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What difficulties do women entrepreneurs face, how do male and female business approaches differ, how can we attract investments? We asked these and other questions to Galina Pozdnyakova, founder of the Panga Group restaurant management school, winner of the first season of the Masters of Hospitality competition on the Russia — Land of Opportunities platform, as part of the podcast How is this possible ?
What is the difference between male and female entrepreneurship?
In female entrepreneurship it is a bit more difficult, because in addition on page seo service to the main tasks there is also family and children, and this is an integral part of our life. I get up earlier to get my husband ready for work, after that I already deal with my own issues, work a lot and hard. At the start, without personal involvement in all processes, it will be extremely difficult to assemble a good team, this is the number one task for an entrepreneur to achieve the set goals.
There is an opinion that entrepreneurship is still a man's world. Does the fact that you are a woman help or, on the contrary, complicate the work?
I was lucky because I participated in the Women Leaders project and learned what soft power is, when some issues are resolved in a feminine way. In my opinion, in the modern business world these boundaries are erased, and it depends on the people you interact with. The result does not depend on your gender, but on your actions.
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What skills should an entrepreneur have?
I would highlight an important competency for any entrepreneur - this is flexibility, because the modern world is moving rapidly, and the goals that you set for yourself a year in advance may be irrelevant in a year. Constant self-development is also important: if you are a leader in the market now, then tomorrow you may be overtaken by young and ambitious specialists or new ideas. Also, the ability to listen to the people around you, not to close yourself off in the fact that you are right in everything, and move towards your big goals, focusing on the team and the consumer.
You have gone from a waiter to a development director, implemented more than 10 projects in Moscow and the CIS, created the restaurant management school "Panga group". Tell us about the most difficult moments in your career.
I mostly worked in startups. They would call me and say: "Galya, a nightclub has opened in Kazakhstan, you need to come there in two days." My answer was always: "I'm ready." I liked active work, I always had to do something. In six months, I would launch a project, it would start working steadily, and I would get bored.
A big push for me was this year, when the pandemic hit. My company had good turnover, we had just opened our restaurant in Moscow, the school had a lot of applications both online and in person. In March 2020, all my orders were cancelled due to quarantine, I had to close my project. At that moment, I realized that I had a responsibility to employees who needed to be paid. After that, we completely changed the business model, which continues to change. The most valuable thing in a company is a team that is ready to go with you, no matter what. Based on this, we developed a mission, if a person does not meet our principles, then we part ways.
How to attract attention to young projects and get investments?
Investments for starting your business can be obtained from the state. For example, the platform " Russia - the country of opportunities ", which contains projects of various directions. First, you defend your idea, then you receive money for implementation. At the same time, you have a big advantage - crazy networking, and among new acquaintances there are always investors. I just returned from the competition " Masters of Hospitality ", where I met investors who were ready to invest in absolutely any business. There is no need to be shy, you need to use what is given and take the most important.
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