Ilya Bezruchko (on Facebook Ilya Aizenshtat ) – CEO of the BeeWorking co-working network – I’m not afraid of this word – market leaders.
BeeWorking has 4 locations in Kyiv: Goloseevo and Podol, as well as Olimpiyskaya and Lukyanovskaya (the last two are currently under renovation). In the first, on Lomonosov, which is located a few minutes from VDNG, we met for an interview.
I have known Ilya for more than five years, since the days of working in the same UMH holding. And from the first days of our acquaintance, I remember him as a true professional in his field, who knows exactly what he wants and confidently goes to his goals.
First, Ilya gave me a tour of the coworking space, I decided to devote a separate article to this, which can be found here. Two hours of conversation flew by like five minutes, and more like a friendly conversation, without officialdom. We talked about the growing popularity of co-working spaces, the corona crisis, and business.
At that time, I had already decided for myself that I wanted to do something related to coworking real estate, and I had a million ideas that I would like to implement.
It so happens that I quit this job and a few days later I was invited for an interview. I go through it right away. I collect my thoughts and in a few days, I go out to a new one.
Here, in fact, I have been doing been working for three years. Initially, there were two people in the team – me and the project manager. Later designer Polina Yakovleva joined us. Since then, we have been launching something new and moving forward.
- Such a cardinal leap – from working in the media to real estate.
I really like working with real estate – compared to media, it is simple and understandable. Journalism is a complicated thing, I love it madly, but to remain objective in the profession is not easy, subjective – you will get tons of hate.
And at the same time, it is not a fact that you will be recognized at all. Probably, to some extent, I chose an easier path for myself, and in my free time, I write posts. 🙂
In journalism, it is difficult to see the end result of your work. For some, this may be a written article or a special project implemented. These are just some steps towards something more, and some complete end product for me, a person with a journalistic education, is a changed point of view or new knowledge that my reader receives. Calculating this conversion is difficult. Therefore, working in the media leaves a certain feeling of understatement and incompleteness of your product.
Returning to real estate, everything is clear here. I came, I saw, I rented/bought.
You have a business plan, a miscalculation, due diligence, checking facilities, interior space planning, visualization, in parallel – a tender, selection of contractors, a finished project – contractors come in, there are deadlines, a contract. Paid and done. Payments are closed – that’s it, you have a ready result – a new building – come in people.
And I am proud to say that it was we who created the BeeWorking space (Goloseevo). In a coworking space, I feel cool physically when I just come and sit on a comfortable chair, painstakingly chosen by the designers. As a result, we get satisfied residents who are not ashamed to smile. I enjoy it.
I had lunch, I see that the guys are sitting in the game room, we took a hack at FIFA on the Playstation and went in a good mood after the game to work on.
- The coronavirus pandemic has hit all areas of business in one way or another. How did you deal with the challenges? What anti-crisis methods were used?
The main challenge for all real estate is lockdowns, so it was difficult for people to get to one or another point in the city. Naturally, when all these epidemiological stories began, the first thing we did was strengthen sanitary standards and disinfection, bought quartz lamps, antiseptics, and disposable and reusable masks for residents.
The first quarantine was met at BeeWorking in Podil (there was no location on Goloseevo yet), and due to the fact that we had a trusting relationship with residents, we provided them with the necessary discounts and the opportunity to freeze our fixed working areas every six months. Also, during the lockdowns, residents kept their belongings free of charge in the co-working space.
We are in the same boat with the residents – if we go to meet them, they will be able to save money for their operating activities, which will help people get out of all this chaos.
First of all, the coronavirus has taught us that it is impossible not to have stocks. From the very beginning, we were very economical with the money we earned, we made a miscalculation with the accountant about the number of discounts for residents, and what reserves we have. After – we saw the result, we realized that everything was okay, and we move on.
Unfortunately, now many co-working spaces have problems – this is bad and wrong because the business should not suffer. Coworking spaces are spaces that, on the contrary, help young entrepreneurs find a comfortable workplace option.
When such spaces suffer, it hurts me, because all coworking spaces form a new layer of office culture.
I would like the state to give some clear guidelines for business during the Covid-19 period. Because in the first wave of quarantine, we were faced with a lack of a clear understanding of what and how to do. Everything happened intuitively – one of the doctors advised quartz lamps.
Let’s be frank: UAH 8,000 for FOPs is no help. Event agencies and the tourism sector are dying, and many still do not understand what to do.
Also, because of the lockdowns, many contracts were broken. People do not have an office, the quality of work is declining, and communication with clients is also falling. Honestly, I tried the first lockdown to work from home – it’s impossible. There should be a separation of home and work.
- In the modern world, there is an example of one country that defeated the coronavirus – Israel. I think Ukraine should take an example from them as well.
Yes, because they introduced severe restrictions throughout the spring, summer, autumn, and winter they already started vaccination, and by March 1, 70% of the population was vaccinated, plus they have already purchased 16 million vaccines for the next stages.
At the same time, Israel has a different story – we take off our masks – we put on helmets. But the second is a more familiar story for them.
What do we see with us? Chaotic slow processes. Many people want to get vaccinated but can’t. At the same time, there are many international organizations ready to help us. But now the conclusion is this: we rely on ourselves and work within the framework in which we are kept.
- Who do you look up to in terms of business?
Globally, there is a good example, but at the same time a sad one – WeWork. This is one of the pioneers of the coworking network, which made an awesome product and an entire ecosystem: from kindergarten to university. They created a community where everything was looped within the community, someone even called them a sect, because people lived inside this ecosystem.
Why a sad story? They had an unrealistic $47 billion pre-IPO valuation, but due to a series of actions and steps taken by their CEO, they missed it, losing a huge amount of money. Now there is a rather difficult situation in terms of financing and further development.
On the one hand, this example is inspiring – a landmark in terms of the ecosystem and globality, on the other hand – it teaches how it is impossible to behave as a CEO of a company even with such volumes and sponsor SoftBank. Because any soap bubble can one day burst.
- Who is your role model in terms of personality?
From each character that interests me, I try to take the maximum benefit for myself. To say that Elon Musk inspires me is kind of trite, but it’s true. A person has a fantasy that has no boundaries, which he brings to life.
I look up to those who are not afraid to dream, who are not afraid of difficulties, who know how to properly respond to any encroachment on their interests, opinions, beliefs and values.
- Trends indicate that more and more people are moving away from standard offices and are opting for co-working spaces. How can you confirm or refute this trend?
It’s true and it’s hard not to see it. Why did part of society howl during the lockdown that they were tired of sitting at home and wanted to work? Because it is important for a person to be in a team and in touch with each other – to be nourished by knowledge, to be inspired.
Working in a coworking space differs from an office one in an elementary way, even with walls – they are transparent here, it’s a shame not to work here, because others will see it. 🙂 In offices, as a rule, they are closed, and you are left to yourself. In coworking spaces, there is more teamwork – all issues are resolved quickly, and mutual assistance is felt.
People come to coworking to work on the result, to the office – to sit.
- Why did the coronavirus push people to abandon offices in favor of co-working spaces?
Because when you rent an office, you also have associated costs – from cleaning to a communal apartment. But, again, it all depends on the size of the company.
In coworking, you have a choice and the most flexible space. Today, there are, conditionally, two of you, tomorrow I booked a meeting for my bonuses that operate within been working, and you gathered as a team. The bottom line is that in coworking spaces it is convenient for people to cooperate and, unlike an office in its standard sense, to receive psycho-emotional feedback in return.
- How many people are under your control now?
About 20.
- Delegation is important in any job. How well have you learned this art? What methods of team motivation do you use?
I try to select people I know and trust in the team. Yes, not everyone came like that, someone – on the recommendation. But if I take a person to this or that position, then I trust the whole range of activities in his area of responsibility, where I will not interfere. My task is a business development and vision of the further steps of the project related to global goals and objectives.
I have no problem with delegation. Sometimes there are problems with completing tasks. There is such a term “perception” – not everyone understands the task the way you do. And, as a rule, there is a problem in you. Therefore, I try to convey some things in more detail. But in general, such situations are the exception rather than the rule, and deal with difficult moments.
If we talk about motivation, I try to spend a lot of time with the team, and I communicate with the guys during the working day. In addition, no one canceled memes on Instagram. 🙂
- BeeWorking consists of four co-working spaces: Podol, Goloseevo, Olimpiyskaya, and Lukyanovskaya. Why were these locations chosen?
Podil is our first location, which opened in 2019. It was a test and small. Podil is my personal love, Kyiv is impossible without Podil, plus it is one of the most creative districts of the city. There we have a small cozy space at 850 meters – quite intimate, where you can go out onto the balcony, have a cup of coffee before work, and be inspired by the view of the Dnieper. Hem design was created by an outsourcing team, it is good, but good for 2018, at the time of its creation.
The trends of 2021 are about something more eternal, not going out of fashion – ever green.
If we talk about Goloseevo, here I was struck by the comfort of work. This is an absolute oasis in the city, where there is no road noise, and you are isolated from external annoying factors. I talked with the team for a long time about the implementation of coworking in this location, because it was controversial, but we decided that it would be interesting and cool also for logistical reasons. We are located five minutes from VDNG with a huge park and ride. Why go to an already overloaded center when you can work with us?
Lukyanovka reminds our team of Berlin. On the one hand, this is a creative district, on the other hand, a business district, and on the third, a creative one. Plus – this is the center and not far from the metro, rich enough for its traffic with a good interchange. The co-working space on Lukyanovka has a diplomatic style, darker tones, and, in principle, the expectation that people have cool meetings. This location is focused on the consulting business, so we are introducing the format of offices for bosses with small reception areas. There is no game room, but there will be a kitchen where you can eat cheesecakes, coffee to go, and a mini cafe.
All our coworking spaces are located close to the metro so that residents can move around as comfortably as possible.
Olympic. This is the center. A location focused on large companies to cover them from the mezzanine to the whole.
- How much does it cost to rent a coworking space per person?
From 90 to 290 dollars per person. 90 dollars is 2 weeks in the lounge area: all loose workplaces – sofas, armchairs – on any floor.
Open space – only a fixed workplace, the cost is from $ 190. In this zone, a person gets a place – a mini-office in an open space, where you can freely leave your things and come at any time.
- Do you have any internal loyalty programs?
With any tariff plan, a resident downloads the BeeWorking application (available on both iPhone and Android). There, the internal currency is counted – “bees”, with which you can pay inside the coworking for the use of meeting rooms.
The more expensive the tariff plan and the more people in the team, the more internal “bees” you get. One “bee” = one dollar.
Another advantage of our network is that if you, conditionally, work at Goloseevo, but you need a negotiation at the Olympics, then you simply select the desired location in the application.
- I am sure that there are no “former” journalists. Do you have any plans to create your own edition?
Such a thought does not leave me. I love journalism very much, and when I was studying, I thought that by the age of 30 I would become the editor-in-chief of Correspondent because at that time it seemed an unthinkable height. When my letter was printed there – a reply to one of the articles – I was the happiest person in the world.
Yes, I would like my own media, but this is a completely hypothetical story, because you need to do something interesting for everyone. Therefore, as soon as I come up with a format, I immediately implement it.
