01He knew the tools but had not connected them into a system
Oleg Poddubnyy worked in two areas: Colorit colored-sand art kits and ventilation systems.
He compares life before coaching to a chaotic flow of tasks. Many tools were familiar, but there was never enough time to implement them.
During the program, he began connecting this with work organization. Knowing another tool was not enough; actions had to be distributed and followed through to results.
02His personal involvement in the ventilation business decreased
Oleg says several ventilation projects were completed during the training period.
He had largely stepped out of constant operational work. By the interview, his role mainly involved consultations and occasional help with ongoing tasks.
He connects this with a different view of staff and delegation. Responsibility and risk had previously frightened him; now he was more willing to act with the team.
03Investment and expected profit are not money already earned
At the beginning, Oleg recalls usually taking around $300 for himself from the two businesses. He clarifies that he could have taken more, so this does not represent the companies' total profit.
The conversation later includes different measures: the current month's result, a total for the period including investment raised, and expectations for a new contract. Adding them together as one earnings figure would be incorrect.
For example, Oleg discusses a ventilation project worth UAH 150,000 and expected profit of around $1,000. He separately says the contract had only been signed and the order was not yet completed. He therefore did not count that profit as his yet.
The distinction is retained: money received, financing raised and a contract's future result are different things.
04A community project required him to step forward
In a team community project, Oleg initially did not want the leading role, citing lack of time.
Later, he realized the project mattered to him and that without a clear working structure, the team might not reach its goal.
He had already begun discussing tasks and participation with partners. Eventually, he decided to take charge: otherwise, he would feel responsible for failure without being able to influence the process.
05Taking charge was easier than establishing delegation
Oleg does not claim to have instantly become a strong manager. He still handled some matters himself because he had not learned to pass on both a task and its responsibility clearly enough.
Difficulties remained in setting deadlines and distributing work so participants actually fulfilled agreements.
By the interview's end, he formulated a simple rule for himself: do what you planned. He also recalls an important money-related call that can be postponed for a month.
He describes the outcome together with its limits: less daily work in one business, greater willingness to lead and an unfinished process of learning to manage people.
«Business Code» is a program by Igor Graf. More member stories