The entrepreneurial self

Person needs to be entrepreneurial, if he lives in Russia. Indeed.
When I was seven, I tried to start up my first venture – selling chewing gum to the classmates.
I was not lucky in that case, be true. But that experience taught me some things. Firstly, to understand the customer’s needs. Secondly, not to deal with the seven-year-old children.

So it is. My academical background – five years at the Saratov State Technical University (my specialist’s degree with honors is something between bachelor’s and master’s) with the major “Economist-manager”. Specialization «Economics and Enterprise Management (in Construction)».
My final thesis was devoted to the Analysis of financial condition of construction enterprise, and among other things I had to create all materials for a building project: ecological analysis, soil and water analysis, architecture of residential ten-storied building; counting of all construction materials, labor forces, time and money resources to make this building exist…
 Hope paperwork is not lying somewhere in the archives and was sold to some construction company. Or at least to new generation of students.
Being the first year student of Saratov State Technical University I was also studying journalism on the preparatory department at the Saratov State University. This experience helped me to express thoughts more clearly and to watch at the world outside one academic specialty.
After graduating and getting a specialist’s degree I entered the postgraduate course at the Saratov State Technical University in Economics and Enterprise Management (in Construction) Department (Management of Innovations and Investment activity branch). Now they gave me a two years vacation because of the studies here, in JIBS.

During all university years I had a job in different fields (I even tried to go into the family business - but unfortunately, not every relative is good enough as employer), so now I have both theoretical and practical skills in journalism, marketing, management, constructions and governance (public administration). My first (as well as the second and the third) experience of working in small private company showed, that the worker is not insured at all – of being unpaid or even kicked-off. Of course, in other aspects small-scale business is the most movable, open-minded and interesting. But not in the issues of salary.

And one day I decided to work on government (it pays poor, but at least pays regulary).
Two years I spend in the Tax inspection (Swedish analog is Skatteverket) as a tax inspector. I was the one of “business nightmare”, how it is said in Russia. Duty on this kind of job is verification of the correct payment of taxes and fees of the legal persons (enterprises). And checking if the enterprise years did not paid as much taxes to the government, as it should.

It was interesting, really. I mean, not to nightmare, but to come into a branch I had never been before (and actually in other circumstances I would not ever had a chance to see all this kinds of businesses).
I had checked construction firms, auto sellers, large machinery exporters. Factories of armored concretes, security (guard) companies, manufacturers of plastic windows. Buyers of nonferrous metal... And even soda water factory!
I had to be everywhere – in the bank transactions (searching for suspicious contractors), in the accounting (looking for possible mistakes), in the company’s office/manufactures (checking the equivalence of lots of regulations, the contracts, etc).
Every day I was watching work atmosphere in different companies. I had seen them a lot – large and small, gazelles and mices, leading fair business and not.
Everyone tried to survive on the market. Most of this enterprises were not really lucky in it (that is why me and colleagues came to them). I guess their leaders just had no idea where to move and how to behave in these economic relations. And that is the reason why I am here, in JIBS – to learn and to understand, what to do and how to lead a company to success.

I am interested in the Introduction to business creation course, because it gives the invaluable knowledge in the area of entrepreneurship, real starting new ventures and managing new processes. I will have an opportunity to apply all this skills on practice and become a professional who can develop a venture and know about innovations enough. And also I think entrepreneurship (as well as innovation) is impossible without the Idea…
So let’s be creative!