Yana Matviychuk is a businesswoman, who is an owner of creative event agency ARENA CS, a host. Yana created multimillion businesses from $300. More than 7000 events were realized by her company in 14 years. Yana determines by her main mission is an opportunity to help Ukrainians to do business in Ukraine. Yana Matviychuk’s mission realizes on the youtube channel, which is called Business Arena. Yana asks a lot of questions to the guests, by means of which she gets to the bottom of the business essence, economic and businessman’s lives. The international magazine WOMAN included Yana Matviychuk in the rating of the most influential women of Ukraine in the nomination “Big Business — the Big Personality” in 2018.

Yana matviychuk: the arena is known not only in Ukraine

The main business of Yana Matviychuk is the event agency ARENA CS, which works all over Ukraine since 2004 and also aboard: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Western Europe and Asia. The Company became a high professional and an expert in event management in 14 years. 82, 5% of clients gave a positive review of the agency’s events and cooperate with the Company for more than 4 years. ARENA CS has its own material and technical resources, which is considered as one of the best in the market of Ukraine’s MICE services and also own its own vehicle fleet. Thanks to it, event’s organization happens quickly and qualitatively. ARENA CS has about ten various awards: the winner in the nomination “The Best Conference”, National rating of “Event Awards 2016”, National rating of quality of goods and services “Quality Star”, the best company 2016 Ukrainian Event Awards, The best conference – the 1st place with an event: Civil Society Development Forum 2015 for Initiative Center of Assistance of Activity and to Development of Citizens’ Initiatives “Ednanniya”, the best event for children – the 2nd place with an event: Children’s Day of 2015 “Words Talk”, UNICEF Company of year 2012 “League of the best”, The winner in the national rating of “Eventarization 2013”, The winner in the nomination “the best screenplay” the National rating of “Event Awards 2014”, Ukrainian Event Awards the Best creative event 2014 – the 1st place!

Yana Matviychuk: the best experts of event industry are in our team

The ARENA CS team had been forming for years and it improves every day. How to collect event market stars under the same roof and to help them to realize their potential? The Company is, first of all, a team or a set of teams and, vice versa, the team is the Company. But teams are not made by themselves. The leader, motivation and direction of movement are necessary to do it. This function is performed by corporate culture: team structure, value and mission of the Company in business. Together, it is a secret of star team’s creation and of creation of the event industry leader among Kiev and Ukraine agencies. The ARENA CS Company holds more than 1600 events all over Ukraine, thanks to debugged and regulated smallest details in business processes. ARENA CS consists of several teams, which are divided in the directions and types of events. At the initial stage of team, selection’s focus is directed to values. In ARENA CS such values are: freedom, responsibility, result and creativity. Understanding and description of values helps to know: what kind of people to take in team, how to motivate Top managers, how to operate the corporate culture.

“Presence of values speaks about your constancy”, – Yana Matviychuk.

“Freedom. Responsibility. Result. Creativity”.

On these values, as colons of classical architecture, the Company stays strongly. Values are introduced in all processes: interaction with clients, working conditions, communication in team. The employee could not realize all values of corporate culture, but he precisely is under their direct influence and impact.

“BE FREE – ACT” What can be better than freedom at work? Each person is eager for freedom, but not all are able to use it, because freedom means responsibility. Be free – the event Company ARENA CS lives without big and important chiefs. Each member of team has freedom of action: to plan the working hours, to make decisions. An opportunity to make decisions independently is a cornerstone of the event manager’s work. The matter is that in a profession often meet unforeseen situations and they are demand immediate actions.

“BE RESPONSIBLE – SYSTEMATIZE”. It is necessary to pay for freedom as well as for everything, and it does not mean that only money have to be paid. From here goes the second value of the Company “Be Responsible — Systematize”. The card of functional duties is developed in ARENA CS as well as level of responsibility for each employee. Rates in business are huge – reputation, success, strategic objectives of the event’s customer – there is no chance for a mistake. There is one event and it has to pass ideally.

MENTORING Of course, the Company does not do without head of it. He is the head, because he can give an advice, can direct, tell and show. The system of mentoring is introduced in the Company as an alternative to the outdate management style under the name “I clever-you are fool”. All employees receive the mentor from the first day in ARENA CS. Full support of a new member of team belongs to functional duties of the mentor. The purpose is to tell all principles of work, both internal and external. Moreover, the system of mentoring in its structure helps to operate the corporate culture and to hand down rules.

FROM RESPONSIBILITY TO “HIGH” Each event manager surely gets the real high in an award for responsibility and for a system job – successful result of the held event. What else can be added here? Each person wants to enjoy results and process of his work and the Company does everything for this purpose.

“BE CREATIVE – CREATE” But it is not all. Event management gives an ability to show a creative beginning of the person. The fourth column of the Company is “Be Creative — Create”. Creativity helps to find the most unexpected and non-standard solutions in various situations to create the new ideas for clients. Customers want to solve some of their problems and to achieve goals by means of events, so creative approach is the key to success.

MISSION OF ARENA CS COMPANY Values are columns; a team support and the mission are directions of the movement. Mission of event agency ARENA CS is: “We develop business activity of Ukraine for being in focus of attention on the global Arena”. Creative event agency ARENA CS organizes events with the assistance of businessmen, investors, politicians, public leaders and has guests from all over the world, therefore, each event has to be held at the highest level. The successful event is the key to success of not only the Company, but also to the country in general. The ARENA CS Company’s team members understand the general mission and feel full responsibility for their work and result. Thus, all working process is filled with sense.

From values to delegation

ARENA CS’s Conferences and Seminars have a linear communication structure, so the Companies principles of delegation debugged at the high level. Mass outflow of Ukrainians abroad creates a huge problem in searching of professional middle managers. The main quality of a manager is an ability to delegate and to work in team. All members of ARENA CS team are constantly train in these principles. Unfortunately, it is not enough experts, who are ready to work at market. Mutual understanding is a cornerstone of successful delegation: when you transfer a task to someone, it is necessary to specify the host understands. Here’s the thing. If the performer is mistaken, then the director will be guilty, because he explained incorrectly and did not specify how he understood. Work in team and result depends on correctness of delegation’s tasks. The more qualitative task is set, the simpler and clearer a work in team is. Process of delegation simplifies use of Customer Relationship Management System with function of tasks statement. The team is united by the common purpose, but goals achievement consists of the whole structure of tasks and processes. Here the corporate culture joins fully. To build autonomy of each participant of team is an important element of goals achievement. The following important principle at organization of events is the principle of non-interference: “You should not interfere with the others people zone, answer for your work for all hundred percents”. In case of problems, any kind of a chaotic solution of any kind of issue is excluded. The system of discussion comes to rescue and everyone will express his opinion and will be heard by others. Main rule of the ARENA CS’s team is to trust everyone fully. You should concentrate as much as possible and work independently in work time, but to provide qualitative “joints” between responsibility zones of team members. Thus, star team and experts of the event industries in ARENA CS is professional project managers – people, who are able to operate, to set tasks, to accept and to transfer responsibility. 67 persons of such people are in ARENA CS!

How to motivate personnel and to help colleagues to be productive on their place

Satisfaction of the Company’s staff is included into a zone of responsibility of corporate culture. Modern applicants at labor market are interested in comfort of working conditions, in system of interaction with colleagues and in management not less, than in wage level, therefore ARENA CS constantly works on development of HR brand of the Company. Each employee is responsible for corporate culture, but main carriers of culture in ARENA CS are the director Yana Matviychuk and HR director Snezhana Sidorchuk. The event Company ARENA CS takes young, active and ambitious people in its ranks, but it does not mean that the road is closed for the rest. The matter is in, that the person, who comes to the Company, gets under influence of the corporate culture values. And if values coincide with views and behavior of new person, than the team automatically and subconsciously accepts such person in the ranks and debugged system of training helps person to gain professional skills. If new employee’s values do not coincide with the Company’s values, than the person will just not be able to cope working freely and responsibly, will not be able to be pro-active and to do without control of the boss. The main distinctive feature of new generation is a complete negation of rigid control of an office schedule with 9 to 18, absence of pleasant working conditions. The corporate culture of the event agency ARENA CS gives freedom, which acts as a motivator and performs selection function.

What else ARENA CS does for creation of solid team

The Company constantly grows and a set of personnel occurs on a regular basis. ARENA CS looks for talents and talents cannot be found “on yesterday”, therefore interviews and selection rounds for new employees are held regularly. Of course, talents cannot be found weekly, but they exist at market. It is possible to find talents, but it is more difficult to introduce them in team and to hold on the place. ARENA CS pays much attention to an initial stage to make new person not to be lost in the Company. Each employee passes program of an adaptation period, which is thought over in details and painted in the form of CRM of tasks. Creative event agency it is not only a favorite work, but also the whole life in the Company. The online corporate group helps to involve employees in exchange of useful information in event management, to share the latest news from team life, about holding events, about progress and defeats useful tips on work with clients and contractors and so on. Professional support does not come to an end at the initial stage; process of continuous training is developed in the event agency. What can you say about weekly “creative day” on which it is really possible to learn much from the event industries life in Ukraine and all over the world? Each employee understands his importance and effectiveness for the Company thanks to constant checkpoints. What does it mean? These are individual meetings of HR and of the head of the Company, with each employee. Such checkpoints are necessary to give feedback to an employee about his work and, also to learn what problems are disturbing an employee, what can be corrected and what he likes or do not like, but also to show care of the Company. It is necessary for continuous development.  ARENA CS has its own library, which is replenished with new books copies. There is an opportunity to attend professional exhibitions and to study abroad in the Company. Experience comes with actions. Skill comes with the best knowledge. The best staff of the Company has an opportunity to go abroad. Thus, the Company motivates, broadens employee’s horizons and also forms loyalty of team members.

Council of successful people: be an effective head and build an effective business

Whether the corporate culture influences onto growth and efficiency of business? The companies do not appear by themselves, as mushrooms after a rain, moreover, they do not become giants in the first day, week, month of the existence. The companies grow gradually as person gradually becomes an adult. If the head wants his company to constant reaching of new heights it has to work on fine-tuning of business processes. If such work is not carried out, then Chaos comes to where such work, which is operated by the company’s staff, is not carried out. The company with informal rules (with a lack of rules) is doomed to a failure at the first crisis. Therefore, it is possible to tell with confidence, that corporate culture is created by the head and directly influences on growth and efficiency of business. Function of the head is also maintenance on team movement’s course. Even corporation with automated processes and regulations of work loses system of coordinates in the absence of the head or the leader. The head has to be ahead of team, to have a vision of the future to hold such ship afloat, and for this purpose to be productive and efficient, which means to be effective.

Yana Matviychuk defines 8 easy ways to control personal efficiency every day

Do what you always wanted to do. There is nothing impossible, if you think that it is so then get down to business at once. First of all, you need to do that, what is connected with an achievement of your life’s goals. Use the principle 20/80 between spent time and achieved result. You should delegate to other people. Be engaged in creativity, leave monotonous work to others. Adopt experience of successful cases from other branches. Now or never: do things which need to be done.

What kind of has to be the head?

Efficiency of the head is just a half of a successful way. Yana Matviychuk says that the reputation has paramount value. Success comes through reputation, which is achieving with years – continuous training, flexibility, adoption of correct decisions, responsibility, and development of leadership skills, obligation, systematization and a set of other qualities. The head is simply obliged to be wiser and more patient.

The successful head is obliged to conform these 4th rules, considers Yana Matviychuk:

to learn to refuse his egoistical inquiries, because the head has to be a mentor, so has to be able to help other people; moreover, he has to be able to help others in the way, with which employees feel themselves as successful and considerable persons; in case of need to use power of persuasion and flattery; the most important is to be consecutive, not to break rules, to be a source of values.

Automation of business processes will provide a raise of your business to a new level

The event agency ARENA CS could grow more than in three times for the next three years, after introduction of Customer Relationship Management System, which covers not only communication with clients, and also statement of tasks in projects, all financial account on projects, marketing strategy and all communications in teams. CRM system is an excellent instrument of a linear communication creation and corporate culture development. The centralized management is going to past. There is no task, which is set in an oral form in the Company. All processes and tasks are fixed, what also facilitates process of delegation and fixes all results. The main goal of introduction of automation is to increase of work efficiency and productiveness of employees and the Company in general. It leads to improvement of quality and of customer service speed. The SRM system is a huge base of information, a full history of the Company. The analysis of data helps to correct a  strategy of work with clients and also to adjust instruments of marketing. In a word, modern business cannot be presented without SRM system in the sphere of events organization.

Yana Matviychuk: “develop, otherwise you will be in outsiders soon”

“All businesses have one general feature: it does not stand still, business either grows, or falls. The owner has to develop continuously, not to become a brake of business”, – tells Yana Matviychuk in an interview to one of the national media. Life does not stand still too, especially in the 21st century. Life moves with a speed of the passenger plane. Knowledge is update daily. There are tens of books releases daily. Hundred of them become best-sellers per year. Yana Matviychuk notes importance of continuous training and tells that she has read practically all most famous and recognized books about business and continues to do it. Meanwhile other people give the most part of the time for rest and entertainments, Yana decided not to waste her time and entered EMBA on day form of education, which she had been visited for 2 years. It’s never too late to study. The Business Arena channel became not just a project, aimed to realize a personal mission, but also an educational project for Yana Matviychuk. To interview 100 successful businessmen – it is one more iam of MBA’s school. “Having such saturated schedule, it is necessary to be able to plan accurately every day, to especially plan time for rest, otherwise the mission “to do everything at once” can become impossible”, – Yana emphasizes.

Yana Matviychuk’s biography: five steps to success

It is a difficult task to create, to hold afloat and to go into the lead business in the sphere of events organization for 14 years.  Award for persistence and patience is a result. ARENA CS is an event agency of the international scale with a multimillion cash flow. How did Yana Matviychuk develop the Company? Read lower 5 steps of ARENA CS’s success.

Everything changes at once

Simple things and a little determination is capable to turn life. When the event agency was at the very beginning of a way and the Company was not a strong market player, it was necessary to work immediately. One American organization exposed the tender for holding the international event in Ukraine with the assistance of 600 delegates from around the world. At that time chances of success seemed minimal, and were approaching to a zero. Yana Matviychuk decided to roll the dice and to try to increase chances. She called to the main office in the USA, but, as usual happens in such situations, nobody got phone. It is good that there is a voicemail; Yana wrote down on it an offer to organize and service an event. Courage and efforts were well spent and the victory in the tender became a result. As it appeared later, ARENA CS was the only company with desire to work, which called to central office with the concrete and clear offer: fixed prices for the next 2 years, guarantee of all obligations’ implementation, service in mode 24/7 and registered cost to the smallest details.

Organization of events: constancy is important

Nothing invigorates in the mornings so strong as thoughts of a dream, which can become a reality. For Yana Matviychuk that dream was a desire to go to Seychelles and to spend there several months after 2 years of preparation for an event and it successful carrying out.  Only one thought of it helped to wake up early in the morning day by day and gave energy to go ahead, not to give up.

Yana Matviychuk and her effective event agency company

ARENA CS is an event manager of various scale events, an agency-holiday, a creative event agency which is continuing growth from year to year. But it was difficult to call the Company a leader of market in the event agencies’ list of Kiev and Ukraine for the first several years. To be broke out in leaders, it is necessary to undertake something. Low efficiency acted as the obvious factor, which is slowing growth down. There was a question: how to construct an effective company? How many staff is really necessary for the successful activity of the Company – 10 or it will be enough 2-3 persons for now? Whether a big office at this stage is necessary or it is possible to manage with a couple of working places? Expensive advertizing or guerrilla methods will be productive? What else is it possible to make for increasing an efficiency of the Company? Due to the lack of starting capital at establishing of business, it was necessary to be an effective, which as a result lead us to success!”, – Yana Matviychuk tells. One of the best decisions in achievement of efficiency became an introduction of business processes’ automation.  CRM system was productive and led to double growth of the Company in the first year. Event agencies, organization of events, conference service are business’ ideas with minimal investments. It seems so at first sight. Actually it not true.  For quicker construction of an effective and successful business in this direction, it is necessary to have a big capital and skilled management to introduce innovations in the Company.

Event company without employees

Growth of the Company, as a result of introduction of automation business processes, caused a resistance of a team. The quantity and volumes of orders grew, but work effectiveness did not increase. Employees with wide experience of work in the Company just wanted to get paid for long service. When everything is good, not everyone wants to grow because a special motivation is necessary for this purpose. We didn’t have time to look for team’s motivation: tens of contracts and hundreds of orders went to hands by themselves – it was time to act! In such situation a difficult decision was made: 19 of 25 employees were fired. At some moment there were 6 people in team and several tens of event management contracts. But a paradox in that, this decision led to a successful growth and efficiency of the Company in the future.

New team: how not to make old mistakes

An important aspect of work is the strong managers team in the company with linear management and communication. As it was already told at the beginning of article, strong team can be built by means of corporate culture. Yana Matviychuk, as a head of the Company, could build strong HR system of staff’s search and recruitment processes. As a result, process of hiring happens with use of innovations in HR. Personnel management is based on 5 important points: status – position in the Company; justice equally to all employees and justice in remuneration for successful results of work; definiteness of functional duties; autonomy – work within functional duties; ability to make decisions and to bear responsibility for them; interaction – clear system of work with other members of team.

Business Arena with Yana Matviychuk. To hold 100 interviews, why not?

In the Business Arena program of Yana Matviychuk, she realizes her mission – to help Ukrainians to open and develop business in Ukraine by detailed review of successful businesses. Yana Matviychuk set to her new aim at the end of 2013 – to write down 100 podcasts on theme of creation and development of successful profitable business from scratch in Ukraine and Yana Matviychuk’s Business Arena became a Ukrainian brand in youtube, a segment of business development in 2018. Everyone, who look for the answer to a question: how to begin business, faces the Business Arena channel. Small business in Ukraine is a main goal of Business Arena project. The project mission is to motivate Ukrainians to open business in Ukraine. On the channel it is possible to find answers to the next questions: what types of business exist, how to open your own business, what kind of business ideas exist, business ideas with minimal investments, how to adjust business processes, to get an advice what business book to read. Yana Matviychuk shows with help of channel, that situation in the country is not the best, but it does not mean at all, that it is impossible to reach something. As a result, the aim is achieved in 4 years. Among the famous guests of the Business Arena channel it is possible to find: Evgeny Chichvarkin, Andrey Zdesenko, founders of “Nova Poshta”, Vladimir Popereshnyuk, Dmitry Potapenko, Mikhail Kukhar, Gennady Balashov, Andrey Palchevsky, Dmitry Borisov, Sasha Dergousova, Alla Klimenko, Andrey Klimenko, Kirill Kunitsky, Elizaveta Yurusheva and others. Business the Arena is a project about business people and their projects. They throw down challenge to a life and achieved bigger results. These are easy-going people; they share with pleasure secrets how to start business from scratch: tell business ideas and advise business books. New heading under the name of Breaking News Ukraine, which Yana Matviychuk conducts with the Russian businessman and oppositionist Dmitry Potapenko, and also with an economic expert Eric Naiman, started in March, 2018 on Business Arena channel. Ukrainian business and economy news are discussed in a heading. The channel continues to grow and includes more than 67000 subscribers.

Yana Matviychuk’s public work: the best business ideas became a reality

Business Arena is a public project, it does not make profit. Businessmen’s advises are an invaluable opportunity to learn new urgent trends of business. But social contribution of Yana Matviychuk does not come to an end with this. Business Arena in partnership with the Ukrainian Women’s Fund began implementation of the grant project of help to victims of the military conflict for 7 districts of Ukraine in 2016. The purpose of the project is to help to victims of the conflict to base or move small business and also to promote employment to internally displaced persons (IDP), demobilized serviceman and members of host communities, including women and people with disabilities (WPD).

PROJECT NUMBERS 2 years of support; 121 business projects were supported; total amount of support is more than 8 million 330 thousand UAN; all initiators of business projects passed the program of individual maintenance under the direction of business coaches; more than 800 people  passed free of charge  business course for the beginning businessmen.

Forget about innovations if you do not want to be the leader

ARENA CS surely takes the leading positions among event agencies Kiev. To hold leadership it is not enough to be a good event manager and creative agency. Ability to introduce innovations defines a leadership role today. Heads of ARENA CS continuously trace all world trends and innovations and introduce them in event management. Digital technologies quickly rushed into life of each person and continue to hold more and more attention. It is hard to imagine future world without information technologies. Mobile applications firmly gain a foothold in the sphere of events organization, what, is in turn, displayed on the event manager’s efficiency, on quality of the event and participants’ comfort. ARENA CS’s managers in their practice advice to use mobile applications for events and also help to introduce them. Meanwhile, we speak about appendices, which perform standard functions of organizers. There is a program of events in them, the beginning of a session’s signals, and networking, to make appointment, to conduct online surveys, to receive feedback by results of an action. Despite all advantages of mobile applications they have no individual approach. The new trend is already appeared on the world scene of event industries today – chat boats.

Chat-botes are gaining event industry

Chats bots can be integrated into messengers, social networks and sms in any convenient way for participant.  Chat bots are developed on an algorithm, which allows boats to study and to conduct dialogue with participants in their language, in their slang, to respond to individual requests. The user, who has a conversation with such boat, not always understands whether this is a real person or a bot. Chat bot can answer in different languages; tell about speakers, surrounding exhibits, to provide access to Wi-Fi, to help with parking, to cover an event in real time and other individual functions. User does not need to install a chat boat on mobile device, they do not make battery low, do not need user authorization; it is work without passwords and other additional actions. On the other hand, organizers have an opportunity to receive statistics of addresses’ number and specific questions in which participants were interested; to know what problems arose during an event. All this information is useful, it is necessary to improve service and quality of holding event’s organization.

Innovations won’t come to you and won’t integrate by themselves

Modern world continues to develop after an exhibitor. It becomes more difficult to catch all lot of technological changes and transformations every day, which integrates in business. As it was told above, to become and to stay leader, it is necessary to be able to advance and introduce innovations. Yana Matviychuk, as a businessman and an owner, traces innovations continuously not only in the sphere of events organization. Introduction of successful practices of other spheres can give a new impulse for the company development from absolutely unexpected side.

To stay in trands yana matviychuk traces the following business directions which are changing:

approaching of a contact network’s creation; model as business gains income; systematization of assets; product of the company are characteristics and functionality; organization of work; creation of the products of the company supplementing each other; service of the company in customer service; advance channels; business brand; involvement of clients and interaction with them. It is necessary to remember one life reality: at first, there was nothing, today, there is everything. Business is a part of a life. If you really want something and have an intention to receive it, then, at the beginning will be nothing. It is necessary to pass a stage from nothing to result, have a patience to go through it. Yana Matviychuk can confirm it with confidence: “How to make 10 000 000 dollars from 300 dollars?” “Act!”