Within the Youth Forum of APK’s Association of Entrepreneurs, young self-made leaders told their success stories and shared their experience.
Despite the skeptics' assurances that it is difficult to do business in Kazakhstan, annually Entrepreneurs’ Association is replenished with dozens of new participants. Their guiding star is the stories of young successful businessmen.
Maxim Spotkay, Deputy General Director of "NUR Media" Holding, Chairman of APK’s "Zhangyru Zholy" Republican Youth Movement, spoke about the challenges for young people in the XXI century and the plans of the youth movement of the Assembly for 2019:
"The year of youth is not a time to sit idle, but time to act. We must fill this year with specific projects and actions. Any youth organization must build their activity on the principles of social entrepreneurship, not on social dependency.
The activity of any youth organization should be based on it. I am sincerely convinced of this, including the youth wing of APK – movement "Zhangyru Zholy". I urge you to be engaged in volunteer activities, including within the framework of our movement, because, as it turned out, it is pragmatic and very profitable.
"Success is something individual, but startups' mistakes are basically the same. I will tell five common mistakes. The first is the team. Any investor invests in the team, in self-development. Second. If you start your own business, you need to test it, find out if you can do it, or you make a problem and give it a solution. The third is a quick launch. You need to get started quickly, see what the audience has to say, and implement changes later, so that people can say what is necessary to change. Fourth, love. In startup, it is very important. It is necessary to burn with this idea, to love and believe that it solves the problem. Fifth. Money is not a cure-all. If a person can't do anything without money, he will do it longer. It is necessary to try everything that can be done without money, somehow run, to look at the opinion of people. But if there is a problem and you give it a solution, investors will find you. You have to be in two minds, pull the team, love the project and test it.
Dalel Juzbayev, a young entrepreneur in agriculture, Bolashak Presidential Program Scholarship holder, talks about the project "Auyl – El Besigi. Kazakhstan Dream" and how he realized his "American Dream":
"Since I was a child, I was fond of English and grew up on American films. It made me want to live and learn in the United States. I studied under Bolashak program and returned to Kazakhstan to work for a national company for five years. I often thought about the future, where to build it. On the one hand, I was attracted to "American Dream". But I wondered, "Will I become a full-fledged citizen of this country? Will I be able to be proud of my country while I am there? I realized that I do not. In any case, I will remain an entrant, an expat. I decided for myself – this life, this dream I have to build here, in my native village. I built a house in the backwoods with all the amenities 120 kilometers away from Astana, planted trees, planted a lawn, created such a small "American dream" for myself. And this house symbolizes a new standard of living in the countryside. I want every employee, every resident of the village to reach such a standard of living. By improving our standard of living, we can create an environment around us so that others will also decide that they can build a decent, beautiful life, "Kazakhstan dream" in their homeland. I will be very glad and happy.
Batyrbek Aubakirov, Chairman of Kazakhstan Packers’ Association, shared his plans to implement the new project:
"In our country everyone can succeed, do not look for excuses, go to your goal. I graduated with honors from L.N. Gumilyov ENU and worked in various companies. But I wanted to find something of my own, enjoy the work. In 2011, working in Atameken Union, I had the task of promoting the export of Kazakhstani goods. Packaging plays a big role in this. In this regard, we have created an association that brings together 50 plants, paper and light industry factories across Kazakhstan. More than ten thousand people work in the industry. We provide great support to the business, because the business will not go by word of mouth, it is moving forward in action and solutions. Any goods should be packaged beautifully, innovatively, with labels, there should be a barcode and an expiration date. We are planning to establish Design and Packaging Solutions Center on the basis of the association. Our task is to increase the literacy of young entrepreneurs and introduce them to the culture of product packaging. In any case, it is necessary to be sociable and persistent in achieving the goals.
Lyailim ABEUOVA, Dana TUGAMBEKOVA
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