Young Ural Mother Starts Business While Pregnant

Just a few years ago, Evgenia Blonskaya from Yekaterinburg worked as an employee and never considered starting a business. Her entrepreneurial drive emerged when her life underwent significant changes. After learning she was expecting a child, she decided to take a chance and launch her own venture. This article presents the honest story of this young mother and entrepreneur.

By profession, Evgenia is a human resources management specialist. With a higher education diploma, she found employment in a salaried role. But upon discovering her pregnancy, she decided to seek something more suitable.

« I understood that on maternity leave, I wouldn«t be able to return to my main office job. But I didn»t want to completely withdraw from active life either. I needed a business that didn«t require daily physical presence. I learned from an acquaintance about the possibility of opening a parcel pickup point, so I decided to give it a try, » Evgenia recalls.

She began researching the marketplace industry, looking for conditions that were clearer and more transparent for her. In the end, she chose to go with Yandex Market. She opened her first pickup point in February 2023—during her sixth month of pregnancy.

« The startup phase happened quickly—by then, there were Telegram groups and even video blogs from those who had already opened and were willing to share their experience. Everything came together in just about a month—from the idea to the first customer, » the entrepreneur recalls.

With the first income from the business, she realized the need to scale up to earn more.

« Back then, I thought the hardest part was finding a location. But now, three years later, I understand that was only the first level of difficulty. Was I scared? Of course. But if you don«t try, you won»t grow. There was also a failed experience: I had to sell one point. But that too was a learning experience, » Evgenia reflects.

Now the entrepreneur has a network of three pickup points. Evgenia admits that over these few years, she has managed to set up the entire system to run like clockwork with minimal time investment. She handles some tasks remotely.

« Currently, I spend up to three hours a day on the business on average. There are points where I last showed up two months ago: I monitor everything via cameras, plus I have an excellent manager and reliable operators.

However, from a staffing perspective, it«s not always possible to stay in the black. The entrepreneur shares that young people who sometimes come to work at the pickup points turn out to be irresponsible, and she has to let them go.

« The most challenging part of this business is personnel. If it weren«t for staffing issues, I»d probably have about 20 points by now, » Evgenia laughs. « Staff dependability is crucial, but sometimes they«re truly hard to find. Now I understand that if someone doesn»t grasp how the processes work on the first day, it«s better not to waste effort on them further.

According to the entrepreneur, retaining a team with valuable staff is helped by a human touch: showing interest in their lives, remembering what people share about themselves and their families, which improves relationships.

« Some even return to the team after leaving, » Evgenia shares. « We even have couples that formed: a female operator met a courier—first a chance encounter at the point, and now they have a family and a child. Overall, pickup points are their own little world. Thanks to the business, I«ve made new friends—colleagues from other pickup points. Some think we»re all competitors—in reality, we«re a team. With some, we even go on vacation together, organizing our own »corporate events,« so to speak.

Evgenia notes that in today«s fast-changing world, no one knows for sure what tomorrow will bring, so while there»s an opportunity to earn, one should seize it. But it«s important to remember that even though startups don»t require huge investments or a fixed office schedule, you still need to participate and engage with your project.

« For those just thinking about opening their own pickup point now, I«d advise carefully selecting the location—that»s 95% of success—and not being afraid to scale up. One point is a lottery. Several points are a strategy. And it«s also important not to skimp on employee salaries, » Evgenia concluded.