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Dmitry Kibkalo about entrepreneurship, mistakes and mission

Entrepreneur Dmitry Kibkalo discusses the essential teachings and advantages of entrepreneurship, including how to avoid costly mistakes and motivate oneself towards achieving the desired mission. Through his experience, Kibkalo encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to persevere, emphasizing the importance of learning from missteps and embracing the opportunity to pursue new ideas. With his valuable insight, Kibkalo provides useful advice for anyone striving to begin their entrepreneurial endeavors.

Founder of the federal network of board games stores “Mosigra” and ambassador of the Moscow Government Entrepreneurial Prize “Breakthrough of the Year” – Dmitry Kibkalo, spoke about his first experience in business, mission, mistakes and gave three tips to those who just want to open a business.


Breakthrough of the Year is the first award of the Moscow Government for entrepreneurs, which is held in order to support small and medium-sized businesses in the capital. Applications are accepted until April 15.


About the first business

Dmitry Kibkalo and Dmitry Borisov

We launched Mosigra together with a friend, Dima Borisov. The story is simple: as a child, I played a home-made board game with my father. As an adult, I found that she was not widely known. At some point, I had free money, and I decided to make this desktop. Then, for the sake of one thing, I had to order a circulation of hundreds.

There were no plans to turn this venture into a commercial history. I gave the game to dad and several friends – there are many boxes left. At this time, Dima Borisov was sitting without work, and we decided to sell these boxes in order to recapture the money. Shops did not take the game: the cost was rather big. Therefore, we made our online store, then opened the first point, and away we go.


I am very grateful to my partner for jumping with me into this ship.


Dima and I complement each other very well in terms of human and business qualities. It is no coincidence that statistics say that companies with two founders most often survive..

“Mosigra” in this sense is my first great business experience, which led to a significant result. But there were other projects. Not all of them took off. For example, from the very first business for which I even sold a car, I jumped out at an early stage, not believing that the idea would fly!

The guys with whom I began to work then, subsequently achieved success. But then it seemed to me that the project had no prospects, so I left the team without gaining any useful experience.

Now there are several more business projects in which I participate as a founder or mentor.

About mission

Dmitry Kibkalo in a coat

Initially, I was not going to do business. But when such an idea came up, it was important for us to create an efficiently working system that would generate money. The goal of any business is to be profitable. But not only. We had a great desire to develop a common cause, to work together, to achieve ambitious goals.

Over 10 years, we have increased the market several times. Could declare themselves abroad: in any Barnes store&Noble can find a game with our logo.


We started with an online store written on my knee, and now Mosigra is the largest retail chain of 75 stores.


We have been working together for 10 years, and I can say that working in a team of like-minded people is a great happiness. I am glad that I managed to attract many of my friends to Mosigra.

It is also very important that we do socially significant business, because I am deeply convinced that board games are good. They bring a lot of benefit, return us to the circle of live communication, distracting from gadgets, give pure emotions. Awareness of this mission is very motivating..

About bugs

kibkalo

Throughout the history of “Mosigra” we stepped on a lot of rakes. For example, once we flew into the cash gap. The company did not have enough money to pay suppliers for the goods due to an unpleasant combination of circumstances: they closed the old loan, but they did not give us a new one. The season was a failure, as it was not possible to accumulate goods.

But as a result, we optimized all work with finances, set up cooperation with several banks, got acquainted with lending from private owners – in general, now that story no longer seems to be a difficult problem. We have learned many things..


It was not immediately possible to get comfortable in the regions. We quickly developed in the capital and thought that in other cities we would easily repeat success..


They invested a lot of money at once, opened a bunch of shops, but it turned out that the residents of the regions are not ready to buy desktops at the same prices as Muscovites. Revenues did not reach Moscow, while we did not spare money on staff salaries and rental of premises at that time..

As a result, part of the stores had to be closed. By reconfiguring the processes and making our franchise more attractive to entrepreneurs, we were able to re-launch more successfully.

My attitude to mistakes is this: mistakes are paid training. The main thing is to draw a conclusion and next time do not forget to use this useful experience.

About Russia and Entrepreneurship

Dmitry Kibkalo is standing on the street

Is Russia fit for business? It is difficult to determine what “a country adapted for business” means. Russia is what it is. You can do business, you can not do. Is it difficult? Well, it happens that is difficult. Can it be made easier elsewhere? I dont know.


From what I saw in Russia, I can say that there are a lot of free niches.


Therefore, any difficulties associated with the imperfection of the legislative framework or the crisis in the economy, – perhaps offset by a low level of competition.

I can’t say that I feel pressure from the state. Rather, I observe the imperfection of many approaches, laws, and norms that definitely require processing. I hope this changes.

As for society, business develops when it benefits people. Otherwise, pressure does indeed appear..

About money

portrait of Dmitry Kibkalo

My attitude to money is constantly changing. It is clear that money is a resource. The question is what to spend them on. At different points in life, you can answer these questions in different ways..


Now I am of the opinion that money is needed in order to realize dreams and improve life – my and those close to me.


At some point, money needs to be returned to a society that has given you the opportunity to earn that money. At the same time, it seems to me not very correct to tell a person how to spend money. I, perhaps, against ostentatious consumerism. However, everyone has the freedom to dispose of the earned.

About a niche

Dmitry Kibkalo with coffee in his hands

People love games, so getting involved in the game is a natural process. We have been playing since childhood. We learn a lot through games. The game is a universal tool for obtaining information and training various skills. It allows you to simulate situations and “probe” their lines of behavior without any particular risks and losses..


The niche of board games turned up to me by accident. Not the biggest, not the most profitable, but there is much to develop.


Compared to the western market, the Russian market is still at the very beginning of its development.

The selected niche should correspond to a number of parameters. Business is a long game. The thing that you will be engaged in for 5, 10 or 15 years, or even a lifetime. Therefore, a niche should be capacious, not only at the moment when you are at the start, but also after 10 years.

And one more thing: it’s better to choose what drives you, because at some point you may want to give up everything, and only enthusiasm and dedication to the topic can help. You need to do something that really gives pleasure.

About franchise

Dmitry Kibkalo founder of Mosigry

Now the Mosigra network has 75 stores in 28 cities of Russia and the CIS, 41 of them are franchised.

A franchisee (franchise buyer) actually buys a higher probability of business success, but for this he must pay a part of the profit and take on a number of restrictions.


Sometimes it’s better to develop your own business. For example, if you have an idea that no one else has.


If you’re definitely not ready to listen to anyone and concede to anyone in matters of doing business, then getting along in a franchise is not easy at all.

In theory, both sides win. It is beneficial for the franchisor to open new points, because by doing so he develops his network for the money of others and with the “motivated” hands of others.

It’s one thing when I try to find the director and sellers of a store in an unfamiliar city. Another – if the franchisee who lives in this city undertakes this task: he has all the necessary connections, there is motivation to repay investments, and he himself is directly in the place from where it is most convenient to solve all issues.

In my opinion, franchising in Russia is now very actively developing, there are many offers with a well-developed financial model, technological component. I was at a franchise exhibition in Paris and noted for myself that many Russian franchises look more mature compared to participants from other countries. It’s great.

3 tips for budding entrepreneurs


• The first thing to understand: in business you can make mistakes, and a mistake is not the end, but paid tuition. It is important to draw conclusions correctly, record your experience, do not repeat jambs and continue to work. Do not start your own business with the last money, because always something can go wrong.

• It is very important to set goals that are ambitious enough to provide energy for moving forward. It is easy to set a goal for yourself to earn 100 rubles a day, only such a goal does not motivate at all. Earning 10 million a day is a cool goal, but on the go it’s not very clear how I can achieve it. A balance needs to be found so that energy is there and the path is clear.

• From the very first day, you need to devote a lot of time to IT and finance, because after all, business is about numbers and measurements. I did not understand this right away, through pain, but you can avoid it.

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Comments: 1
  1. Gabriel Turner

    Hi Dmitry, I’m curious about your thoughts on entrepreneurship. Can you share some insights on the mistakes you made during your entrepreneurial journey? Also, how crucial do you think having a clear mission or purpose is for aspiring entrepreneurs? Thank you!

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