Can you tell me about your background and career so far?
I am a business professional with a rich experience in commercial finance, revenue growth management, strategy and personnel development. I hold bachelor and MBA degree with concentrations in Finance and Marketing. Immediately after my graduation I joined the largest consumer good company and have never left the industry since then. I truly have been enjoying working in the industry that touches the lives of consumers every day, so that when I go to grocery store or talk to people, I notice how my ideas are converted into reality and make a difference on everyday lives. On top of corporate career, I have had volunteering experience in United Nations, published articles about technology, AI, IoT, machine learning, strategy, organized trainings to accelerate career and have become a member of science-related organizations including mentorship position in New York Academy of Science. My hobby of writing articles about technology combined with my commercial experience and passion of helping people to grow led to opening my own management and IT consulting firm – AK Consulting. My company AK Consulting is based on simple but fundamentally important principles and values that I have been pursuing all my professional and personal life.
Can you talk a little bit more about those principles? Seems like they helped you a lot to become a very well-rounded professional.
The number one principle I apply in my personal and professional life is “always go extra mile”. When I was an undergraduate student, I realized that in order to be successful and stand out of the crowd I do not need to be special, I need to do things that other people do not want to. Therefore, my student life turned into hard work of study, internships, on-campus work, volunteering experience, etc. As a result, when I was a senior student, I already had three internships, good GPA and leadership positions in student organizations in my resume – all of the above helped me to stand out from my peers, therefore I had a significant competitive advantage, resulting in job offers from multiple world-known companies, so I can tell from the experience that going extra mile combined with discipline and consistency pays off. The same principle is fundamentally built in AK Consulting’s culture. Our mission statement says: “To provide professional consulting services and “beyond”. The word “beyond” refers to going extra mile with clients, providing the best possible service and going beyond their expectations.
The second principle is “Help people first”. “How can I make lives better today” – this is the question I ask myself every day whether it is about my family, my colleagues, direct reports or clients. For example, would you rather want to work with a real estate agent whose top priority is to sell a house and get a commission as soon as possible, or with the one whose top priority is to do the best to find you a house of your dream where you will be happy living in. Whatever I do, I think about how my ideas and actions will improve lives and serve the best interests of my clients, colleagues, peers and direct reports. This perspective allows us to gain a strong reputation and build a loyal base of clients. At AK Consulting we build reputable business by prioritizing the interests of our clients, treating them as we want to be treated.
Thirdly is honesty and respect, in other words treat others like you want to be treated – this is a very simple but powerful way of building long-term sustainable relationships in every aspect of life whether professionally or personally.
Can you talk a little bit more about AK Consulting? What service does it offer?
AK Consulting is a management consulting company that is dedicated to providing management consulting services and beyond to startups, small and mid-size businesses looking for opportunities to increase their potential for success. We say “and beyond” because AK Consulting is committed to equip its clients not only with the winning business strategy but also with essential IT consulting and training services making business of our customers successful. AK Consulting offers a list of services for business owners to choose from, depending on their particular business needs. This includes: business and marketing plan preparation, corporate strategy development, IT consulting services, trainings, and workshops for entry level to senior employees, etc. Unlike traditional management consulting firms that focus on analyzing problems for large customers, AK Consulting works exclusively with small to mid-size business clients to develop concrete, practical, short and long-term action plans that will start moving or turnover their businesses in the right direction. AK Consulting takes advantage of the small and mid-size business owners’ needs for sustainable business strategy, technological infrastructure of the organization, skills and competences of their employees.
What are your plans in terms of growing AK Consulting?
We have a business plan in place with key milestones and KPI, however I use this business plan as compass not navigation. The difference between compass and navigation is that compass tells you direction of where to go such as North, South, East and West; while navigation tells you where and when to turn exactly, how many miles left until final destination and what is time of arrival. When using a compass, you know where to go but you are creative about how to get there, however navigation provides no choices and limits your creativity, you just follow instructions. I am telling you this, because AK Consulting is a startup management consulting firm that has a long way to go and does not necessarily follow its business plan exactly. Right now, AK Consulting is focusing on building its base of clients and providing best-in-class services. Our long-term plans include expanding within United States, open more offices and hire talented consults to serve our clients’ needs, but at the moment we focus on building fundamentals in place for future success.
What do you enjoy more – working in a corporate world or running your own business?
I do enjoy both, to be honest. Working in the corporate world has its advantages such as working in big teams, global presence, experienced management to learn from and endless career opportunities within the organization. Running a business is less stable and predictable than the corporate world, but by taking higher risks you are entitled to higher rewards. Also, when running a business, you are not restricted by company policies and bureaucratic procedures, therefore the decision-making process is much faster, that allows to act immediately without waiting for necessary approvals. When I started AK Consulting, I leveraged the best from corporate world into start-up enterprise.
What advice you can give for future entrepreneurs who are thinking of starting a business
Do not be afraid to take a balanced risk, dream big and follow your passion. If you believe in an idea, do not hesitate to implement it into reality, because unrealized dreams lead to disappointment. Start realizing your ideas into reality, regardless how unrealistic the final goal seems to be. Make sure you have a plan in place, however, be ready to adjust based on circumstances. It is ok to failure, what is not ok is to fail and stay down, be strong, be humble, never give up.
