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Serikbay Bisekeev: "I always read and learn from the best"
Serikbay Bisekeev was born in Kostanay region, and graduated from Leningrad Polytechnic Institute, named after Kalinin. For more than 10 years he has been head of the company "Arman", which is currently recognised as one of the leaders on the Russian market for IT engineering. In 2012 he was awarded an international prize in the field of private enterprise - the "Entrepreneur of the Year Award", nominated in the category "B2B".Serikbay, how did your business begin?
In the 90s, the first GSM operator to work in the former Soviet Union appeared in St. Petersburg - North-West GSM. I was at the forefront of this business, and supplied the first mobile phones to all the operators in the CIS, including KCell. At the Stockholm University School of Business, I defended my thesis project "Establishing a mobile phone network in public places". In 1998, mobile phone users were mostly wealthy people, businessmen - all of them driving their own cars. Not one of them would have used the metropolitan railway.
When I built the network, I rented premises that were 5-6 square meters, I took goods from producers on consignment, only having showcases. Quite simple, but for some reason this was not being done at that time. Then "Euroset" and other cellular monsters appeared on the market. It became a question of "who has more money?" If you have one billion, then you can buy larger quantities of Nokia or Siemens products, get the best discount and sell the best handsets. It was impossible to compete with them, so I sold my network - knowing who would "eat" whom.
I realised that to carry on, we had to go where there wasn't this issue of who has more money. We had to find a competitive advantage - when everything depends only on yourself. To create a new fashion, to find a niche.
One of these was industrial communication - another niche that was not occupied. At that time, all the industrial enterprises were investing in machines - in production capacity - and no one gave a thought to the plant's infrastructure.
I started out as a distributor of German equipment, and then realized that production was not complicated at all. Each of our customers is unique, and often require specific functions. We did everything for them, writing our own programs for their use - and in doing so created our own product.We realised that new technologies, new processors and new chips, should appear on the market every six months, but our main competitors were very slow to react. Our market was quite conservative at that time. For the main players in the West, life was good: they lived regular lives and were not bothered about introducing new products every year. While we, being young and strong, decided to introduce new functions as quickly as possible - new features and products, and thereby rapidly became one of the market leaders.
They say the best way to learn how to do something is to watch how professionals do it. At the outset of your business, how often did you refer to the experience of professionals?
I always read and learn from the best, then try to apply it to my own industry. Interesting information is a reason for change!
I guess you have many more competitors nowadays. In such a competitive business environment, how is it possible to survive and even to succeed?
Continuous improvement of the entire team.
How do you encourage people to work better?
During private conversations with top managers I clarify their interests in business and in their personal lives, and from this I build up motivation, enabling us to achieve our objectives and fulfil our mission, and this is transmitted from the top managers to the other specialists.
How many people in total work for your company? Tell us about your employees.
The holding employs about 250 people, whose average age is about 35. All the managers have higher education, most have an MBA, and have completed extensive training sessions.
How do you select the right personnel for your projects?
The most important thing about the people who work for us is their ability to think — to invent something new. But a no less important factor is their desire to work — a kind of obsession: the company's mission. Only after this need you look at their qualification, since we can give them all the knowledge that exists — our company provides a great deal of professional training — or they can always read and find out this knowledge for themselves. We are looking for "our" kind of people: ones who will share the interests of the company and its policies. We grow Leaders; those who can accept responsibility and achieve goals!
Is there something "idiosyncratic", unique to the corporate culture of LLC "Arman"?
Respect for employees, who are united by common goals!
Based on your experience, what marketing tools are most effective when promoting a business?
Observation, surveys, professional trade fairs and associations, social networks.
Last year your company was recognized as the best company on the Russian market in the field of IT-engineering. How is the company represented on the Kazakh market?
We have two offices, in Almaty and Astana, and about 50 employees. Without any administrative support the company has won major tenders in Kazakhstan, including: construction of the 1500 km long "Beyneu-Shymkent" gas pipeline, the metropolitan railway in Almaty, as well as orders from the Ministry of Defence. It's all about professionalism - this is for those who want to create their own business.
For many innovators and young entrepreneurs in Kazakhstan, you have become a sort of consultant on business development. As far as I know, you share your advice with anyone who is planning to start their own business?
Thank you very much for the kind words. I believe it is important to help the development of young people, to share my experience, since this contributes to the development of their projects. In turn, we are always preparing new advances, since this is included in the performance indicators of directors destined for "Arman" holding.
What ideas have impressed you recently?
Interesting ideas for agribusiness. Creating one's own organic produce is something accessible to the people of Kazakhstan, and it is our competitive advantage over the larger neighbouring markets.
On your page of axioms, you are revealed primarily as an individual. In our case, when we talk about successful people, what axiom would you choose for the phrase "successful person"?
All my axioms come from my own life: they are designated so and they do not need to be proved. I believe that a successful person is one who is able to envisage, plan and implement a system that has been conceived with pleasure.
And this is evident in everything.
Your comments on the project Moomkin.com
I have already seen it, from the moment of first signing up to the social networks. It is a good website, competently progressive. Now all that remains is to leave the business at the correct time.
Source is here.
