“What surprised me most was that homeless people asked not for money, but for a slice of pizza”
— In 2008, when I was 14, my parents sent my older brother to study in Canada. Six months later, I followed him. I couldn’t be called an outstanding student, but the school curriculum there was much easier than in Kazakhstan. When a failing student becomes an excellent one in Canada, it doesn’t necessarily mean he suddenly became more disciplined. Still, I enjoyed studying: you could choose subjects you were interested in and focus on them. At the same time, I improved my English.
I lived in the city of Hamilton, about an hour from Toronto. What surprised me most was that homeless people on the streets asked not for money, but, for example, for a slice of pizza.
After graduation, I returned to Kazakhstan because I didn’t do well on the IELTS exam. I planned to apply to Nazarbayev University’s medical faculty: I spent a year studying with tutors, but ended up missing the passing score by just one point.
As a result, in 2013 I moved to Kota Damansara in Malaysia and enrolled in a medical university. During the first year, I tried to study seriously, and overall it wasn’t difficult. However, the lecturers were unhappy that I did everything the way I had been taught in Kazakhstan. Even if the answer was correct, they wanted their own methodologies to be used.
Malaysia was also boring, so together with a Nigerian classmate we used to prank Chinese people in a shopping mall. We would tell everyone that I was his owner.
In my second year, I lost interest in studying and got into business. I started baking homemade apple pies for Arab restaurants—they sold out within a couple of hours. At the same time, I was teaching English to Chinese students and no longer attended classes. When my parents found out, they immediately told me to come back home.
“I spent about €4,000 on relocating to Spain”
— In 2015, I returned to Kazakhstan and started working in sales. Later, I launched a hostel in Almaty, but closed it after four months because I didn’t know how to promote the business.
I sold the hostel furniture and used the money to buy equipment for a print shop, which I opened in Astana. During the first year, I worked alone and enjoyed the process. Later, I applied to the Entrepreneurship Development Fund “DAMU” for subsidies to open a full-fledged office. The funding was approved, so I purchased premises: one room housed the print shop, and at the same time I launched an English language school there. I worked 24/7—printing business cards, teaching, and handling administrative tasks.
However, due to a lack of financial literacy and experience, I wasn’t able to save money properly. When the first summer came, the courses stopped generating sufficient income. I decided to sell the print shop equipment, as I no longer wanted to do that and chose to focus on the school. In August, my older brother said he would join me and help promote the center. But I wasn’t very comfortable working with him, so I left the business to him and walked away.
Out of boredom, I started looking for relocation options. I chose Cuba, but in 2017 it turned out to be impossible to obtain a visa. So I decided to go to Spain to take language courses. Within a few days, I found a suitable school, gathered the required documents, and a month later I was already in Barcelona. At that time, I spent about €4,000 on the move.
Thanks to Kazakhstan and all my friends from the IT sphere, I was able to create what I have now. The country gave me a strong push for development. Astana Hub played a particularly important role: I spent three years there, launched my own startups, and improved my skills.
Read more on digitalbusiness.kz.
“What surprised me most was that homeless people asked not for money, but for a slice of pizza”
— In 2008, when I was 14, my parents sent my older brother to study in Canada. Six months later, I followed him. I couldn’t be called an outstanding student, but the school curriculum there was much easier than in Kazakhstan. When a failing student becomes an excellent one in Canada, it doesn’t necessarily mean he suddenly became more disciplined. Still, I enjoyed studying: you could choose subjects you were interested in and focus on them. At the same time, I improved my English.
I lived in the city of Hamilton, about an hour from Toronto. What surprised me most was that homeless people on the streets asked not for money, but, for example, for a slice of pizza.
After graduation, I returned to Kazakhstan because I didn’t do well on the IELTS exam. I planned to apply to Nazarbayev University’s medical faculty: I spent a year studying with tutors, but ended up missing the passing score by just one point.
As a result, in 2013 I moved to Kota Damansara in Malaysia and enrolled in a medical university. During the first year, I tried to study seriously, and overall it wasn’t difficult. However, the lecturers were unhappy that I did everything the way I had been taught in Kazakhstan. Even if the answer was correct, they wanted their own methodologies to be used.
Malaysia was also boring, so together with a Nigerian classmate we used to prank Chinese people in a shopping mall. We would tell everyone that I was his owner.
In my second year, I lost interest in studying and got into business. I started baking homemade apple pies for Arab restaurants—they sold out within a couple of hours. At the same time, I was teaching English to Chinese students and no longer attended classes. When my parents found out, they immediately told me to come back home.
“I spent about €4,000 on relocating to Spain”
— In 2015, I returned to Kazakhstan and started working in sales. Later, I launched a hostel in Almaty, but closed it after four months because I didn’t know how to promote the business.
I sold the hostel furniture and used the money to buy equipment for a print shop, which I opened in Astana. During the first year, I worked alone and enjoyed the process. Later, I applied to the Entrepreneurship Development Fund “DAMU” for subsidies to open a full-fledged office. The funding was approved, so I purchased premises: one room housed the print shop, and at the same time I launched an English language school there. I worked 24/7—printing business cards, teaching, and handling administrative tasks.
However, due to a lack of financial literacy and experience, I wasn’t able to save money properly. When the first summer came, the courses stopped generating sufficient income. I decided to sell the print shop equipment, as I no longer wanted to do that and chose to focus on the school. In August, my older brother said he would join me and help promote the center. But I wasn’t very comfortable working with him, so I left the business to him and walked away.
Out of boredom, I started looking for relocation options. I chose Cuba, but in 2017 it turned out to be impossible to obtain a visa. So I decided to go to Spain to take language courses. Within a few days, I found a suitable school, gathered the required documents, and a month later I was already in Barcelona. At that time, I spent about €4,000 on the move.
Thanks to Kazakhstan and all my friends from the IT sphere, I was able to create what I have now. The country gave me a strong push for development. Astana Hub played a particularly important role: I spent three years there, launched my own startups, and improved my skills.
Read more on digitalbusiness.kz.
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