Success is rising up... Just one more time
Fragile, yet strong
Galina Artemieva, the company's owner, formerly employed in health care sector, paved her way through a series of failures and trials of life.
Following the death of her 8 years old son, she has long been harboring the idea of building a small church of Saint Dmitrii to commemorate his name. "I had my own goals set out. My first attempt of earning money failed after the Russian crisis in 1998 but I did not give up, as only those who do nothing never make mistakes "In 2001 she registered her enterprise "Paritatis" Ltd. To start the business she has taken a loan from a bank, which was granted in goods. "I found myself having to sell my own apartment to repay the loan, which left me with no roof over my head" – Galina says.
She has beaten her path to many doors until she finally got an office space in an old building. And even this still was not enough to get her business up and running. Lack of business management skills would make itself felt in a more distinct way than even the financial gap.
Perceptions of a financing gap, however, often mask more fundamental problems at the firm management level. Galina knew she needed more knowledge and information. Without having any economical background she trusted her intuition in running her business.
Galina was fortunate enough to find out about the International Center for Women Promotion in Business "ICAWB" which at that time was delivering a number of courses with USAID/BIZPRO support which helped her regain confidence.
Her first training was on "Business for you and your family". To the second one on "Effective management skills" she brought her older son whom she thought to appoint as the manager of the firm.
The following course emphasized the "Techniques of effective sales". All this information and knowledge helped her take the right management decisions and learn how to attract more customers to her store.
How does she cultivate relationships with her clients? "We work very hard and we emphasize quality and service. We are dependable and accountable" Such attitude nurtured the long-term relationship with her clients.
In the Center she met with many interesting people who were quite successful in their business. First they received the authorization to trade vegetables and consumer goods. More than that, Galina and her sons prepared the necessary documents for opening a drug store.
The seemingly fragile appearance belies the steely determination that Galina Artemieva possesses. She credits her strong faith and the chance to take advantage of valuable and not expensive information provided to her just in time. Galina often wonders "Are entrepreneurs born? Some people may possess innate, genetic business talents and plan to venture on their own to realize personal and financial goals. Some people, on the other hand are thrust into entrepreneurship by completely unexpected opportunities. And this is my case!".
"I had my own goals set out, and my first attempts failed, but only those who do nothing never make mistakes"
"Paritatis" Ltd is now a rapidly growing supermarket with a big choice of products and good customer service. Four new lines of trade have been opened up since 2001: beverages, household goods, food products and impulsive demand goods. 5 new jobs have been created, the daily sales increased by 5 times. A new project is now being contemplated for the establishment of a Medical Center.
With her enthusiasm and continuing passion with what she does it is no wander that she thrives in her chosen field. Despite her accomplishments, though, she does not believe the success she achieved is the final goal. As she explains, "Success is a journey not a destination. It is something that I've strived to develop -to improve and do things better!"
