Only one specialization for life is the old school model, a thing of the past. The modern world provides enough opportunities (and even more often, there is a need) for a radical change in the field of activity.
Alexander Zimin is one of the few individuals who succeeded in creating several successful businesses in entirely different sectors while constantly gaining new knowledge and doing science.
He wrote his first commercial website when he was 14 years old. He started his first business at the age of 16 years old. By age 23, he had his production of controllers for GPS/GLONASS monitoring of vehicles, an electrical installation service point, and even a construction company.
At 30, he worked in the real estate sector, creating an automation system for water, heat, and power supply facilities. He also has experience in organizing a business related to waste recycling.
Currently, he is busy developing a modular home business in Florida (USA). He owns a consulting company as well. One of the main areas of his work is to support various industrial companies, including those from the engineering, food, and chemical industries, as well as the restaurant business and retail chains at the stage of launching. The experts of his consulting company aim to help entrepreneurs avoid common mistakes and get all the necessary documents in a much faster time frame.
We talked with Alexander Zimin about the importance of education for a career in general, what particular skills an entrepreneur cannot do without, and how to overcome the challenges that may arise.
The Impact of Education in Our Modern World
Nowadays, many professions do not require academic education and attending university classrooms for five to six years. Besides, the most popular social media networks add fuel to the fire. Look at famous bloggers who do not stop telling their followers that education is not valuable and being assertive, attractive, and charismatic is more critical.
Like all successful stories, especially in social media, it can be referred much more to the so-called “survivor’s mistake” rule than to the fact that education is not required.
Education alone cannot guarantee success, just like your beautiful appearance, charisma, and wealthy parents. However, all just mentioned factors can be used as a resource worth using.
Alexander received three higher educations in the following fields:
- economics and management at the enterprise in mechanical engineering;
- civil law (corporation and international business);
- construction production manager.
After graduating from the university, he devoted much time to self-education and received additional knowledge necessary for further business development.
Such an approach helped Alexander to make a breakthrough in a relatively short time frame and achieve stable, efficient progress in work on each of his projects.
Soft & Hard Skills: What Should an Entrepreneur Develop?
The answer is simple, both kinds of skills are essential. Many people focus on professional skills and knowledge but need to remember their emotional intelligence, critical thinking, empathy, and teamwork.
As Alexander pays attention, effective interaction with people is one of the most challenging things in any business. You can quickly master the skill of filling out paperwork, getting an electrician’s license, and access to working with pressure equipment, but, at the same time, be not able to recognize your own emotions and the emotions of subordinates.
As a result, you can be fraught with burnout, conflicts, misunderstanding, and distrust in the workplace, which will directly affect the overall efficiency of the working process. Indeed, we can’t compare people to robots. Each individual deserves an appropriate attitude.
Any manager knows that finding and organizing a team of experts can be challenging. Therefore, finding a common language, motivating and inspiring, and monitoring the team’s emotional state is essential.
At the same time, the entrepreneur should be aware of his state. To implement everything conceived, generate ideas, and adequately respond to critical issues, you must learn to switch in time, rest well, constantly be interested in new things, maintain a “cold mind,” and think critically.
Such an approach will allow any entrepreneur to embrace many opportunities others need to recognize. For example, one of Alexander Zimin’s projects is the production of modular houses. This sector is now famous, but many aspiring entrepreneurs repeat existing business models.
After conducting an in-depth analysis of the construction situation and finding weaknesses, Alexander realized how he could turn all this into a successful business model.
His company is the first in Florida, which focuses on creating essential parts for modular houses piece by piece: roofs, walls, partitions, etc. The project has made assembling such modular homes even more accessible and faster. You are free from going through endless checks and approvals, as usually happens with the traditional assembly of a modular house.
Image Source: Alexander Zimin / LinkedIn
