meaning in what is happening, and retain the inner freedom to move forward.
Sustainability, car sharing, and the first electric car dealership in Ukraine in 2015
How did the business idea come about?
I have always been drawn to startups focused on the environment and sustainability. Over time, that interest naturally evolved into a focus on electric vehicles. Initially, I considered a car-sharing model, but the market was not ready for it at the time. So we started with sales in Kyiv and opened one of the first electric car dealerships in 2015.
For me, it was not just a business project, but a way to develop something useful that also had economic potential. I had no capital of my own at the start, so finding investors became one of the first tasks.
Keeping a day job and staying persistent — the foundations for launching an electric vehicle business
What key skills helped you launch the business?
When I launched the business, I was building it while also working for someone else. Persistence, discipline, and the ability to see things through to results were essential. For me, it is a matter of principle: if you take something on, you need to see it through to the end.
Investors, the first team, and learning management from scratch
What were the 3 toughest challenges you overcame in the early years?
The first major challenge was attracting investors. I needed to prove the idea was viable, convince people of the business model, negotiate, structure agreements, and sign contracts.
The second challenge was building a team. I have always been more comfortable working independently, so delegation did not come easily. There is an inner perfectionist in me: I often feel I can do something faster and better myself. But business forces you to adapt. A physical car dealership needed sales managers, technical specialists, and people who could take on operational tasks.
The third challenge was developing my management skills. Before that, I had no experience building and managing a team where I was responsible not only for results but also for people. I had to learn management quickly: I attended specialist seminars, read books on management, motivation, and working with staff, and learned from entrepreneurs with larger teams.
Capital shortages, COVID, and moving to the US without an operational role in the company
What crises has your business faced, and how did you overcome them?
The first was the startup crisis: the typical early stage of a business when everything is still very fragile and depends on many external factors.
The next serious crisis was a shortage of working capital. Some of the investors involved in the original business plan saw their circumstances change and could no longer provide the required funding. This led to changes in the partnership, with some partners leaving and new ones joining. We went through a move to another location, a company restructuring, and a difficult period of aligning everyone's interests.
My move to the US was another turning point. At a certain stage, I effectively handed the business over to the partners who remained in Ukraine and moved away without retaining an operational role in the company. Initially, I planned to pursue real estate, and that was my focus during my first year in the US. But the COVID pandemic significantly affected the real estate market, and over time, my existing client base and market demand naturally drew me back to the automotive business. It was not a forced decision, but an organic return to a field where I already had expertise, a network of contacts, and strong personal motivation.
Outsourcing and minimal staffing — what increased profitability
Which decisions proved most effective for the company's growth?
The most effective decision for the company's growth was to delegate as many business processes as possible to external partners. I deliberately outsourced everything outside my core expertise. For example, I do not handle logistics myself — I work with companies that specialize in it.
The second important decision was to reduce permanent staff to the minimum necessary. My experience has shown that when a business maintains an oversized team, you often end up working primarily to sustain the organization itself. For me, a business should generate profit and flexibility, not create additional operational inertia. Streamlining the structure was what allowed us to significantly increase profitability.
Too much trust in highly confident people — and a costly lesson
Which mistake do you now consider your most valuable learning experience?
My most valuable lesson has to do with people. Specifically, placing too much trust in highly self-confident people. Such people often make a strong impression: they project control, determination, and confidence in their ability to deliver. This creates a sense of reliability.
But experience taught me that confidence does not equal competence or the ability to manage risk. On the contrary, excessive self-confidence sometimes leads to poor decisions and an underestimation of real threats. If your business depends on such people, you ultimately gain valuable experience, but often at your own expense.
