Doing business is challenging and can sometimes feel like a lonely journey. Fortunately, there are lots of associations that offer support and advice to entrepreneurs and companies.
Dmitry Bondarenko, the general director of Liga Group, knows the hurdles of doing business in Ukraine very well. Not only does he lead a holding of companies operating across various industries, he also runs a media outlet covering business.
He believes that a lot of contemporary problems faced by the Ukrainian private sector stem from negative attitudes in society, where neither the general public nor the government understand the vital role of businesses in creating jobs, paying money into the state budget, and driving the entire economy.
“The government views business as a taxpayer, a debtor. Society views it as a thief, trying to evade taxes. Everyone looks at business as a resource,” Bondarenko said in an interview with the Kyiv Post on Aug. 22.
Bondarenko decided he wanted to change that perception by creating an environment where all sides can conduct an effective dialogue.
Yulia Burkovska, a self-described communicator and networker, had the same idea. As host of a weekly radio show called “People of action” on Europa Plus radio, she interviewed entrepreneurs, artists, and entertainers, and after a while wanted to bring them together.
“I always marveled at how the right connections could help solve problems,” she said. “I realized that it’s not marketing or advertising that help businesses succeed, but the right people with shared ideas.”
So Bondarenko and Burkovska have now teamed to establish “an exclusive business club for doers,” which will be officially presented in Kyiv on Sept. 6.
For a yearly fee of $3,000, members are promised a community of like-minded, progressive visionaries. One difference from other business-oriented organizations is that membership is for individuals, not companies. New members have to be nominated by another club member or the organizers. In this way, the organizers want to ensure everyone in the club has the same approaches to business.
The club’s program is undisclosed for now, but Bondarenko and Burkovska promise a different kind of business community, with a mentorship program, VIP networking events, expert consultations, media partnerships, and, most importantly, direct access to the leaders of the government, mass media, and society.
“We expect that the connections within our network will help our members thrive,” Bondarenko said.
“We try to avoid the word lobby, because it has a strong government-related connotation… Our network will … lobby at the business-to-business level.”
The club hasn’t enrolled any members yet, and won’t until its launching ceremony on Sept. 6, but it has already found friends and supporters among high-profile officials, chief editors, and businessmen, Bondarenko and Burkovska said.
