Cool. I stumbled upon this resource today and saw my blog. I expected everything to be dead, but it has only become better and more convenient. I found out that the site for CMO was made by Art. Lebedev Studio, and it shows.
I have a strong desire to continue writing. It's been 4 years, and I am still grateful for Work and Travel. 3 seasons in the States really changed my life.
Out of inertia, I finished university. The last year was very difficult: my desire to study was completely gone, and thoughts about the future worried me the most. I liked what I did in America. I liked the cuisine, I liked the fast food, I liked working the American way, with an hourly rate, responsibility, and results. While still in my 5th year, I wanted to open a Subway in my city.
I had no idea how to do it. I didn't know what a business of my own was. I didn't know where to get the money. But I had a goal. I wanted to earn a lot and do what I love.
In April 2011, our Subway opened in Chelyabinsk. We were the tenth restaurant in Chelyabinsk and the 200th in Russia. The success of the brand was staggering; we grew quickly and were in the black from the very first month. There was a lot of work back then: I spent 18 hours a day at work. It was an endless stream of experience: experience in hiring and managing people, experience in resolving conflict situations, experience in negotiations, experience in working with suppliers and contractors, experience, experience, experience. The first money started rolling in. Big purchases. It was cool.
After a couple of years, the work became boring. The restaurant worked calmly even without my personal intervention. Prosperity began to affect my weight. I started learning foreign languages and traveling. Many interesting people appeared in my life, you know, those with burning eyes and ambitions. At the same time, my relationship with my partner deteriorated. We almost never saw each other, only splitting the money from time to time.
In August 2012, I started working on a new project: Dodo Pizza (dodopizza.ru or sila-uma.ru). A young and ambitious company, a confident and systematic leader, an approach unusual for the Russian market. Back then, we were won over by everything - the prospects, the massiveness of the market, the originality. We had resources, we had time, we were expecting golden mountains.
Everything turned out differently. The situation quickly brought us to our senses. The hired managers were not ready for such a volume of work, they lacked experience, but they were faced with quite adult tasks. The market refused to swallow us whole; it started with crumbs. Resources were dwindling like the Yellow River in the dry season, and it was just a pity to waste time.
