Successful startups. Investments as a lifestyle. interesting facts about successful startups in pictures

Out of 3,500 startups that submitted applications, 35 teams reached the finals of the largest Russian accelerator. And seven of them were chosen yesterday to compete for prizes of 8, 5 and 3 million rubles. Although more important for them was the opportunity to speak to investors and partners of the accelerator, including AirBus and Michelin.

This year, the finalists of the GenerationS accelerator included an augmented reality project for applying special effects during the filming of the film ViewGA, with the help of which the films “Time of the First” and “Crew” were shot, a genetic platform for identifying the likelihood of cancer yRisk, which explores tens of times more probabilities, IRway night vision system, RollTech platform for tracking the performance of every part and every product in the enterprise. A total of seven projects competed for the main prizes of 8, 5 and 3 million rubles. The projects IRway, Hydraulic Packer and VR Concept received them, but we will tell you about all seven teams that performed on the main stage of the final.

ViewGA

Shooting films with a lot of computer graphics is difficult, scenes require a lot of post-production. On set, the director and the entire film crew see only a green background. ViewGA complements frames with computer graphics in real time and operates in two modes: augmented reality and virtual camera.

The founder said that in 2 months, about 20% of the film “Crew” was shot by him together with director Nikolai Lebedev. Filming took place in the CGFactory studio, where there is an R&D laboratory. A 3x5 meter room is equipped for a virtual camera: there are markers on the walls and ceiling that help the ViewGA virtual camera navigate in space. The camera itself consists of a rig (frame), similar to a movie camera, and sensors that use markers to track its position. Movement data is transferred to a three-dimensional editor with a pre-loaded scene like an airplane taking off from a burning airfield. Stanislav moved around the room, the director immediately saw these shots and commented on them.

The filming of the film “Time of the First” took place together with the actors in a black room. The background can be anything, but this color was chosen to make it easier to shoot space scenes. The system immediately supplemented the footage with computer graphics on site. In real time, the background was replaced with photorealistic computer graphics, which were displayed to the cameraman and director and which the actors could see. This made it possible to avoid compositional errors, errors with synchronization and lighting.

According to the developers, the project has no Russian analogues, and foreign ones are highly expensive.

Camera from ViewGA with the autograph of Alexey Leonov. Facebook

Virtual camera mode

Hydraulic packer

Engineer Mikhail Samokhvalov presented a hydraulic packer that reduces the cost of work by up to four times, including due to its speed. On the scale of a well, speed plays an important role - downtime costs about a million rubles per day. This result was achieved thanks to a modular design with threaded connections, which can be repaired during operation.

Samokhvalov published several scientific articles in his specialty (“Results of field and theoretical studies of the manufacture of a drilled injection pile with controlled expansion”, “Results of theoretical studies of the interaction of a drilled injection pile with controlled expansion with a silty-clay soil base”) and patented a utility model.

The device works successfully in the construction field. In Tyumen, it was used to strengthen the foundation of a building classified as a cultural heritage site and correct the tilt of a 14-story building. In both cases, the problem was solved by injecting the solution into the soil.

The developers plan to expand the business into other areas and use the device in oil and gas production, but this requires investment for further development.

VR Concept

VR Concept is designed to work together with a 3D model of products in virtual reality. The developers say that the solution supports major virtual reality systems and does not require integration time. The system is included in the Unified Register of Russian Software.

The company already has more than 10 customers and more than 100 potential clients showing interest. These are construction and engineering companies, as well as the educational industry. The startup received a grant from Microsoft of $120 thousand for development in the Azure cloud and by 2017 reached revenue of $500 thousand.

Competitors: game engines and virtual prototyping solutions. The developers of VR Concept believe that their competitive advantage is the simplicity of the user interface. The company's founders have more than 10 years of experience in the virtual reality market, mainly in solving industrial problems.

By 2020, they estimate their achievable market volume to be $16 million, and predict the company’s value in three years to be $100 million.

RollTech

Nikita Naumov, founder of RollTech, presented a platform that reduces costs in enterprises. Its platform is designed to account for products and track the actual operation of each product in the factory.

RollTech solves the problem by applying a mark to analyze product performance and compare performance with similar products in other areas. The main goal is to ensure continuous performance during the contract. The company audited twenty companies, including Severstal and Alrosa, signed agreements with foreign companies, and now works with them on a permanent basis.

yRisk

Risk factors include not only poor environment and unhealthy lifestyle, but also genetics. Genetic testing for cancer risks is the main activity of yRisk. The company analyzes 42 genes, family history and provides personalized recommendations.

In the US, the market for genetic tests is not only huge - $5 billion - but also growing by 20-30% annually. A third of this market is genetic tests for cancer. In Russia, the laboratory diagnostics market is worth 74 billion rubles and is also growing; genetic tests account for 3 billion rubles and are growing faster than other segments.

According to the team, now most players in the Russian market use outdated technologies, such as microarray PCR. Only a few companies use NGS next-generation sequencing. If tumor markers (CA-125 + HE-4) have a sensitivity of 40-70% and therefore are not recommended for screening in Europe and the USA, then with NGS this figure exceeds 99%.

The developers said that the program had a good composition of mentors, including in public speaking, and the company was also able to meet with a representative of the TilTech Capital fund.

Mandarin

The company sees the main problem people have is that the things that make them happier are always expensive, and therefore they cannot afford them. The Mandarin service, according to the developers, allows you to live a more active life by paying for sports, tourism and educational services in installments. The volume of these markets in Russia, according to the company, is $20 billion. The service makes money on a percentage of transactions.

IRway

Driver assistance systems can be developed and implemented even at the production stage of a new car. Therefore, it makes sense to work directly with automakers. In 2016-2017, tests were carried out with Kamaz, and a roadmap for joint work was signed with the company, according to which in a few years all new KamAZ vehicles will be equipped with a standard night vision system. This is about 40 thousand units per year.

During the program, IRway designed an industrial series production project and distribution channels for the B2C market and received several investment proposals. Now the company plans to develop the product into a “boxed solution”, available in any store, and develop work with control systems for unmanned vehicles. The project manager believes that in addition to lidars and well-developed terrain maps, drones need a high-quality video signal. Thermal imagers have low detail and “do not see” objects with ambient temperature, IR cameras are “blind” by oncoming headlights, and the IRway solution is free of these shortcomings.

The list was compiled taking into account factors such as funding, number of employees, customer base, growth potential, and product ingenuity. So there's a lot to see.

Hipster hits, personalized dog food and the world's most comfortable mattress are among the top 100 startups of 2017, according to independent consultancy startups.co.uk. Combine the three and you have the perfect night.

We present to your attention the 10 best startups of 2017, which tore all the ratings. Find out where to invest your money.

10. Cornerstone

Founded by the 28-year-old in 2014, Cornerstone is an online shaving and toiletry subscription service. Customers choose from a range of products, including Cornerstone's own brand, and tailor their delivery schedule to suit their personal shaving routine.

“I want to completely eliminate the store trip and have everyone get their Cornerstone toiletries online,” Mr. Bridge said.

“My goal is to sell the business for £100 million by 2020.” Cornerstone now has more than 110,000 clients.

9. Social Chain

Founded by Steve Bartlett and Dominic McGregor in 2014, The Social Network is a social media marketing agency that produces campaigns for the likes of Disney and the BBC. The startup owns internationally renowned media brands such as Sporf, Student Problems and Love Food and has gained success with its 'Manchester: Welcome to Zlatan' advertising campaign.

None of the team members not older than 26 years, which has helped them connect with the younger generation through their emotionally relatable campaigns.

Social Chain recently established offices in New York and Berlin.

8. LeadStream UK

LeadStream UK, set up in 2014 by Matthew Milnes and Michael Hubbard, specializes in online customer acquisition for financial services firms, connecting brokers with customers who actually want a quote for their product.

7.Bulb

Amit Gudka, co-founder, delivers green energy. A 100 percent renewable energy supplier that claims to be 20 percent cheaper than the Big Six, Bulb serves about 30,000 clients with annual growth rate of 400 percent.

“We want to democratize renewable energy, help people reduce their use by providing new technologies like electric vehicles and home solar systems,” said Hayden Wood and Amit Gudka, founders of Bulb.

6. Housekeep

The app supplies cleaning products. Founded by Avin Rahberu, a former venture capitalist with investments in over 40 high-growth companies, Housekeep allows you to book a cleaner for your home with the click of a button.

Currently he has 20,000 client accounts with thousands of ongoing subscriptions and is preparing to expand its business.

5. Simba Sleep

Cox claims to sell the world's best new mattress (Simba Sleep). Created just over a year ago by James Cox and Steve Reed, SIMBA Sleep entered the competitive market by claiming to offer "the most advanced mattress in the world." Its technology combines a layer of foam and springs.

Relying on funding in the amount of 17.5 million pounds sterling, the company will try to launch its products over the next year and expand in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

4. Tails.com

Co-founder James Davidson's company delivers dog food by mail.

Launched by a team of dog lovers in 2014, tails.com is a personalized dog food subscription program with a humble mission: “to change the world of pet food forever.”

His moral crusade works by providing customized dog food based on their weight, age, gender and breed to calculate specific dietary requirements.

Tails.com has 65,000 regular customers and set a goal to make a turnover £20 million by the end of the year.

3.Perkbox

Perkbox aims to take the world out of the boring and dull small business with its mission to increase happiness and motivation in the workplace by providing benefits.

The service offers rewards such as free mobile phone insurance and cinema discounts to help businesses boost their team's productivity, as well as major clients including British Gas and Holland & Barrett.

Last October, Perkbox was among a host of other startups to provide support.

2. Flight Club

Founded in 2014 by Steve Moore and Paul Barham, Flight Club strives to bring the sport into the 21st century with electronic scoreboards, fast-paced multiplayer games, and over 100 tournaments.

“We know that people get bored easily, so we are in a state of almost constant product development. We are aware that we are not satisfied with the success we have had so far."

Works at Flight Club team of 180 people.

1. Eve Sleep

Thanks to investments at £17 million., Eve Sleep is trading mattresses in 10 countries and is now seeking to expand its product range. Since 2016, the company has recorded 355% revenue growth from £2.6m to £12m.

“We had people who didn’t see the potential of the brand and how far it could take us,” said co-founder Jas Bagniewski.

At least he can be sure of a restful night's sleep after a hard day.

In the blog on Medium there is a selection of projects for which he has “great hopes” in 2017..

Bear

A service that helps you create notes and texts. Apple included it in its list of the best apps of last year. This year the creators plan to launch a web version.

Clearbit Connect

Clearbit Connect extends Gmail's capabilities by helping the user learn more about recipients. The service is used by 100 thousand people a day. It also supports Google Inbox and is integrated with Twitter. In the new year, the creators plan to add support for other email services.

Replika

Replika is a smart bot that the user can communicate with and train during conversations. This year the creators (startup Luka) plan to launch the application into open access.

Lemon

The creators characterize Lemon as a “fitness tracker, but for loans” - it’s an analogue of a credit card that allows you to analyze expenses and financial condition.

Milanote

Milanote app helps you take notes for creative work. The creators plan to open the service to everyone at the beginning of the year in order to subsequently turn it into a “platform for creative collaboration.” Among the early users they mention employees of companies such as Apple, Philips, Adobe.

Clerkie

Clerkie is a personal financial assistant that helps you make decisions and manage your budget.

Stream

Stream helps developers create scalable user activity feeds. Now, according to startup representatives, more than 50 million people use products based on their technology. The team consists of only 11 people. In 2017, the service developers plan to introduce personalized feeds.

Gasket

Gasket helps you work with tabular data in Google Sheets by importing information from various sources.

fman

fman is a "modern file manager for advanced users" that works on Windows, macOS and Linux. In the first quarter of 2017, the developers will make their service public and add FTP support.

Supertoday

Supertoday helps track user actions depending on the context so that he can analyze what and how he spends his time, as well as form new habits.

Mila

Mila is a smart bot that sorts the people the user meets into lists and then allows you to work with them using marketing tools. In 2017, the developers plan to add support for Gmail.

Kylie

Kylie is a service that helps in the sales process using natural language and machine learning technologies. The tool is currently in testing mode and allows you to create draft emails.

Throughout 2017, we watched giant companies like Uber and Snap struggle with internal crises. The scandals and difficulties that accompanied business did not frighten budding entrepreneurs. Business Insider has compiled a list of the top five startups launched in 2017.

Ido Leffler and Tina Sharkey founded a company that sells everything from salsa to toilet paper for $3. All products are unbranded, and the founders of Brandless do not have to pay the so-called “brand tax.” Leffler and Sharkey are targeting millennials: They believe the younger generation will appreciate simple, quality products in discreet packaging that can be easily ordered online.

The startup has already raised $50 million from Cowboy Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Google Ventures and other funds.

The LimeBike bike sharing service allows you to leave your bikes not at special stations, but anywhere. For example, a user can leave a bike under a tree - the next passenger will find it through the application and pick it up. LimeBike managed to raise $62 million at a company valuation of $225 million. Business Unsider notes that this makes the startup one of the most valuable among those launched in 2017.

Obsidian Security

The cybersecurity market is oversaturated, but Matt Wolf, Glenn Chisholm and Ben Johnson were not afraid to launch a startup in this area and were right. Obsidian Security focuses on a specific niche - hybrid clouds. Hybrid cloud systems are gaining popularity among corporate clients: they allow you to connect a company’s internal servers with cloud services from Amazom, Google and others. The startup uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to ensure safety when using such systems.

Obsidian Security has already raised $9.5 million. During the last round, it was valued at $27 million.

The startup Devoted Health was founded by people from the large company AthenaHealth. Their service is designed to help older people monitor their health. The technologies that the startup is developing will allow them to monitor insurance and easily deal with documents.

The startup raised $67.41 million and was valued at $295 million. According to PitchBook, Devoted Health became the most valuable startup of the year.

Socrates AI has developed technology based on artificial intelligence that helps employees navigate all aspects of their company: from the bonus system to the details of document flow. The user can communicate with a chatbot, which replaces many programs and services. According to the creators, this will help fight bureaucracy and simplify almost all work processes. Socrates AI raised $16 million and was valued at $44 million following the round.

In 2017, we told hundreds of interesting business stories on the website portal. Some of these stories were about startups. Summing up the results of the year, we contacted the heroes of our publications and asked them to tell us what they managed to achieve during the year and what difficulties they had to face. Useful reading for those who intend to follow the example of yesterday's startupers.

FactoryFinder: changed strategy, became more flexible

, project founder FactoryFinder,
St. Petersburg–Silicon Valley

• FactoryFinder - online service for searching suppliers and manufacturers in various industries. The platform operates in the format marketplace. The program automatically searches and analyzes suppliers, compares prices and delivery conditions. Several million rubles were invested in the launch of FactoryFinder - funds from the founder of the project and his partner. Alexey Solomatin lives in the USA, where he is involved in several business projects.

Economy. Over the year, the number of orders increased fivefold. On average, 5-8 applications are received per day. The client base has almost doubled. Today, approximately 14,000 suppliers from 16 countries cooperate with FactoryFinder. We did not raise prices for buyers, but we optimized costs. Thus, over the year the number of line employees decreased fourfold. In particular, we abandoned managers - highly specialized specialists responsible for certain industries. This is primarily due to a change in work strategy. Promotion costs were halved by eliminating contextual and targeted advertising.

The team is stationed in St. Petersburg. But we have representatives in Berlin, Helsinki and Tallinn. They are searching for supplier companies and increasing their customer base on the European side. The share of foreign customers is still small and amounts to less than 5%.

There were and still are no competing services on the market.

Strategy.We have shifted our focus from production to industrial supplies (rolled metal, hardware, lumber, etc.). According to the research results, this market turned out to be more capacious and promising, which was unexpected even for us. Rolled metal and electronic components remained the focus industries for the project.

If we were starting this business today, we would immediately start with supplies, and not with the manufacturing sector

Range.In 2017, we added six new production categories - now there are already 14 of them: 3D printing, metal rolling, metalworking, fasteners, electronic components, lumber, three types of cutting, printing, etc. That's not all - the opening of new categories is planned for the first half of 2018.

Good luck.The biggest success and victory was the team. We were able to gather together real like-minded people with whom we weren’t afraid to jump into the abyss.

Plans.Active development and growth, increasing customers and opening new production categories. One of the strategic directions is the use of cryptocurrencies to organize payments between counterparties so that supply transactions are as transparent and secure as possible.

The payback of the project on the Russian market is scheduled for early 2018. Entering Western markets is scheduled for mid-2018. What is being done for this now is a trade secret.

Useful.Over the course of this year, we switched completely to the Bitrix24 CRM; this greatly simplified our internal work. Stopped using S lack - he received Telegram in return.

Promotion. We tested several hypotheses. For example, they targeted advertising to employees of purchasing departments through social networks and search engines. However, the market was not ready to work with such a product - for them it was difficult, incomprehensible and unusual. Decisions are made by the owners and directors. We began to spend less money on online promotion (context and targeting), focusing as much as possible on “cold” search. It was he who gave the main impetus and the main growth this year.

Zernin: turnover and assortment have increased,
there are plans to have our own workshop

, project founderZernin, Ekaterinburg

• Under the brand Zernin Handmade end cutting boards are produced.They are very durable because the wood fibers are perpendicular to the cutting surface. Prices for boards - from 1990 to 7890 rubles. The production is located in a carpentry co-working space. Before founding his own carpentry workshop, Mikhail Zernin worked as a corporate business coach.

The average bill also increased slightly. This is also due to the fact that during the year I tried new, more expensive types of wood - wenge, zebrawood, rosewood, bubinga. Prices for some boards remained the same, some increased in price by 5-10%.

Costs haven't changed much. All equipment is the same, with the exception of an additional sanding machine, which had to be purchased when the old one broke. The repair took more than 10 days, and I could not stop the work.

Strategy. To be honest, I don’t consider my enterprise a real business. Rather, it is something for the soul that brings in some income. I still didn’t have a clear business strategy. Nevertheless, the year passed under the close attention of various media: articles were written about me four times, stories were filmed on TV twice. This was unexpected, especially the attention from federal channels. I didn’t invest in advertising at all. Word of mouth worked - I think this is the best advertising.

Range. At the beginning of the year, I made 15 models of boards, now - about 25. Some of the designs did not even appear on the site, since the boards were made in a single copy. In addition to boards, the assortment now includes a coffee table and chess sets (board and pieces). Chess sets cost from 20 thousand rubles, depending on the type of wood and the size of the pieces. The coffee table is also made using end technology; it is a massive and expensive piece of furniture - it costs just over 100 thousand rubles. I also started teaching workshops on making DIY end cutting boards. Cost - from 9 thousand rubles.

What I've learned over the past year about my customer is that they are usually looking for a gift, and half the time they come back with a second order.

Promotion. Boards are sold through the Masters Fair, Etsy, Facebook, VK, Instagram and the project website. The website and Facebook work best, but the share of orders from Instagram and Vkontakte has increased.

If a year ago 70% of sales came from Russian buyers, and 30% from foreign buyers, mainly from the USA, today 90% of orders come from Russia. At the beginning of the year, my boards were in 58 cities, now there are already more than 70 cities on the map.

Plans. The main goal for 2018 is to separate from the carpentry co-working space where I am currently based. To open your own workshop you need at least 400 thousand rubles, on average - about a million. Now I’m preparing a project for crowdfunding, since the branch involves costs for equipment and premises. Perhaps, finally, I will take on a person as an apprentice.

GetBlogger: changed the monetization model

Mikhail Karpushin, project marketing directorGetBlogger, Moscow

• Service GetBlogger is an aggregator of blogosphere services launched by entrepreneur Anna Shkirina. The service helps brands and online opinion leaders find each other and collaborate productively. The starting budget for the project was $500,000 - funds from individuals and an investment fund. In the second round of investments it is planned to attract up to a million dollars. The return on investment in the startup was scheduled for the end of 2017.

Economy. We immediately started with good results - 4000 bloggers, 200 brands. Currently, 8,000 bloggers and more than a thousand advertisers interact with each other on the platform. The number of people employed in the project increased from 10 people to 14 full-time employees and 25 freelancers. Revenue has grown more than 10 times since launch. I can’t reveal exact numbers, but financially the company is moving according to plan.

In 2017, we planned to attract 20 thousand bloggers to the platform. The situation with them turned out to be interesting. In fact, we now have almost 40 thousand blogger registrations. But if we see massive cheating, low-quality audience, inappropriate content or attempts to manipulate indicators, we immediately hide the profile of such a blogger from the search results. Therefore, advertisers see approximately 20% of bloggers registered on the platform. These are the ones we have confidence in.

Business strategy. We continue to provide a comprehensive service for purchasing advertising from bloggers without intermediaries or commission. But in 2017, there were many changes in terms of monetization: we began to focus on small and medium-sized businesses, introduced more flexible tariffs, introduced automatic pricing based on audience analytics, and launched a joint tariff for those who opened an individual entrepreneur at Tochka Bank.

Initially, the monetization of the project was based on a subscription for customers. Now the pricing policy is built around bloggers’ contacts: the advertiser pays for the blogger’s consent to work as part of an advertising campaign - from 100 to 1000 rubles, depending on the audience coverage. This amount is debited from the advertiser's account on the platform. You can start working from 10,000 rubles, for a replenishment of O We provide discounts for larger amounts. The platform is free for bloggers, and the blogger receives exactly the amount agreed upon with the advertiser.

Competitors. During the year, several blogging agencies appeared on the market. But as far as we know, none of the services has been able to automate the process of buying advertising from bloggers through direct contact between the advertiser and the blogger.

Now the market is oversaturated with offers, but even large players use our platform to run their clients’ campaigns

Range. We have expanded the range of services for advertisers. Now we have a full-fledged support department that helps with campaign launch, strategy, and creatives. Our goal is to transfer advertising from bloggers to the performance marketing section with clearly measurable prices and results. To do this, we measure the reach of each blogger using the platform’s internal tools and social network data, and based on this we calculate the price per post. Now she is appointed not by the blogger, but by the platform itself. The advertiser pays only for the target audience without bots, mass followers and users from abroad. Additionally, we introduced the selection of bloggers based on their audience - as in targeted advertising. Now the advertiser has all the data about the audience before launching the campaign and can optimize it.

As a matter of principle, we do not promote goods and services that are subject to restrictions by the Law “On Advertising” and our payment system. The stop list includes topics of religion, politics, gambling, tobacco, alcohol, medical institutions and drugs without appropriate licenses.

Difficulties. Introducing advertisers to a new promotion channel is generally not an easy task. We solve it every day. We convince you of the need to maintain marketing activity on social networks, and show examples with real cases.

Useful. We tested chatbots for a year; they helped us automate some of our communication on social networks. We will continue to automate all routine tasks for advertisers to make advertising with bloggers as simple and convenient as possible.

Promotion. During 2017, we tested all the main traffic acquisition channels applicable to the b2b sector. We found that they all work much more effectively with information support from the media. Therefore, one of the tasks is to convey our values ​​to the target audience, show the ways of working and the results of current clients.

In general, we use a standard set of Internet marketing tools - from contextual to targeted advertising. The effectiveness of each channel depends on its optimization. Here we focus on getting maximum ROI from each source.

Plans. Our plans for the next year are to secure leadership positions in all indicators and expand the functionality of the platform, creating our own full-fledged application with a messenger for bloggers and advertisers. At the end of 2018, we expect to reach at least 4-5 thousand registrations per month, and increase revenue by five to six times.

“The Owl House”: survived the flood, bought Mira

, owner of the Owl House cafe, Moscow.

• "Owl House" - an anti-cafe where visitors pay for the time spent. The peculiarity of the project is that the guests here are accompanied by six owls -tawny owls, long-eared owls, barn owls.Young birds are tamed over several months - the owls must get used to the presence of people. The starting budget for the project was1.2 million rubles.

Economy. We had to reach the payback of the project by the end of 2017 - and, despite all the force majeure, we did. At the beginning of the year, the monthly turnover of the anti-cafe was about 350 thousand rubles, from May to December - 700-750 thousand. Expenses increased from 250 to 350 thousand per month, of which about 120 thousand were employee salaries. Profit today accounts for 50% of total turnover. The number of employees increased from two to ten: two administrator, three tour guides, SMM , photo, cleaning, website.

We have not changed the prices: a minute of stay at the “Owl House” on weekdays is 4 rubles until 17.00 and 6 rubles in the evenings. On weekends - 8 rubles.

Strategy. Over the course of the year, a serious problem emerged: most people only came to us once. Accordingly, it was necessary to form a core of regular customers and make it grow. To do this, we launched a loyalty program in the summer: for every 10 minutes spent in the cafe, one minute is credited to the owl card. Now we have about 600 people in our database through which we send mailings. This helps form a “core” of visitors.

If I opened the Owl House now, I would only buy small owls. They are easier to tame, adapt, they are kinder

In addition, I would immediately contact companies that sell discount coupons. This is a good advertising move that does not require costs, it helps to get on your feet.

Range. We began to sell more souvenirs, added a photo session with owls, and rented owls for filming. We now have more types of cookies and tea. All sorts of additives to coffee appeared - cloves, cinnamon, etc.

A projector was installed in the lower hall. Initially it was an experiment. I made a post on social networks: “Movie Night with Owls,” rented a projector, a screen, and scattered ottomans. 20 people came to watch the Harry Potter film at night. The next day I ordered warm blankets with owls, bought a projector and a screen for it.

Last year we expanded the territory of the lower floor by adding a utility room. Not only people, but also owls have become more comfortable, they now have more free space to fly. We made a large wardrobe for jackets, installed additional batteries and two thermal doors.

Difficulties. The most difficult moment of the year was the January flood. A main pipe burst in the basement of a neighboring house. Hot water flowed through the common basement into the anti-cafe. The owls were saved, but the furniture, equipment and decoration were not. After this, the partner left the project, I bought out his share. Returning to business - opening after the flood - required another 500 thousand rubles. The Owl House reopened only in March. I had no thought of closing, only how to quickly fix everything. Some of the funds were raised using social networks.

In general, the flood was a great moral test. Once - and everything collapsed. You think: how is this possible, why do you work so much, and life makes such a setup. Probably, such moments are turning points. If you don't give up, you will succeed.

Good luck. Getting back on your feet after the flood was a huge success. Even greater luck was that we ended the first month after opening with a profit. Buying a new owl can also be a great success. The great gray owl of the World turned out to be the most sociable, and now attracts the most visitors.

Tools. When paying online for time in a cafe (certificates), we began offering a 25% discount. This pushes people to buy purely psychologically - the person understands that the promotion may end soon. For us, paying for a certificate gives us a guarantee that the person will come. Online sales bring from 80 to 100 thousand in profit per month.

Promotion. The Owl House pages are available on all major social networks: Facebook, Instagram, VKontakte. “VK” works best; we initially spent and are still spending more effort and resources there. We make more posts, hold competitions, pay about 2,000 rubles a month for targeted advertising. We no longer promote cat lovers on Instagram. But at the end of December they launched a New Year's competition together with a cat cafe - they spent money on prizes.

Plans. Next year I want to open a second cafe with owls. I thought for a long time - in St. Petersburg or Moscow. I am leaning towards St. Petersburg, because in Moscow we will compete with ourselves, some clients will go there. There are no owl cafes in St. Petersburg yet.

Finding a place is not as difficult as owls. We are currently negotiating with nurseries and zoos in Russia, Belgium, and the Netherlands. We reserve small chicks. We are planning to buy 10 owls to tame them for the opening of the cafe.

Economy. The fourth intake of female students will take place in February. Thus, four threads will work in parallel. The project team already has four people, and a customer service manager has been added.

If we were starting this business now, we would immediately assemble a team of four people with clearly structured responsibilities. This would provide an opportunity to engage in strategy and long-term development, quickly implement changes, prevent employee burnout and devote more time to customer service.

Strategy. Over the past year, we have confirmed the hypothesis about more successful knowledge acquisition in a separate learning model. Practice shows that this model really makes it possible to create a safe and non-aggressive environment for girls to learn effectively. It is effective in all components of STEAM education.

Services. The main training program is designed for two years, classes are held twice a week in four main blocks: technology (training in programming and computer literacy), design (2D, 3D, fashion design and interior design), music and media (creation of audio-visual compositions ), soft skills (communication skills, teamwork, creative and critical thinking). In addition, a preparatory program for girls aged 7-8 years has been added. A course for adult women's groups "Media Design" has been launched.

Difficulties. A lot of effort was put into practical skills: mastering Internet marketing, building work in a CRM system, introducing educational applications into the educational process. It was difficult to find teachers and authors of new programs. There are very few specialists on the labor market who have established themselves in the profession, and at the same time are able to pass on knowledge to children and generalize their experience.

Another difficult task is building customer service. Parents are demanding customers. They choose the best for their children and in return they want the best service. They themselves closely monitor the quality of education and expect great attention to detail from school staff.

Organizing short-term summer programs turned out to be unexpectedly difficult. Lack of experience took its toll. Every two weeks we collected feedback from clients and promptly adjusted the training programs, looking for teachers with interesting ideas. The main difficulty was the short time frame for making decisions.

Good luck. These can definitely include an earned reputation and attracting excellent teachers.

Promotion. Like most startups, we used contextual advertising and SMM for promotion. These are the main marketing tools. In addition, recommendations are extremely important to our business. That’s why we build customer service and reward customers who recommend us with a system of discounts.

Plans. The tasks for 2018 include the development of the academy in Minsk, the search for European educational partners, and the sale of a franchise. The number of students should at least double.

We will develop new products - a career guidance project, a design faculty and a technology faculty for those wishing to specialize in their chosen field. We will continue to improve the core curriculum - creating large group projects, finding the optimal ratio of hours of different blocks, etc. We are planning to launch an interior design laboratory, a Fashion Tech laboratory, and a 3D modeling course. Finally, there are plans to switch to teaching part of the program in English.

home » Investments » Successful startups. Investments as a lifestyle. interesting facts about successful startups in pictures