“We built this bridge, we built this highway, this airport, this gas pipeline, this new metallurgical workshop - we also work, but here is the repair of a nuclear power plant and a hospital,” Natalya Gorelova lists projects from her business portfolio with such ease. as if we are talking about interior design. Co-founder and managing partner of two construction companies - Larssen Piling and Pile Business - five years ago Natalya left hiring (although the top position she held quite satisfied her financial ambitions), took out a loan and, together with two partners, took the risk of getting involved construction. Dipping the Larsen sheet pile, selling the Larsen sheet pile, fixing the foundation pits, drilling - all this is a “hard construction”, a business that cannot be called comfortable and simple. But that was exactly what she wanted. Today, the total annual turnover of its companies is 600 million rubles,“Next year we will overcome the milestone of 1 billion, I have no doubts,” says Natalya. We pause during the interview - Alexander Druz calls her, invites her to play for his team in the Russian Open Cup (in her free time Natalia plays in one of the strongest teams in the world of the sports version of the game "What? Where? When?" - the sports format is different from television, including the fact that the questions are much more complicated). In the past she was a professional chess player. Her IQ level is 147 (by world standards, 130 is already considered very high intelligence). Netflix has yet to make her the heroine of a new series. But it's pretty clear to me that forward-thinking writers are on their way.invites to play for his team in the Open Cup of Russia (in her free time Natalya plays in one of the strongest teams in the world of the sports version of the game "What? Where? When?" - the sports format differs from the television one, including the fact that the questions are much more difficult). In the past she was a professional chess player. Her IQ level is 147 (by world standards, 130 is already considered very high intelligence). Netflix has yet to make her the heroine of a new series. But it's pretty clear to me that forward-thinking writers are on their way.invites you to play for his team in the Open Cup of Russia (in her free time Natalia plays in one of the strongest teams in the world of the sports version of the game "What? Where? When?" - the sports format differs from the television one, including the fact that the questions are much more difficult). In the past she was a professional chess player. Her IQ level is 147 (by world standards, 130 is already considered very high intelligence). Netflix has yet to make her the heroine of a new series. But it's pretty clear to me that forward-thinking writers are on their way. Her IQ level is 147 (by world standards, 130 is already considered very high intelligence). Netflix has yet to make her the heroine of a new series. But it's pretty clear to me that forward-thinking writers are on their way. Her IQ level is 147 (by world standards, 130 is already considered a very high intelligence). Netflix has yet to make her the heroine of a new series. But it's pretty clear to me that forward-thinking writers are on their way.
To be perceived adequately in construction, you need to be better than a man. And do much more. I think this is normal. This makes you increase your demands on yourself, raise your own bar. The Russian construction market is primordially masculine, chauvinist - historically it happened so. Do I have female competitors in my business niche? I have not met one. At first, when I came to the negotiations (then I was still negotiating personally), I caused the same reaction: “Oh! They sent the secretary. " It was funny, because I knew that within a minute the perception of business partners would change dramatically. Many meetings followed this scenario. So I have a small gripe with feminism: I've never felt a glass ceiling.
It seems to me that if a girl is infringed on her rights, she should work twice as well. We need to work five times better - we will work five times better.
When I started my business, I was looking for a tricky niche. The one where the intellectual, technical threshold of entry is higher, where a serious level of expertise is required. I didn't want to work in a "densely populated" space. At the same time, I understood that my partners, Ivan Marchenko and Vladimir Valiulin, could not come and immediately start doing all the stages - we had no experience. We have made every possible mistake that could be made. For example, we had an object. We received an advance from the customer, worked it out, and carried out more drilling in excess of this amount - at our own expense. At the same time, not a single paper was signed. The customer filed a lawsuit against us, accusing us of not doing the work, and fully returned the advance. The cost of the error was, in my opinion, 1,700,000. Later there was another unpleasant episode. I left the country for a few daysand the guys, in my absence, transferred money for the tongue-and-groove of a one-day company, the general director turned out to be a figurehead - a girl who worked, conditionally, at McDonald's. Moreover, we bought a sheet pile with the client's money and we owe him. About one and a half million.
In three words, our company does not build objects from a pit to a roof. We are engaged precisely in the zero construction cycle, vibration immersion of the Larsen sheet pile (so that storm and ground waters do not flood the construction pit, and its edges do not fall down - they are reinforced with special metal plates having a special shape). This technology came to Russia relatively recently.
For the first years we did not have our own equipment. A vibrator is a rather expensive machine; a hammer weighing 6–7 tons is made of tool steel. These are hydraulics, hydraulic pumps. Even a good used hammer costs about 15 million rubles, a new one - 40 million, a new "statics" - more than a hundred million. Today we have several units of our own equipment. But at the start we rented everything, it was also worth the investment - a vibratory pile driver cost an average of 500 thousand rubles a month. And still it was necessary to pay taxes and pay salaries to employees, although there were few of them, to pay the rent for the office (then it was small). There was simply no option “not to agree, not to break through”.
In order to receive at least some orders, the first year we had to work with minimal margins, since we had no reputation, no history, no recommendations. And then they began to recognize us on the market, because it is quite narrow and reliable companies, including us, several throughout Russia.
The level of uncertainty in the construction industry was enormous. I didn't know how to deal with uncertainty at all. One smart man told me: “Natasha, what are you worried about? It won't be easier. It will only get worse. There will be more uncertainty and more problems. Let it go. " The construction business in Russia is very tempering, you are "overgrown with armor", because there are threats and other troubles. Of course, now is not the 90s. If there is a conflict with a counterparty, we resolve it in court. Most of the construction companies are involved in numerous legal proceedings, this is a working moment.
According to statistics, out of 100 people, two are successful in business. One of them is accidental, but the reason for the success of the second can be calculated.
It seems to me that in order to get from the starting point into the category of successful entrepreneurs in business, you need to make a certain number of attempts and be able to bring these attempts to the end. In theory, a loss of several million is motivating. We need "fire under our feet", otherwise nothing will work.
This year is indicative for me. We finally began to think not only on a Russian scale, but also on a European scale. I am very pleased to communicate with the CIS CEO of ArcelorMittal (the largest metallurgical company in the world, Lakshmi Mittal is a famous billionaire from Forbes Top 10) and to hear: “We are interested in Russia”. We come to Vitkovice Steel. The general director of the plant is a woman, and we also found a common language with her.
I am constantly engaged in self-development. I go through 10 to 15 training programs a year. I think now in Russia it is the "second nineties". But there is not a financial, but an intellectual redistribution of the market. Cognitive development needs a lot more attention than body development. An ordinary person has a peak at the age of 25, then he begins to gradually become stupid, but since his environment is also growing up, aging, he does not notice this.
I can be in a resource state for 14 hours a day if needed. But, naturally, I delegate all tasks that can be delegated. I had a Mercedes, I got rid of it and I don’t drive a car myself, I only go by taxi - I don’t see much sense for myself in a personal driver either. I need to read a huge number of books, and I take advantage of the moment while I am in the car as a passenger. I listen to audiobooks - scientific pop (now I am finishing Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari, this is a book about where humanity is going), I got carried away by astrophysics. Naturally, the au pair does the housework. At work, I have two full-time personal assistants. If you look at my iPhone, you will see that I hardly print, but dictate and forward dozens of audio messages a day, sometimes 80–90 a day. I don't waste time typing. In our office we have an integrated CRM system, IP telephony. We keep a record of the conversations of employees and their analysis by checklists. Everything is algorithmized. I know everything about everything: what keyword the client came to us for, what manager he got, at what stage of the negotiations, how much money we spent on this keyword in this ad group in this advertising campaign, and how much it brought us in the end.
A small entrepreneur is not interesting to anyone. To be listened to and heard, you must be a serious player.
Until recently, I was sitting quietly and amassing critical business mass. The VCBW competition is my first public event.
The drive from the result is energy. I like to build. And I like the complex feeling of creating a living mechanism, the understanding that we are changing the world. Yesterday it was a thought in my head, but today it is a real object. And this object will outlive us. If you think deeply, it just blows away.
The story of Widow Clicquot is the story of a woman who changed the industry. I want to set the same goals. There are many construction companies in Russia, we rely on speed, manufacturability and innovation. Our goal is to become the technology powerhouse of the industry.
And it's all about her
Natalia Gorelova
Marital status: in a relationship
Education: SPbGASU, "Economics and Management at a Environmental Management Enterprise"; IMISP Executive MBA
Significant projects: reconstruction of the metallurgy pavilion at VDNKh, routes M3, M10, M11, A111, construction of rolling stock shops for Russian Railways, airport in Ulyanovsk
Hobby: “What? Where? When?”,“Brain Ring”, chess, oil painting
Favorite book: James Joyce,“Finnegans Wake”
Favorite phrase:“If someone understands what is happening in Indonesia, then he is ill-informed”- Sukarno, ex -President of Indonesia
Clothing brand: Gucci
Aroma: English Oak & Redcurrant, Jo Malone
Type of holiday: read a bunch of books at the same time and look for samples of gothic and northern modernism in the corners of Europe
Photo: Ilya Vartanyan
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