2000.
A garage. Band practice. The smell of overheated metal and old gear. And then, my friend Yarik pulls out a fresh certificate from his old backpack — officially a registered entrepreneur.
“Look at me! I’m a businessman now!” 😎
At that moment, I was a student at Zaporizhzhia National University and felt two things:
1. Pride for my friend.
2. And a burning desire to become an entrepreneur too.
“Why not me?” — I thought.
300 bucks — that was the price of admission to the business. Back then, it felt like a fortune. But where there’s a will, there’s a way. I went to Orikhiv to visit my sister. She and her husband — who was like an older brother to me — supported my crazy idea and handed me the money.
(Orikhiv is now almost destroyed due to the war and russian occupation, but in my memories, it remains just as it was then.)
First Business, First Risk, First Fail?
So, what was the idea?
Renting out CD and DVD disks. Yeah, pirated ones — that’s how things were back then. 😅
And guess what? It actually worked!
But it wasn’t without its problems — the laws changed, anti-piracy efforts intensified, and things got risky. Eventually, we had to shut it all down.
The friendship with Yarik nearly collapsed too. But here’s the happy ending — we stayed friends. And we still have each other’s backs.
Fail or Win? 🤔
What do you think? Was it:
- ✅ A win — because the business worked.
- ❌ A fail — because we had to shut it down.
- 🤷♂️ Experience — because without it, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
And now — the present 🚀
Enough about the 2000s.
Today, I’m building my own marketing agency. And while I’m not starting completely from scratch (I’ve got two existing sites — orange-green-webstudio.de and onlineshops.de), it feels more like I’m raising a shipwreck than steering a ready-made business.
Current Status:
- orange-green-webstudio.de — for promoting the agency, sharing cases, services, and attracting clients.
- onlineshops.de — a SEO platform for lead generation, backlinks, and strategy testing.
Right now, these sites are more like remnants of old projects than active tools. But there’s potential.
🚀 My Vision for the Agency
1. A stable marketing agency focused on SEO, content marketing, and lead generation.
2. Financial Goal: Become profitable within a year.
3. Transparent Processes:
- Clear pricing.
- Predictable results.
- Data-driven decisions.
4. Honest Marketing:
No empty promises — only real numbers.
And it’s just getting started…
“In the next post, I’ll show the real metrics, the current status, and what’s needed to fully bring the agency to life.”
Let’s raise the iceberg — and see if there’s gold underneath. 😉🚀
