Focus on Russian Businesswomen: Olga Tatarenko, Target-Assist.com (part 2)

At just 28 years of age, Olga Tatarenko is founder of Target-Assist.com, a Moscow-based startup that connects interested clients with qualified tutors and interpreters. This is the second of two posts from Ms. Tatarenko in which she answers questions on her experience doing business in Russia.

What has been your experience being a female entrepreneur in Russia?
It's not easy to be a female entrepreneur in Russia. No one takes you seriously, because Russian business is still a man's world. At the very beginning of Target-Assist, it took me a while to prove that I might know much more and might be even able to make money with this knowledge, despite being a young female entrepreneur. Actually, every time you go to negotiations you will feel this. If a man comes with the same ideas and project, he will be heard at once. But if it’s a woman, she will first have to make them treat her seriously as a partner and then they will hear her. This is our reality as female entrepreneurs.

Now, there many young businesswomen, especially in Moscow, who got bored being a housewife and made their husband open a businesses for them, just for fun. It's like a fashion to open your business; they may know nothing, they may have no experience, no education sometimes, but it makes them feel higher than the rest of the world. Smart people who work for them have to deal with that, and have to politely accept their lack of skills and lack of knowledge, because the one who has money dictates the rules. Why do I bring this up? To point out the other aspect of the attitude toward female entrepreneurs in Russia. First, you have to prove that you have brains, and then you have to kill the stereotype that you have this business just because you have influential sponsors behind you.
 
Did you always want to be an entrepreneur?
The only person you don't know all your life is yourself. So, no, it wasn't my dream. First, I thought being a part of a huge international corporation was my dream, but as soon as I got it, I got bored. It was a golden cage for me, an illusion of stability which makes your creative energy sleep. It binds you to one place and the more you sit there, the less you believe in your life independently from this company. Insurance, bonuses, etc. become priorities.

Then I was sure that a hectic life full of bright events, celebrities and luxury is what I wanted. As soon as I started working in lifestyle management, I grew sick of all this, because I wanted to be on the other side of this world – I wanted that freedom and lifestyle for myself.

Ultimately, after 5 years of trying myself in different spheres, I understood that entrepreneurship is what I need. Despite all the risks, overtime, stress, and the huge responsibility, you will earn independence and the opportunity to be creative, the freedom to set your rules and become part of a bigger game: an every-day competition with yourself.
 
What advice would you give people trying to start a business in Russia?
To start a business in Russia, one should know the Russian mentality, which is unique and difficult to understand, especially for foreigners. Not all ideas that are booming in the rest of the world will be successful in the Russian market. To work with Russians as a foreigner can be difficult sometimes, as we have our own assumptions of appropriate working hours, deadlines and responsibility.

So my advice to foreigners is before coming here with your business, find a Russian consultant here who will direct you from the very beginning. Otherwise, you will be blindsided many times.