"In Russia, I quit everything"

The day of the Christian patron of the country is St. George.

About 9,300 Russians registered an individual entrepreneur in Georgia from March to September 2022, according to the November report by Transparency International Georgia. This is ten times more than for the entire 2021st. Paper Kartuli talked with the Russians about the opening of a gastrobar, a yoga studio and a hairdresser in Georgia. And about the features of doing business here.

Freedom Aroma Bar

Opening: August 12th
Investments: about $ 60 thousand

“Before the New Year (2022-approx. Paper Kartuli ) we took a fairly large loan [in Russia] and opened three more points. December we had colossal on orders, in height, in revenue. Until February 24, things went well, but the war crossed everything, ”says Gleb Kuznetsov.

In St. Petersburg, they with a business partner had a brand of aromas for the house Freedom Aroma, a shop-store at Sevkabel Porto and sales points in shopping centers. Soyy candles, diffusers, soap and aromas for cars were in demand from the moment of launch in 2020. But now, in Russia, the business of Gleb is “living”: there are enough revenue only to pay for bills, two of the four points had to be closed.

In Tbilisi, Kuznetsov arrived on March 12 with 10 thousand dollars, which was ready to invest in a new business. In Georgia, the entrepreneur designed an individual entrepreneur. Local legislation requires a passport with a stamp about the legal crossing of the border, a mobile phone with a local SIM card, an email address, registration address in Georgia and a paid duty. The owners of the rented apartment helped to draw up documents to Gleb.

Kuznetsov was the first to open the Garage bar in Vake-at the end of April. They sold candles, indoor plants and poured wine. “By July - August in the evenings on Friday, there were so many guests that people were sitting on the street. So I understood that there is potential, ”says Gleb.

For the sale of alcohol, according to Kuznetsov, there are no obstacles - a license in Georgia is not needed. The only requirement is to purchase it legally: “There is a system as a taxpayer’s office, and there is electronic document management. The supplier sends the invoice, so I have documents for each bottle, and this is enough, ”Gleb explains.

The place for the second business - Gastrobar - the entrepreneur found near Garage. It so happened to save the previous audience and attract a new one. The room was repaired: they repainted the hall, replaced the electrician and completely redone the kitchen. The sign with the name was coordinated at the city hall: as Gleb explained, it should duplicate in Georgian.

Freedom Aroma Bar opened on August 12. In total, 15 people work in a gastrobar, there are no local employees yet. Gleb says that he is constantly looking for people to serve guests in Georgian, but so far unsuccessfully. “Unfortunately, Georgians do not want to go to work with us. That is, they do not want to go here or work here. We have a target for the Georgian audience, but only a few companies came all the time, ”he says.

Keeping a gastrobar in Tbilisi, according to Kuznetsov, is difficult. It is unusual for him that quality products must be sought. And almost no one has delivery, as in St. Petersburg: “Suppliers are extremely optional. It is very difficult to solve communications. We have a lot of traffic, everything breaks, the sewage is clogged, there are problems with wiring. The pipe clogged, and in Georgia, Giorgobe - no one wants to go to repair. Such problems are strongly annoying me. ”

Gleb says that the bar works in waves: in one week there is a complete landing, and in the second is empty. He believes that the location plays a role: “We are in Vake and the audience is limited here - these are those who live here. Especially for coffee, no one will go here. ”

To launch Freedom Aroma Bar, Gleb attracted the investor and, according to him, spent about 60 thousand dollars. The costs have not yet paid off. Before the New Year, Kuznetsov sold a bar and is now restraining the brand of candles, and also remains the owner of the Garage space. “I thought I would make a cool project as in St. Petersburg-and everything would still be. But of course, this does not work. I never accepted a new reality, but finally realized it. ”

Dipika yoga studio

Opening: June 10
Investments: about $ 7 thousand

Vladimir Mityukov has been teaching yoga for eight years. In Russia, he had his own studio in the small city of Udomlya in the Tver region. On February 24, Vladimir led an online lesson from Egypt, where he was in a wintering with his wife and three children. “We lived in the Russian -speaking community, where there were Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians. There were many Ukrainians, we talked closely with them. At the end of the lesson [February 24], I said that I literally cannot go outside, because I don’t know how to look into their eyes. Someone in the hall grinned in the hall. Then it hurt me very much. Later I wrote about this in a common chat and realized that many support what is happening. Then everything fell apart: both the studio and people. In Russia, I left everything, ”Mityukov recalls, adding that he was not going to leave Russia forever before the start of the war.

The family came to Georgia on April 8. Yoga Mityukov decided to open the studio almost immediately. The direction of Iyengar, who is taught by Vladimir, he said, was not represented in Georgia: “Many people, including local people who lived in Russia and in Europe and began to practice there, returned here and wanted to continue, but there were no activities. I found an unoccupied niche. This is such a dignity of the country and the city, there is a space for doing business. ”

Vladimir sold an apartment in Russia, transported equipment from the studio in Udomle and began to look for a room. The place on Maxim Gorky Street, where Dipika is now located, the man looked at one of the first. “With the owners of the premises, we issued documents for the microbusiness at this address. Then I was invited to open an account with Bank of Georgia, later I took shape in the tax one, ”says Vladimir. He believes that the bureaucracy here is less than in Russia.

Mityukov was able to organize classes immediately. Then, in the studio, they made repairs. Through the Expatite group on Facebook, Vladimir found a specialist from Russia who sold him materials and advised the master to replace the floor. The man performed part of the repair work himself: “I spent four years in the village, where I built a water supply and sewage and put a tower for the Internet.”

Mityukov says that in the summer he worked in the minus, since no one goes to classes during this period. At the end of September, managed to go to zero. But so far, according to him, the studio does not bring such profit so that you can support the family: "This requires a greater circle of engaged, and everything goes to this." New visitors will learn about the studio using Target on Instagram and Facebook and through the Russian -speaking site.

In addition to Vladimir, two more coaches conduct classes in Dipika. “These are high -level teachers, and it seems to me that we can make a good and strong school here,” says Vladimir.

Short Cuts salon

Opening: test launch is planned in February
Investments: $ 10 thousand

Short Cuts salon in Tbilisi open a hairdresser Vera and veterinarian Angela. The girls met here: Vera came from St. Petersburg, and Angela from Nizhny Novgorod.

After arrival, Vera worked in the Ukrainian-Georgian salon: “It was hard for me there [emotionally]. And friends said that it was easier to open something of their own. Then I did not imagine myself in such a role at all. And now it turns out, as if it really really needs it. Not only to me, but also to people. "

Starting capital for the opening of the salon is Angela's savings. “I hope to meet 10 thousand dollars. I thought why not: this is a funny way to spend money, ”she says.

The searches of the premises took about two weeks: "Someone refused to hand over to the Russians, somewhere there was a bad electrician." Nevertheless, Angela says that it is easier to rent a commercial area than housing: there are fewer offers, but they are not real agents. As a result, the girls stopped at the room of 46 square meters. m in the center for $ 500.

After that, Angela issued an individual entrepreneur and a business account. There were no difficulties with this. “We have an accountant who helps us make expenses and in the future income so that everything corresponds to the law and we pay taxes. For me, this is a fairly important point, I want to somehow say thanks to the country we are in, and it seems to me that this is a good way, ”the girl says.

Faith with Angela took into account that different bank terminals have a different commission for acquiring. It all depends on which card the client pays. Therefore, several terminals help save with a large flow of visitors.

According to the girls, they would like to cooperate with local specialists and clients. Vera says that she was engaged in the search for Georgian hairdressers all summer, but did not find anyone. And the locals told her that Georgians are often attached to the place and may not change their work all their lives.

Now Vera feels that many friends dropped their hands and stopped trying to integrate into Georgian society: “Everyone is very tired. As if the reverse bitterness has already gone behind Russophobia. ”

Angela, who, in addition to the salon, works in the mixed team of Vet House veterinary clinic, on the contrary, believes that the attitude towards the Russians is becoming calmer.

In the summer, Vera launched an advertisement to attract local customers: several people came, but so far it was not possible to achieve more.

“While I was looking for masters, I interviewed a 20 man. I just approached people with interesting haircuts on the street. And they answered 100 % to me: I cut it out myself, either with my mother in Gori, or with my friend’s friend. At the same time, it seems to me that people have a need for a good service here, because the loading customers who left me were happy that they received exactly what they wanted, ”Vera says. The girl teaches Georgian and dreams that someday she will work in her salon with knowledge of the language.

What else to read:

• "Almost everything was bought in a couple of days." Report from the first offline shop in Georgia.
• " Many for the first time were abroad ." The co -founder of Emigration for Action on the new wave of Russian emigrants in Georgia