Maria Tanasiychuk from Nova Oleksandrivka (Kyiv region) , the winner of the "Do Your Business" business idea competition, shared her success story, UNN reports.
Details
The woman won the competition with a project called "Sun-dried tomatoes". Her path to success began with a friend's suggestion that she make a small batch of sun-dried tomatoes for trial sales.
"He once tasted my home-made gastronomic experiments and decided that potential buyers would appreciate this taste. And so it happened: 24 jars were sold in his shop in 1.5 hours. I was very inspired by this fact," she recalls.
Tanasiichuk decided to apply for the competition because she felt she had the potential to start her own business. With the old equipment, she could process no more than 8 kg of tomatoes per day. And the equipment would occasionally "fail" her. So Tanasiichuk decided to scale up her business.
The woman was told about the competition by representatives of the Zgurivka village community. The woman took part in the competition and won.
"The grant allows me to scale up my production by almost 6 times. With the new dehydrator, I can dry 50 kilograms of tomatoes in a day, and the professional juicer is ready for 72 hours of continuous operation," the winner adds.
Today, Tanasiichuk has a wide range of products: dried tomatoes, plums, pickled peppers, and 7 types of sauces (red currant, blackberry, sweet and sour chili, sweet chili, tomato and basil, tomato chili, and preservative-free ketchup). She buys products for jerky and sauces from local farmers and developed the recipes herself.
Tanasiichuk sells his products mainly through social media. He also cooperates with several restaurants in Kyiv and grocery stores in the community.
The winner also shared her secret of success.
"It's about doing quality work and not stopping. It's about dreaming. Now I want to register my San Marzano brand, expand production and create jobs. Despite the difficult times, there are many opportunities and support for small and medium-sized businesses now. Therefore, everything is possible, the desire is important," she summarized.
Recall
At the end of May 2023, the organizers of the "Do Your Business" business idea competition for entrepreneurs in small towns and villages announced the winners.
Last year, the "MHP-Hromada" Charitable Foundation, which organized the competition, supported 80 business projects totaling more than UAH 7.4 million.
A total of 615 applications were received from small entrepreneurs across the country. In particular, most business ideas were submitted in Kyiv (22%), Cherkasy (12%), Dnipro (11%), Vinnytsia (9%), and Lviv (9%) regions.
The main criteria for selecting the winners were project innovation, economic component, creation of new jobs, social significance, and involvement of IDPs in business or work. Both existing businesses that are expanding or relocating and entrepreneurs who have a business idea and are just looking for funding to implement it received grant support.
Help
"MHP-Hromada" is a Ukrainian charitable foundation that started its operations in 2015. Its main mission is the comprehensive development of communities. The geography of its activities includes 12 regions of Ukraine: more than 700 towns and villages. Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Foundation has been systematically supporting people in the war zone, Ukrainian defenders and rescuers, communities, hospitals and maternity homes, charitable institutions that care for orphans and the elderly, as well as people who have lost their homes and livelihoods due to the war.