Viktor Palamarchuk

Three bankruptcies, 20 years in Delaware, and five businesses as a resilience strategy

My name is Viktor Palamarchuk, and today I am — an entrepreneur in logistics and related fields (Ukraine Express, Ram International Shipping, VIC Equipment, PIC Manabgment, Matvey LLC), and, according to my wife, a serial startup founder. My businesses cover delivery of online orders from the tax-free state of Delaware to Ukraine, international logistics, work with cars and specialized equipment, the sale of packaging materials, and staffing services.

I have lived in New Castle, Delaware, for more than 20 years, but I think globally. To me, the market — is not one country, but the whole world.

My path in business did not begin by the book. When my father left the family and my mother, a teacher, could go years without being paid, I started looking for ways to earn money at the age of 10. It was not a choice, but a necessity.

Over the course of my career, I have gone through three bankruptcies. Each one was a powerful lesson. I realized that you cannot fall in love with revenue or think that you can calculate everything in advance. There are always factors in business that you cannot control: government decisions, crises, and wars.

That is why I build several business lines at the same time. For me, this is not just expansion — it is a resilience strategy. When one market declines, the others provide support.

At first, all my businesses operated as one system — essentially one big symbiosis. I was involved in everything, from operational processes to decision-making. This gave me control, but left me no room to grow.

The turning point came when I began studying and earned an MBA. Before that, I had no formal business education at all. In fact, I was not a model student at school — quite the opposite: I held the record for skipping classes. But at the same time, when necessary, I could quickly pull myself together and achieve results.

Education gave me the most important thing — an understanding of how to build systems. I began separating the businesses, building an organizational structure, forming departments, and delegating. It was after that that the companies began to scale much faster.

At the beginning, I went through every stage myself. In my first year in the United States, I personally drove around New York collecting packages. I was the driver, packer, and receiving clerk. It was the same in my other businesses — I always started by getting involved from the inside. This experience gave me a deep understanding of every stage. But I also realized that if you do not step away from operations, the business will not grow.

Today, I work differently. I hire strong specialists and build teams. Yes, it is expensive, but it is the only way to scale. After professionals joined the key business lines, the business began to grow many times faster.

I clearly distinguish between two types of businesses. The first — is a «cash cow», which provides a steady income. The second — is a business you develop to scale and sell later. The logic is different: you are not working for short-term profit, but for capitalization.

Family holds a special place in my life. I have three daughters, and from childhood I have tried to give them a sound understanding of money and responsibility. I do not force them to go into business, but I create an environment where they can learn about it. They know the value of money and understand choices and the consequences of decisions. It is important to me that they consciously choose their own path. I communicate openly with them, share my experience, and try to be not only their father but also a partner in conversations about life.

As for philanthropy — I am more of a patron than a traditional philanthropist. I do not know how to ask, and I do not like doing it. I prefer a different model: earn money and help.

I support Ukraine, help the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and work with charitable initiatives. In 2014, and again after the full-scale war began, I organized the delivery of aid at my own expense.

In the first months of the war, the business found itself in a very difficult situation: warehouses were full, payments had stopped, and finances were tight. But even then, I decided to work to meet the needs of the military — delivering equipment, medical supplies, and everything else that was critically important.

16 years ago, I saw the future of online shopping and started building a delivery service

How did the business idea come about?

Ideas come to me constantly. There are a lot of them. The problem is not the ideas, but the fact that implementing them takes time and resources.

I have always been interested in launching new projects. When a business is up and running smoothly, my interest in it gradually wanes. I am more driven by the creation stage itself.

I had many projects that were operating and making money, but I closed or sold them because I lost interest. If I see that a project is starting to distract me from something bigger, I either hand it over to management or exit it.

Persistence and an intuitive feel for the market 10 years ahead of others

What key skills helped you launch your business?

First and foremost — persistence. If I decide to do something, I see it through to the result. I can keep pushing forward, even when things are difficult.

The second thing — is an intuitive feel for the market. I often see where things are headed in advance.

For example, 16 years ago, when I launched a delivery service, no one was working with online orders. At first, we sent packages from people in the United States to Ukraine.

After some time, I realized that the future — belonged to online shopping. I assembled a team and said that soon people would buy even basic goods online. We started moving actively in that direction.

I personally worked practically nonstop for several months, looking for customers. That was what gave us the impetus to grow.

Later, others began copying this model — both large companies and international players.

Lack of funding at the start and half a million of my own money invested in advertising

What were the 3 most difficult challenges you dealt with in the early years?

The main challenge — was the constant lack of funding. The business was growing quickly, and there was always a desire to scale even more.

For example, in the first year I put around half a million dollars of my own money into advertising and borrowed another million.

The situation is different now: banks offer financing themselves. But at the start, this was a major barrier.

I always try to build a business without relying solely on my own money. I believe it is better to save or invest your own money, and grow the business using financial instruments.

The 1998 devaluation, the 2008 crisis, and 2014: every crisis opened new windows of opportunity

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

I have been through several serious crises.

In 1998 — there was a sharp devaluation of the hryvnia. Business essentially came to a halt: people stopped spending money, goods were spoiling, and we had to sell them for far less than their cost.

In 2008 — there was a global financial crisis. But it was after that that a window of opportunity opened, and I entered the parcel delivery business.

In 2014 — there was another major blow. We had a lot of equipment in Ukraine that nobody was buying. We essentially had to «get through» part of the business. What saved us was that the parcel business was already operating.

Our own IT system and customer portal back when everyone was still working in Excel

What decisions proved most effective in growing the company?

One of the most important decisions — was investing in IT.

Back when most people were working through Excel and fax, we began building our own system. All our interactions with customers take place through their personal accounts.

The system has different access levels for employees, which greatly improves efficiency and security.

We also record all customer inquiries, which allows us to quickly resolve any disputes.

We are now actively integrating modern technologies, including AI. It is expensive, but without it, it is impossible to remain competitive.

Years without a structured education — the most expensive mistake, costing me time and money

What mistake do you now consider your most valuable experience?

The biggest mistake — was that for a long time I learned exclusively from my own experience.

Many things have long been described in books and business programs. If I had invested in education earlier, I would have saved years of time and considerable resources.

An MBA and further education gave me a systematic approach, an understanding of processes, and tools for management and negotiation. This significantly influenced my approach to business and scaling.

From selling cherries at my grandmother’s at 12 to a million through a beer bar at 20

How did you earn your first $100?

I earned my first $100 in savings at around 12. It was summer, and I was staying with my grandmother in the village. I sold everything I could gather myself at the market and near the train station: sweet cherries, sour cherries, peas, potatoes, and other things.

The most important thing — was that I didn’t spend the money but managed to save it. For me, this was my first experience not just of earning money, but of saving it.

How did you earn your first $1 000?

I earned my first thousand dollars at around 14.

I started taking the train abroad: first to Vilnius, then, when that route closed, — to Belarus, to Minsk. I took food products there and, on the way back, — cigarettes.

This was my first serious income. Even then, I began to understand how trade worked and how you could make money from differences between markets.

How did you earn your first $10 000?

I earned my first 10 thousand dollars at 16.

On my birthday, I went to Poland and brought back my first two large bags of perfume. I started selling the goods through people I knew and through stores.

I scaled up quite quickly: within just six months, I was transporting goods in vans and selling them wholesale across Khmelnytskyi Oblast. This was my first experience of realizing that I could build a systematic business.

How did you earn your first $100 000?

I earned my first 100 thousand dollars at 18, when I opened my own store.

At the time, most people traded at markets or in small kiosks. I created a full-fledged store with a wide selection, from fruit to premium cheeses.

Sales were especially strong in winter. Trade at the markets came to a halt because of the freezing weather, while I always had fresh vegetables and fruit. There were constantly lines outside my store.

People came to see me not only from the city but also from the surrounding districts. It was effectively one of the first concepts of its kind in our region, and it worked very well.

How did you earn your first $1 000 000?

I earned my first million at 20.

At 19, I opened a bar and restaurant. At the time, there were almost no similar establishments in the city, so I built everything from scratch, adding new concepts.

The main idea — was to create a beer bar with the widest possible selection. I had 38 varieties of beer, including imported draft beer that I brought from Poland along with the equipment.

This was a new product for the market. People stood in line, and interest was enormous.

The cost of the beer was low, while demand — was high. At one point, this even created competition for the local producer. It got to the point where the city authorities set a minimum price for imported beer.

After the price went up, demand didn’t fall. On the contrary, the business became even more profitable.

Business in the U.S. and an outside perspective — I can see what special touch to add to help it grow

I can be helpful with questions about doing business in the U.S. — from setting up a company to understanding taxes and laws, and building processes.

I have extensive hands-on experience and can take an outside look at a business and suggest what could be changed or improved. Often, this kind of outside perspective delivers the fastest results.

At the same time, I believe that when starting out, it is important to listen to yourself more. If you have made up your mind to start a business — you need to act. And when challenges arise, that is the time to ask for advice.

My strength — is seeing what «special touch» can be added to a business to help it grow or transform completely.

At the same time, I remain down-to-earth. I am equally comfortable talking with first-time entrepreneurs and major business owners.

Departments, a management hierarchy, and restricted access to financial information

Your experience: how do you systematize a business?

The simplest way — is to bring in a professional consulting or accounting firm to help build the structure.

In my experience, the key — is a clear division into departments and an understandable management hierarchy.

Each department has its own function, and all processes should be documented. This reduces chaos and makes it possible to scale.

It is also important to organize interactions between departments properly. For example, an administrator first handles a customer inquiry, which is then passed on to the relevant teams.

Another point — is restricting access to financial information. This helps avoid internal risks and keeps the team focused on its tasks.

Step away from day-to-day operations, delegate, and focus on strategy — then more than 2x growth is possible

Your experience: how do you grow 2x in a year?

Growth starts with having systems in place.

As a business owner, I am convinced that you cannot be constantly involved in day-to-day operations. The team should handle that.

The owner's task — is to look at the business from the outside, think strategically, and seek new opportunities for growth.

When you are immersed in daily processes, you stop seeing the bigger picture. And that is what holds back growth.

So, to grow, it is important to: — step away from day-to-day operations, — delegate, — focus on strategy.

Then not only 2x growth, but much more, is possible.