Business During War. Gun Culture and Entrepreneurship
In Ukraine, where the most challenging period in its history has been ongoing for several years, business has become not only a means of earning a living but also a powerful tool for survival and supporting the national economy.
The “Business During War” segment is a regular feature on the For HR channel, where we discuss entrepreneurs who continue to work and support the country’s economy. This time, we had the opportunity to interview Ukrainian entrepreneur and owner of the national firearms store chain “YASHKINA,” Tetiana Yashkina. We talked about the firearms business, firearm handling culture, and volunteer work.
“I remember when our store in Mykolaiv was partially damaged, and our car was shot at. Nevertheless, we still helped when people reached out to me and tried to solve all the problems within our capabilities. Later, I realized that, thanks to our network, we needed to create something small but impactful in terms of providing assistance. With this in mind, we developed my namesake patch, which serves as a symbol of support for the military. All the proceeds from the patch go towards volunteering efforts,” shared the firearms business owner.
As the speaker noted, almost 70% of the team had resigned or left the country when the war began. They had to start searching for new personnel, change the company name because it was in Russian, and hire new experts, which also led to new challenges and business transformation.
“I realized that at one point, everything was buried, and there was no future for it. We had to immediately understand that the network needed a significant transformation. We had to move to a different location, rebrand, and essentially rebuild the business from scratch,” – Tetiana Yashkina shares.
To learn more about how she made it into the Ukrainian Book of Records, constant trips to zero, the exploitation of charity by major brands, and the international expansion of the business, watch the latest episode on the For HR channel here.
