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Contents:

• Creating a Business with the Possibility of Subsequent Sale
• The Art of Managing the Tasks of a Small Business Founder
• Energy Sources for an Entrepreneur: How to Maintain Activity in Business and Life

Young entrepreneurs often face a number of difficult questions. How do you cope with the difficulties of concentration when there are many different tasks to accomplish? Is it possible to sell your stake in the business and make a profit? How can you find energy when you're tired and lacking the energy to even complete everyday tasks?

The TOK conference, organized by Tochka Bank on October 24, addressed these and many other pressing questions. The event took place at the GES-2 Community Center as part of the GES-2: B2B initiative. Skillbox Media's Business editorial team reviewed the speakers' presentations, and in this article, we'll share information on:

• How to create a business that allows you to quit.
• Effective task management in a small business requires striking a balance between various aspects of the work. First and foremost, it's crucial to prioritize: identify the most important tasks that require immediate attention and those that can wait.

  The next step is process optimization. This may include delegating responsibilities to distribute the workload among employees, as well as using technology to automate routine operations. This way, you will be able to focus on more important aspects of your business.

  It is equally important to regularly evaluate and review your goals and objectives. This will allow you to adjust your focus depending on changing market conditions or internal factors.

  It is also worth considering the time required to complete each task. Effective time management contributes to a more efficient use of resources and increased productivity.

  Finally, it is important to remember the need to maintain a work-life balance. By making time for rest and recuperation, you will be able to maintain a high level of motivation and effectiveness in business.

• It is important for entrepreneurs to find sources of energy that will help maintain their motivation and productivity. One such source can be inspiration and passion for their business, which allows you to approach tasks with enthusiasm. It is also useful to surround yourself with like-minded people, communication with whom can charge you with positive energy and spur you to new achievements.In addition, physical activity plays a significant role in maintaining vitality. Regular exercise or even simple walks in the fresh air can improve your mood and increase your productivity. Don't forget about the need for proper rest: time away from work helps you recharge and approach challenges with renewed vigor.

  You should also consider training and personal growth. New knowledge and skills can not only inspire you but also give you the impetus for further business development. Reading books, attending seminars or courses can enrich your experience and provide new ideas for implementation.

  Thus, an entrepreneur's energy can be found in passion for the business, interaction with people, caring for your physical health, and a desire to learn.

Creating a Business with the Possibility of Subsequent Sale

Ivan Shkirya, founder of Calibri and a serial entrepreneur, has repeatedly bought and sold shares in various companies. Specifically, he sold a 51% stake in Calibri to Beeline. At the TOK event, Ivan shared his thoughts on what it takes to successfully exit a business over time.

Selling and acquiring both companies and their shares isn't just the domain of large corporations. Small and medium-sized businesses are also actively involved in this process.

Why does it make sense to consider selling a business?

Completely—to increase your freedom and reduce stress while maintaining your usual standard of living. Alternatively, you can take a sabbatical, change your career path, or even retire.

To increase your motivation and achieve greater success, consider partnering. This greatly simplifies the process. Furthermore, when you decide to sell your stake in the business, the remaining share acquires real value and becomes a fully-fledged asset. Having a strategic partner will help mitigate risks and develop a clear exit strategy.

To achieve growth, it is important that you and your partner have similar values ​​and principles, but at the same time, you should have different skills, resources, and personalities.

To simplify the process of selling a business, you need to make it attractive to potential investors. In this regard, it is useful to consider four key principles.

A systems approach. Effective business management is impossible without it - it is important to understand how various processes function, but at the same time, it is desirable to minimize the number of routine tasks. It is optimal to structure the company in such a way that each employee performs their role as a part of a mechanism that can be replaced if necessary.

Earning money is the essence of business. Starting a company should always be focused on profitability, and this is important to keep in mind. The primary objective is precisely the pursuit of financial success.

Registering employees under employment contracts and paying taxes is what is called "white" work. Although this may seem like an additional burden, with the right approach and including these expenses in the financial model, you will not only be able to adapt but also build a sustainable business model. This will make it easier to promote and grow your business in the future.

Decisions with a long-term perspective. When making decisions, it is important to base them on long-term goals, with the primary objective being maximizing profits. For example, if a company is experiencing a shortage of clients, it would be wiser to hire not just a sales manager, but a professional who will take the position of head of the sales department. This is because they have the necessary knowledge to create an effective sales system.

Also, it is important to consider a number of important aspects that can contribute to a more successful sale of the business. The first thing to remember is that the sales process involves negotiations, during which you must protect your interests. Second, if a condition is not reflected in the contract, it can be considered non-existent; verbal agreements are often unenforceable. Third, in order to sell a business on favorable terms, you need to prepare your team for the deal in advance and be prepared for a lengthy process.

The Art of Managing the Tasks of a Small Business Founder

Olga Lokshina, founder and designer of the jewelry brand Moonswoon, successfully combines the creative and managerial aspects of her work. Her brand, which was launched 12 years ago with an initial investment of just 20,000 rubles, achieved an impressive annual turnover of 120 million rubles in 2024. Olga shared her thoughts on how to avoid wasting your attention on unimportant tasks in a creative business and how to find a balance between various responsibilities.

In a small business, the opportunity for full delegation is virtually nonexistent. Finding an operations director who could take over all processes and leave you with only the area of ​​idea generation is extremely difficult. As a result, all responsibility falls on your shoulders.

In a creative business, the founder often displays chaotic attention. It resembles a ping-pong ball, constantly bouncing from one task to another. Attention shifts from sales to design, then to marketing, and finally to the production process. Along the way, resources are depleted, and the ball eventually ends up on the ground, requiring additional effort to pick it up and get it back into play.

This chaos lends itself to organization, and this is necessary to realize that everything is functioning properly and a certain stability exists. In this context, it's helpful to visualize all tasks as a system—for example, in the form of a cube, where each face represents an established process or area of ​​responsibility related to a different person.

The cube has several faces, such as finance, marketing, production, customers, distribution channels, and the product itself. Let's analyze how these aspects can contain clutter:

• When it comes to the product, it makes sense to delegate responsibility for its development to one team member, giving them the right to reject your suggestions. This way, if you come up with an idea to create something new or improve an existing product, you will receive feedback and professional opinion from the assigned person, which will prevent the team's resources from being wasted on implementing all the proposed ideas.
• When it comes to finance, it makes sense to develop a financial model, while setting budgetary limits to adhere to. For example, you can define a purchase limit that cannot be exceeded. This will help avoid spontaneous decisions and actions.

When the founder's unpredictable attention meets another person's clearly organized process or area of ​​responsibility, productive interactions emerge. It doesn't matter if you're focused on finance today, marketing tomorrow, and product the day after; with an established system, meaningful work will be accomplished in each of these areas.

The founder's unorganized yet vibrant creative energy, combined with a clear management system, fuels the company's growth. The founder understands that the business remains stable and predictable even in challenging times. The company's operations are unaffected by the founder's mood or fears. All processes operate harmoniously and efficiently, as they should.

Energy Sources for an Entrepreneur: How to Maintain Activity in Business and Life

Olga Sokolova, previously CEO of the Scandinavia clinic chain and a junior partner at McKinsey, managed a team of over two thousand employees. She also launched various projects and worked in consulting. At the TOK conference, which took place at the GES-2 Community Center as part of the GES-2: B2B initiative, Olga shared her recommendations for restoring energy. An entrepreneur's energy significantly impacts various aspects of their work. For example, when they experience irritation, it can negatively impact their team, and their productivity begins to decline. If a business founder is unable to cope with the workload, this can slow the company's development, and everyday tasks become a real challenge. To feel energized, you need to be happy. However, in modern society, constant busyness and fatigue are often valued. At the same time, there are various methods that help restore lost energy resources. A person's energy can be depleted by various parasitic influences, as well as conditions such as anxiety, the desire for control, and fear of the future. There are seven recommendations that will help you cope with these problems and restore your strength. Learn to free yourself from negative experiences. If you continue to carry it around, it will become noticeable to everyone around you. It's like older women: some of them emanate traces of a difficult life, while others glow with an inner light. The former carry resentments and bitterness from failures.

Each of us faces both positive and difficult moments in life - it is simply impossible to avoid mistakes and difficulties. However, continuing to carry negative experiences such as resentment, anger, or sadness and constantly reminding yourself of failures that happened five years ago can drain your strength. Feeling negative emotions, transforming them into lessons, and then letting go will help make life much easier.

Create a collection of inspiring stories in your mind and try not to complain about daily events. This will also serve as a good way to learn to get rid of negative emotions.

Communicate with people you enjoy. However, in the workplace, this opportunity is limited - it is important to be able to find a common language with different people. It's better to develop these skills than to hinder processes. For example, if you can call, avoid writing long formal letters.

In your personal life, especially at home, you should only allow those with whom you feel comfortable and who can bring you joy. Try to minimize interactions with those who leave you with unpleasant feelings - you have the right to make such decisions.

Avoid doing things that evoke negative feelings. There are activities that require significant energy expenditure, but you can do without them. To determine which tasks are these, it is worth paying attention to your own feelings: after completing these tasks, you may feel tired, want to eat stress, or notice how time reflects on your face. For example, among such tasks there may be meetings or meetings that you feel obligated to attend only because you are the founder.

It is best to refuse such tasks. Focus on the tasks that bring you joy.

Of course, you won't be able to completely avoid some unappealing tasks. However, they can be seen as a kind of price to pay for something you enjoy. For example, the process of obtaining a Schengen visa can be interpreted as the price of enjoying many pleasant moments in Paris.

Believe in yourself. Self-doubt can slow your progress. You may feel fear about the future or listen to friends who worry about you and ask whether you will regret your choices, which can ultimately hinder your action.

To boost your confidence, try to think back to all your successes. Make a list of at least 50 times you overcame challenges. These could be things like getting a job with no prior experience, returning to school after dropping out, or starting your own business.

Try to convince yourself that you have the confidence to overcome any difficulties that arise. It may not happen as quickly or easily as you would like, but you can still cope with any challenges.

Try to find the positive in any circumstance. Even when faced with negativity, be it a conflict with a difficult boss, a ruined vacation, or a forced rest due to an injury, it is helpful to ask yourself, "What is the benefit of this situation for me?"

By turning any negative situation over, you can realize what benefit it has brought. For example, the threat of lawsuits and the possible loss of a significant amount of money can unexpectedly help strengthen your connections with loved ones and make new valuable acquaintances. Writing down positive moments will not only help you let go of negative experiences but also prevent them from accumulating.

Start with the basics. If you have a difficult task that makes you anxious, just get started. Set simple goals for yourself—these can be called first-level metrics. For example, "make 50 videos." Don't set a goal of "50 videos with a million views," but simply focus on quantity—50 videos.

It will be easier to start if you don't set yourself difficult goals from the very beginning. Once you manage to achieve a simple result, you can move on to more complex goals.

Imagine that all your dreams can come true. Some believe that we are able to attract any desire into our lives. However, to do this, you must first believe in the possibility of such an outcome—give yourself permission to do so. It is also important to agree with the idea that when your desire comes true, it will bring you happiness and benefit.

This statement is especially relevant when it comes to finances. An unconscious fear of significant earnings often arises, as it may seem that, for example, your partner will begin to feel dissatisfied, or your friends will perceive you differently.

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  Furthermore, regular meetings will help maintain open communication. Create an atmosphere where everyone can express their ideas and concerns. Discussing emerging issues and problems constructively will help find solutions and improve collaboration.

  Don't forget the importance of trust. Make sure each of you understands the value of each other's contributions and is willing to support each other under any circumstances. And finally, be prepared to compromise. A successful business requires flexibility and a willingness to adapt to changing conditions, so it's important to be able to find a middle ground in contentious situations.

  By following these recommendations, you can launch a joint project, maintain team harmony, and achieve success.

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