Guzelia Imaeva: March 8 is coming soon, and we are focusing on the women's issue. Nadia, you initiated the creation of the WBI (Women Business Index) in Russia, which assesses the level of development of women's entrepreneurship in the country. Together with NAFI, four waves of research have already been carried out. I propose to discuss their results. What is your impression of the results?

Nadia Cherkasova: The index is a fundamental tool. The Opora Rossii Women's Entrepreneurship Development Committee is implementing it jointly with ASI and NAFI. The study helps to dot many i's. Over the two years that the study is underway, we see the situation from three sides - from the state as an institution to support and develop measures to promote small and medium-sized businesses, from the business community and from the women themselves who see themselves in business. In international practice, a more detailed segmentation of SMEs has been adopted, including according to the social profile of the target audience: youth, social and even pension entrepreneurship. The segment of female entrepreneurship in Russia is being “digitized” into understandable data: 54% of the working-age population are women, they make up 27–32% of the total number of entrepreneurs in our country. We see here a good resource for the development of the national economy and the growth of the number of entrepreneurs.

Nadia Cherkasova: 54% of the working-age population are women, they make up 27-32% of the total number of entrepreneurs in our country

The study includes two blocks - questions about the opportunities that entrepreneurship provides, and questions about the limitations that women see when starting a business. If we talk about limitations, then women first of all indicate a lack of knowledge, meaning not secondary or higher education in general (we know that the proportion of women with an education “not lower than secondary” is high in our country), but the knowledge necessary for business start. We have identified four areas of work to increase the level of knowledge of our women in the field of entrepreneurship: these are access to information, to education, to finance and to markets, including domestic and foreign markets. In all these areas, Opora Rossii is working together with the SME Corporation, the Federation Council and the Skolkovo Foundation.

Guzelia Imaeva: It is a proven fact that the level of development of women's entrepreneurship directly correlates with the level of GDP per capita. They predetermine each other, so the economic effect is obvious here. It is worth noting that not all men are ready to go into social entrepreneurship. For example, work with sick children, the elderly. In addition, projects in the field of healthcare, education and mass sports are also not always high-margin. Women come to these areas 2-3 times more often than men. And this is a serious support for the state in solving social problems.

Nadia Cherkasova: I would like to note that women often come to social projects through their own experience. In Russia, up to 90% of social business and educational projects related to the development of children and preschool education are done by women. There are, of course, unique projects that can be found in each of the 85 regions of our country where there are branches of Opora Rossii. For example, a grain terminal run by a woman. This is an absolutely unique, successful and large logistics center in the port of Kaliningrad. Many women see two possibilities in entrepreneurship - an opportunity for self-realization and an opportunity to earn more than they would earn for hire. And there is a third motive that we have identified within the WBI index - this is the desire to combine business and family, that is, the availability of a free schedule, the ability to manage one's time and one's resources.

Guzelia Imaeva: Our research shows that women, having come into business, feel an improvement in their personal lives. Someone gave birth to a child, and this became an incentive to further expand the business, while the problem of choosing between business and the rest of life does not exist. Examples of such entrepreneurs should remove barriers that, in fact, exist only in the minds of many.

Nadiya Cherkasova: The results of the study became the basis for the creation of the educational project "Mother Entrepreneur" by Opora Rossii together with the SME Corporation. This is one example of local products for women on maternity leave.

Guzelia Imaeva: Such targeted work has its effect. The study helps to identify problems and difficulties that definitely need to be broadcast to the regions at the state level. Women are most concerned about issues related to the entrepreneurial ecosystem and children's infrastructure. We are talking , for example, about getting places in kindergarten out of turn or the possibility of obtaining funding under preferential terms.

Nadia Cherkasova: It is also important to note that the development of women's entrepreneurship is a global trend. There is not only a demand on this topic in the world, but also real work with it, and not so much because of social concern, but in the light of the economic potential that women's entrepreneurship carries. According to various data, up to 90% of all purchases in the family are made by women. And targeted work aimed at this segment is a priority for many corporations.

Guzelia Imaeva: It is a proven fact that the level of development of women's entrepreneurship directly correlates with the level of GDP per capita

Guzelia Imaeva: Women, on the one hand, are more financially literate than men in terms of everyday issues. This is confirmed by our and other studies. Often, it is the woman who, by virtue of her duties in the family, manages the overall budget, planning income and expenses. And everything is fine here. On the other hand, women lack financial literacy in business. Here, women have slightly worse indicators compared to the male audience - for example, women are more likely to face cash gaps in business, they do not always have the skills and knowledge in the field of financial flow management, financial planning . This, probably, should become one of the focuses of attention in further work with this target audience on the part of financial institutions.

Nadia Cherkasova: According to the EBRD programs that took place in Russia and in the world, we observe that women have a larger share of loan repayments than men. Discipline is also connected with the fact that women have social responsibility . They often support their elderly parents, and in the event of a divorce, it is the women who tend to stay with the children. Because of these two social tasks, women are more responsible in terms of credit discipline. I would also support the thesis that our women are more cautious in terms of taking risks. That is why, as part of the Entrepreneurial Mom program, we teach women to do SWOT analysis and assess risks and opportunities. After all, very often, fearing some potential problems, a woman does not see the prospects that open before her.

Guzelia Imaeva: First of all, the barrier is in the minds. There is even such a thing as a “glass ceiling” (in international practice it is a “sticky floor”), when we ourselves create obstacles for ourselves and cannot take the first step. I think that our research and the work that is being done within the framework of the committee will be the impetus for removing these barriers. We see not only the results of the study that the attitude of society towards women's entrepreneurship is changing - more and more women themselves say that they are supported in the family. The share of support for women's entrepreneurship is slowly but growing, and this is very important. Thus, women who do not have their own business are less likely to say that their relatives would have a negative attitude to the decision to start their own business (12% in the third wave versus 8% in the fourth wave). In addition, women entrepreneurs began to more often note positive changes in attitudes towards business women. This was facilitated by publications in the media, the dissemination of examples of successful women, an active state policy in the field of women's entrepreneurship, as well as the actions of specialized communities of women entrepreneurs and speeches by officials on the topic of women's entrepreneurship.

Nadia Cherkasova: Success stories are a useful tool in this direction. We had an event in Udmurtia where we talked about the opportunities that women have. A young girl from the hall got up and said: “Everything is very good, you are all so smart, beautiful, you came from Moscow, and we have our own history here.” There were many women in the hall, and in response to these words, one of the women present stood up and said: “I make microchips. My microchips are exported to several countries. And in order for men in this field to take me seriously, I first defended my Ph.D., and then my doctorate.” And I have no doubt that in any audience there will definitely be a specific unique case of a successful woman . It's important to show them. When you start looking for such success stories, there are a lot of them, everywhere, from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok.

Guzelia Imaeva: On the eve of March 8, I want to wish women self-confidence. No matter what happens, I always say: we live once, and it's better to try and regret than to regret that you didn't try. We need to move forward and not be afraid!

Nadia Cherkasova: I wish our women to believe in themselves and inspire their environment and their loved ones for new beginnings. All limitations actually exist only in our heads. And one more thing: attract other women to the business, because this, of course, provides a tremendous opportunity for self-realization. I wish you success and good luck!

A bright, spacious and democratically furnished office, on the desktop next to the laptop, sliced ​​​​fresh carrots and celery, lots and lots of bottled water. Together with photographs of three children - a whole wall of photos of members of the bank's team of employees from different cities. Office Friday, you can wear jeans, and Nadia Cherkasova, the only woman on the board of Otkritie Bank, does not miss this opportunity. No wonder - both jeans and a strict two-piece suit, in which she recently spoke at the [email protected] , fit her perfectly. Nadia several years ago gave up meat, bread, sweets and feels that her energy has increased. It seems to me that Nadia also refused sleep - how else can she manage to work in one of the key positions in the bank, invest in business, give lectures, do charity work and manage to have a large family at the same time? “Yes, I don’t always have time to go home for dinner with the children in the evening,” says Nadia. - But in the morning we all have breakfast together and even light candles. This is how we make up for my absence from home for dinner. And as for sleep, yes, it is not enough. I sleep 5-6 hours a day.

Nadia exudes a lust for life. She clearly knows the value of not only every day - every second. By the way, at her previous place of work, at VTB 24 Bank, she implemented and launched the Project 219 employee adaptation program. When the bank entered the process of integration with VTB, which was technically and technologically complex, it was first of all a stress for people.

“You don’t have a planning meeting in the morning, and then there is no board and committees, you don’t fly to meetings. Your new schedule is to be on a drip for 24 hours.”

Nadia Cherkasova : someone sees himself in a new capacity, someone does not. The process itself took a whole year. I thought: people will spend a whole year of their lives in uncertainty! And that's 219 business days. And so the “Project 219” was born to adapt employees to change. The project helps to realize that every day is a part of your life, and on the other hand, it helps to be effective at work. You can live these 219 days in conversations “what will happen to us?”. But I decided: no, my team will not live like that. In 219 days, you can acquire new skills and knowledge. We started our project with an understanding of what everyone wants and how they value themselves. To understand what I want, you need to know yourself and your values. It happens so: we declare one thing, but in reality we react to something else. It is extremely important to understand yourself.

MC: Judging by your history, your main value is children?

Last year, on Saturday, I was invited to Skolkovo to speak at a conference on women's leadership. Everyone talked about how they know how to maintain work & life balance. But not a single female speaker came to the event with children! I did it without thinking. This is one of my rules - to spend the weekend with the children. For me, this is an example when the word does not disagree with the deed. My eldest daughter, she is now seven years old, and sometimes I take it with me on business trips. We recently flew to Riga together for a conference.

You talked about the team - apparently, you are a mountain for it. With colleagues and subordinates, who are you first of all? Friend? Boss? Do you include a "friend or foe" password?

Yes, of course, it's hard to get rid of it, and I include a friend-foe password. At the same time, I try not to be primary, and I try to see the essence in my work. There are a lot of subjective clichés in society: fat, thin, beautiful, ugly... Sometimes we don't know anything more about a person, maybe a tragedy happened, that's why he doesn't perform well today. When my mother graduated from college, my father died. My parents already had two children - me and my younger brother. But you are not going to approach every teacher and tell that your husband died a month ago, that one child is a month old, the other is four years old. You collect yourself, pass the session, raise children, try to live on. I mean, I try not to look through a subjective prism. When I forget, I immediately remind myself: let's not cliché.

When it comes to the team, I like the story that is usually called delegation. Freedom is primary. By the way, when I came to work at the bank, every time I was afraid that I would not be able to be free, the first six months are always difficult. But whoever seeks finds a niche of freedom. The main thing is that they ask me for the result, but how I do it, why I do it, I don’t always even want to tell.

In particular, when I joined VTB 24, the business line (I was responsible for non-financial services for legal entities, small and medium-sized businesses) was unprofitable. And at the end of 2017 - 35% of income to the bank. Without the freedom to act, without a vote of confidence, I would hardly have been so successful.

“I love being an inspiring leader. The word "coach" is now hackneyed - let it be a mentor"

Calmly. I myself am late.

Is that why you're calm?

No, I generally have a high tolerance for this. Well, it didn’t work out for a person, there are different circumstances. In addition, in the modern world, you always have mail at hand, or you can hold a meeting via video call. I proceed from the fact that the person, most likely, sought not to be late, he was not on purpose. Why start up that this is disrespectful to me, to the company? Of course, according to business etiquette, people are most often not late. And I also know the measure.

Okay, you're loyal to lateness. Why disloyal?

To no result. We agreed, a week passed, but nothing was done. I want to hear very clear arguments. And even after hearing them, I will surely answer: you have a wonderful brain that came up with a cool explanation, but you defaulted on the terms, so let's admit that these are not arguments, and never again ... I am for recognition and repentance. Failure to recognize mistakes does not allow development. I acknowledge them myself, of course.

Have you started admitting mistakes?

Not very long ago. Probably learned five or six years ago. There was a period of purely physical inactivity, I was in the hospital for preservation, waiting for my sons. I have reviewed a lot. Here you are in the thick of things, you are the chairman of the board of the bank, so beautiful, young, self-confident, and everything works out for you. You may even be carried in a good way, pret. You have money, you can fly anywhere, anytime. You have a family, a child, you seem to comply with all the rules of society. Straight ideal. And then suddenly you find yourself in a vacuum and start looking at life in slow motion. You don’t have a planning meeting in the morning, and then there is no board and committees, you don’t fly to meetings, you don’t give interviews. Your new schedule is to be on a drip for 24 hours.

“I can, having fired a person, return him. I don't hold grudges"

Nadia, well, you broadcast on the radio in the hospital.

Yes, but this is once a week a short inclusion. In general, life then slowed down a lot. And the people who needed you so much to make decisions, who were so waiting for your e-mails, and just close people from your team with whom you went through more than one organization together - you write SMS to them, and they don’t answer you for three days . And you begin to understand: yes, they are busy. They have deadlines, meetings, whatever, and your time flows differently. You just have to accept it. But I was not ready for such a turn. I was addicted to the approval of society: it seems like you did well on all sides, then - hop! – and you are not. And you already hear rumors that - oh, they must have been fired, or maybe she has cancer.

Were you in pain? To tears? In general, “to tears” with work, something happens?

In principle, “to tears” is extremely rare for me. In the bank, I cried a couple of times - from resentment that they did not appreciate the result. You do it, behind you is a team that also expects gratitude, and your success is obvious - but in response, such injustice ... And in the hospital it was not that painful. And by the way, I didn't cry. I tried to understand, but in the end I thought: well, okay. I'm like that - I can turn around and leave.

Do you cross these people, offenders, out of your life, or can you continue to work with them, communicate?

I can. I can, having fired a person, return him. I don't hold grudges.

This is a cool quality. .

First, I got rid of the “should” topic. Mom says: you must help your brother. But it seems to me that I, as an older sister, have been “in debt” for quite a long time. Not because my brother really needed, he is a successful person, but - the family, "it's customary." And I never tell my daughter: you are the eldest and therefore you are responsible, say, for the boys at school not to forget their sneakers. I ask the daughter and twin sons: who is your boss today? They appoint a boss, he is responsible. In general, I freed myself from this “should”. And I don't feel guilty either. But I also worked with this. For example, I don't feel guilty towards my children for not spending evenings with them. One of these days I'm going to dinner, my daughter is in tears, she doesn't want to let go. I clearly told her: I will go anyway, I made this decision, it is important for me. But when you wake up, I'll be there. We talked about all this in detail, and in the end I heard a calm: “Well, everything, mom, bye.” You need to have a sober mind. Recently I was at an event at Google, talking with Olga Sorokina, she is one of the best in consulting, and she has eight children. Eight! An amazing woman. Olga also has no feelings of guilt towards her family.

Children are the biggest manipulators. But at work, employees manipulate each other, and even the leader ...

In this sense, it is not easy to work with me. On the one hand, I give freedom, on the other hand, I am always direct and honest. Here's an example for you: a few years ago, an employee came up to me and said: "Nadiya, let's discuss the increase in my salary, I was transferred from Barnaul to Krasnoyarsk, I have to rent an apartment, and I have elderly parents." And he begins to give arguments that have nothing to do with work at all. I told him: “Listen, I say this once, I hope it will help you in life. Look, here are our colleagues: Larisa came from Yekaterinburg, Ilnar - from Kazan, I - from Nizhny Novgorod, Natasha - from Omsk. They all rent apartments. Once. Second. If we're all about the same age, who do you think has what parents? You have a good result, show it, tell us what you have achieved. But remember once and for all: never ask for a raise due to personal circumstances. I love being an inspirational leader. The word "coach" is now hackneyed - let it be a mentor. I believe that my advice will help a person, even if not immediately. I like to ask in an interview: why do you love yourself?

“Money is like energy. I'm careful with spending."

And why do you love yourself?

For flexibility. For me, having heard about the circumstances, it’s normal to change the rules, schedule, change something in the project with lightning speed. I can come to the airport and change my mind about flying. This lightness comes from my mother. As children, we regularly missed trains. My grandmother lived in Vladimir, we went there from Nizhny Novgorod for the weekend, for the holidays. And I often saw how the last carriage leaves from under the nose. It never made my mother hysterical. We just took a taxi and caught up with the train in neighboring Dzerzhinsk.

Mom is now elderly, but she has not lost her lightness. There was a case a few years ago: we phoned as usual, and among other things I shared with my mother: listen, maybe we’ll buy something in Spain ... We talked, and I forgot. I come home in the evening, my mother met me in Spanish: “Como se llama mouth?” – which means: “What is your name?” I asked: “Mom, what is this?” - "You said - Spain, I went to the store and bought a phrase book." Mom is like that. Why postpone, you need to take and do. I also set up children this way and often say: this is not a problem.

Isn't it a problem? Or do you recognize some of their problems?

We try to discuss all situations. For example, my daughter studied from the age of three according to the British system, now she has transferred her to another school, and the Russian language has been added. She hasn't adjusted yet. This morning we realized that she could not do her homework - stress. I honestly opened the task and did not understand how to complete it. I say: "This is not a problem, sometimes you can not learn the lessons." She says, "No, that's a problem." And I decided: “Diyash, let’s do this: I’ll call the teacher, talk, we’ll catch up on the Russian language later, we’ll start from the age of eight.” Have we solved the problem?

This is getting away from the problem. .

No, not care. I realized that we overloaded our daughter. She has also started Spanish.

If in large strokes - three financial rules for yourself and for the child. After all, you work in a bank, and I cannot help but ask about money.

I have, frankly, a reverent attitude towards money. Money is like energy. I am careful with spending.

What is "neat"? Is it not to lend, not to borrow, to live on your own?

First, in the store, I often say to myself: “I don’t need this.” Because money for me is like energy that I can spend on something important. And the second point: I try not to lend. As a banker, I think that it is necessary to take out a loan. In rare situations, I lend and reconcile in advance with delays in return. Although there was a case, I told a friend: “Listen, since we have an open relationship, let me remind you that you delayed the money for two weeks. I understand that this is nothing, but inside me my banking essence is going through. One day past due is a bad credit history. Five days - this is a credit bureau ... On the other hand, I easily spend money on useful things.

“I will surprise you, but I’m not thinking about a career, but about the fact that I want to give birth again”

For example?

For example, as part of social activities, I made a Russian index of women's entrepreneurial activity. I understood that in Russia there is no fundamental instrument that would assess the level of readiness of society to support women entrepreneurs in a segmented way. And, for example, I paid for the first index myself.

On my birthday, I usually write to my colleagues that I don’t want to be Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, when everything around is full of flowers. I give a link to the Konstantin Khabensky fund, it is personalized, you can then see how much was transferred. Last year, following the results of my birthday, five children received treatment.

Have you already set financial rules for your children?

I do not encourage constant purchases. We can spend an hour or two with them in the store. They play everything, but they know that we will not buy. We buy only for birthdays and for the New Year, you can ask for two gifts - from Santa and from parents. I also love handmade gifts. Children make postcards, cut something out.

And what do you do that they keep?

Home wall newspaper. It is dedicated to what happened during the month. Everything I click on my iPhone, I throw in WhatsApp to an assistant, we print out A3 photos, I paste them as a collage on one of the walls of our house, and for the next month the children add whatever they see fit to the newspaper. Stickers, Hello Kitty, Spidermen...

The second rule: I try to explain that if we start spending money just like that, it means that I will work longer. And the kids listen to it.

In ten years, where do you see yourself, where do you live? What do you want for yourself, for your family?

Good question. I think the family will definitely be bigger. I’ll surprise you, but I don’t think about a career, but about the fact that I want to give birth again.

And it's all about her

Nadia Cherkasova

Age : 46 years old
Marital status : mother of three children
Education : Faculty of Economics, Nizhny Novgorod State University, International Moscow School of Finance and Banking.
Internship at South Shore Bank (USA), EBRD (Austria) and IIMD (Germany) Career : worked in the Nizhny Novgorod branch of Inkombank (the path from a loan officer to the head of the loan department).
She was the head of the KMB-Bank division in Nizhny Novgorod. It opened the first branch of the bank. Later - Member of the Board, Director of the Business Development Department of KMB-Bank (Moscow). In 2005, she became Managing Director for Small and Medium Business Development at Trust Bank. In 2010, she entered the TOP-50 most influential business women in Russia. She was a senior vice president, director of the VTB 24 small business customer service department, and was a member of the bank's management board. Chairman of the Committee for the Development of Women's Entrepreneurship "Opora Rossii".
Since January 1, 2018 - Member of the Board of Otkritie Bank Favorite sport : tennis
Favorite book : Life as a Startup by Reed Hoffman and Ben Casnochi
Favorite perfume : Aqua Allegoria Mandarine-Basilic, Guerlain

Nadia, Markswebb recently published a study on the effectiveness of Internet banking for small businesses. VTB24 Internet Bank showed good dynamics compared to last year. What made it possible to achieve this? Which of the RBS innovations were the most noticeable and significant for the Bank?

Our ambition is to become trendsetters. We are already creating products that are copied by other banks: a number of services this year were the first to appear at VTB24. In the modern world, copying innovations is quite simple, in some ways this is good. At the same time, in areas such as banking, it is important to be the first so that the customers for whom we create products can use them a little earlier. Thus, customers receive additional benefits for the development of their business.

I'll give you an example. In the Internet banking for individuals, the client, as a rule, can view card transactions in any section: how much he spent in pharmacies, how much - in supermarkets, beauty salons, etc. For legal entities, only a few offer such a PFM service. It is believed that there is an "Online Bank-Client" where statements and all financial information are available. But after all, different users work with remote banking channels in companies: there is an accountant, and there is a business owner who wants to understand the situation as a whole. Especially for business owners, we have implemented a service called "Business Pulse". It allows you to view a report on financial transactions in infographic format. It would seem that we have not created anything fundamentally new: the owner of the business, being at the same time a client of the Bank as an individual, is used to managing personal finances in a similar format, but we have introduced a service that has greatly simplified his work.

the new year with a redesign of Puls Business in terms of usability - there are opportunities for growth, we are satisfied with the functional content of the service.

Usability is good, but what new features have appeared in Internet Banking?

Among the significant innovations in the market that have appeared over the past year, we can highlight our counterparty verification service. It allows the client to check the trustworthiness of the partner and his business reputation in real time.

The service analyzes data from official databases of state authorities and displays the result of the check in the form of color indicators (red, yellow or green), and also provides a link to a specific source of information. Based on the information received, the client decides whether to confirm the payment, conduct an additional check, or completely refuse to cooperate with such a counterparty.

The service is available in the marketplace of the VTB24 Business Online system. By the way, the marketplace in our Internet bank is also a unique solution for the market: here non-banking products are available to customers on the most favorable terms. We launched a non-financial services store at the beginning of this year and continue to actively develop it.

Will it be partner services?

Yes, including. These will be pleasant and convenient options for small businesses. For example, the “deferred payment” service, when an entrepreneur goes on vacation and wants the system to make a payment on a certain date. This service, on the one hand, is simple, and on the other hand, it is very convenient for the client. In addition, a new partnership project with Rostelecom will appear in the near future. The largest operator will offer telephony and Internet connection at an exclusive discount. For SMBs, mobility is key. We know that our customers are waiting for the launch.

Another unique product is online conversion operations with a rate directly from the Moscow Exchange. When the bank sets the exchange rate, the client has many questions (are they always optimal and transparent?), here we give the opportunity to see how the auction is going, at any time the client can click "stop" and fix the rate.

Has the appearance of this service led to the fact that customers have become more active in using currency exchange operations? Can RBS functionality develop business for clients themselves? After all, RBS is initially an operational tool: log in, make a payment.

After the launch of the service, we began to receive gratitude from customers. I confess it was very pleasant.

As for RBS in general, I think that the paradigm here changed at least two years ago. For a long time now, customers have not treated RBS channels as a purely operational solution. Of course, within the framework of the Bank-Client Online system, we strive to satisfy all the needs of the client related to business, offering not only our own services, but also the services of our partners: legal support, cloud accounting, marketing tools, etc.

What growth points do you see? Are there any new projects or services planned?

As of September 1, 2016, VTB24 serves 380 thousand legal entities and individual entrepreneurs , 98% of them make their payments through VTB24 Business Online. For comparison, in the market as a whole, the percentage of penetration of Internet banking into business ranges from 68 to 77%. Through VTB24 Business Online, customers are offered an increased rate compared to service at a branch.

The active development of technology allows banks to offer a variety of solutions. Of course, we carefully study them. This encourages us, major players, to be one step ahead and implement the Agile methodology , which allows us to compete with startups in the FinTech niche.

Obviously, a product for 5–10 thousand customers is one story, and a service for hundreds of thousands is completely different.

They say there are digital banks for small businesses. If we take our figures for the penetration of remote channels (98%), why is this not a digital bank?

The willingness to open the API for remote channels will allow us to consider proposals from third-party developers and startups, and this is quite a breakthrough story.

What areas are of interest to banks? First, developments aimed at optimizing processes. Not many B2B projects for banks are being launched. The logic of startups can be understood - B2C models aimed at reaching an audience seem to be more attractive. But I want to note: B2B projects scale faster and can be more commercially successful: they worked with one bank, then you can replicate your product, develop business with other market participants.

A traditional question that is asked in interviews with innovators in large banks is how to effectively maintain mobility and innovation in a large bureaucratic structure? How do you manage to quickly coordinate, resolve budget issues , develop and release products within such a large structure?

There is a stereotype that state banks are huge conservative organizations. My experience has shown that this is just a stereotype. At VTB24, the small business department is an independent team, many decisions are delegated to us. And speaking of mobility and speed, you might be surprised if I say that I receive a response from the President - Chairman of the Board of the Bank to my e-mail messages within an hour.

About the bureaucracy of the company is also possible for certain products. In this sense, if we take the top 3 banks focused on small and medium businesses , there are no such services that we would not have.

We respond quickly enough to the emergence of new products, and with the introduction of the new ABS for legal entities , which should be completed before the end of the year, we will be able to respond even faster.

Recently, one of the major bankers expressed the opinion that the direction of SMEs in a bank is a lot of trouble and losses ...

I do not agree with this, for VTB24 small business is one of the most profitable business lines. Small business loss is one of the most common myths. There is a prejudice that small business for banks is only loans. If you look at the profit structure of VTB24, you will see that we earn only 17% from lending operations. The remaining 83% the Bank earns on commissions. The largest share is provided by transactional and transfer products.

Market leaders are changing the focus from the loan pipeline to the development of a transactional business model. Everything is simple for bankers: where the profitability is higher, they invest there. This is what unites us with entrepreneurs.

Let's just say: this is the inertia of perception. In principle, now the development of women's entrepreneurship is a serious global trend.

In women's small business, one can see a serious emphasis on the ideas of developing social entrepreneurship.

As the practice of many countries has shown, this is a point of growth for small and medium-sized businesses. If we consider the cluster of small businesses as a whole, then there are many different areas: there is the development of innovations, industrial production, services, and so on. But you can also look at it in a different logic: for example, youth entrepreneurship, women's entrepreneurship. And it is in women's small business that one can see a serious emphasis on the ideas of developing social entrepreneurship. Educational projects, everything related to the development of children, preschool education, all this, as a rule, is done by women. In fact, in Russia, up to 90% of social business and educational projects are done by women.

A woman on maternity leave usually has two choices. Either she returns to work after graduation, where she may not be particularly expected anymore, or she herself seeks to combine motherhood with some kind of activity. And there are many examples of such self-employment.

- Tell me, please.

For example, one girl, Alla Komissarova, began to prepare chocolate for her child according to a special recipe. Then she began to make friends for children. And her friends then said to her: “Listen, you have a great business!” And now her business is actively developing, she holds master classes for children and adults, and you can buy her absolutely amazing, delicious chocolate.

There is an interesting case from Sasha Shaforost - her Mark cookies are now sold in the Azbuka Vkusa. Mark is her son's name, and she originally prepared a treat for him.

- Cookies, chocolate - it's somehow not serious ...

Very often, when starting a business, a woman does not choose what is in high demand or what she can earn on. She comes from her needs, from the needs of her family, her children. They create family kindergartens, development centers for children and much more.

- In the spring of last year, you initiated the creation of a committee for the development of women's entrepreneurship under the public organization "Opora Rossii" and now you head it ...

Yes, and this year we have already opened local committees for women's entrepreneurship in 25 regions, and by July 1 we plan to open them in all regions.

I was able to meet with President Vladimir Putin and present our proposals and legislative initiatives related to women's entrepreneurship.

And on January 20, at the All-Russian Entrepreneurial Forum, I managed to meet with President Vladimir Putin and present our proposals and legislative initiatives related to women's entrepreneurship. And we have already started working with the state corporation to support small and medium-sized businesses within the framework of the working group, since it has already been instructed to develop plans for the development of women's entrepreneurship.

- In just a year, you were able to turn around like that and even meet with the president - this indicates very serious intentions.

Yes, and we not only declare ourselves to the whole country. We have created several products, including a very important one - the Women's Entrepreneurial Activity Index, which we are publishing today for the first time. I think that this is a serious breakthrough for Russia.

- Is there something similar in other countries?

Yes. One of the international indicators of women's entrepreneurial activity is the Female Entrepreneurship Index (FEI), it is calculated by the specialists of the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute. Last year, 70 countries around the world took part in the project, comparing three key indicators: the state of the business environment, the business ecosystem, and the aspirations of entrepreneurs. The leaders in the ranking were the USA, Australia, Great Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands. Russia occupies an "honorable" 56th place.

- Tell us about our index.

We called it WBI - Women Business Index. It is designed to show the level of favorable business and social environment for the development of women's entrepreneurship in Russia. Our index is also built around three key indicators: society's attitude towards entrepreneurship, economic conditions and infrastructure, personal qualities and talents. The assessment is given by women who already run or own businesses, as well as those who are employed or temporarily out of work. We believe that this approach provides a comprehensive assessment of the business environment.

- What are the results of the first study?

It's hard to believe, but the vast majority of our respondents - 96% have a positive attitude towards entrepreneurship , and three-quarters of women see themselves as an entrepreneur in one or another time perspective.

- What did women indicate as motivation and what do they need to start a business?

We found that for those who have not yet started their own business, the most significant is the material incentive: women would like to receive more income than from employment (51%). But also important for women is the desire to realize their idea, to benefit society (42%). To start a business, the majority need start-up capital (67%), a well-developed business plan and an assessment of potential demand (66%), many believe that personal qualities and self-confidence are also important (55%).

- And what is important for those who already have their own business?

Here is a slightly different story. A third of such respondents (33%) answered that it was important to strive to realize their idea, to benefit society. Women entrepreneurs named personal qualities and self-confidence (43%), as well as having a good team and partners (35%) as key factors for starting.

- Did the study ask about the barriers that hinder women's entrepreneurship in Russia?

We found that the main barrier is both economic and educational factors. The lack of financial opportunities and difficulties in attracting investments were mentioned by 57% of the respondents. At the same time, 52% called the lack of knowledge and business experience a barrier, 37% said the difficult economic situation in the country. Among the top five barriers, there are also factors with a pronounced gender character: 34% of women said that the difficulties on the way to starting an entrepreneurship are high household chores and the presence of small children.

- What conclusion can be drawn by evaluating the performance of the WBI index?

What is interesting: in Russia, more than half of the working-age population is women, but in terms of the level of development of female entrepreneurship, we are in 56th place. It turns out a very large gap. And, in fact, within the framework of our initiatives, we are just trying to show how important this is and what great potential lies in this type of entrepreneurship. There is an illustrative example - in China, an educational project was created for women who would like to do business, with its help 900 thousand people were trained. And they opened their businesses and created 5 million jobs!

If you support a woman in terms of teaching entrepreneurship, then you can give her a "fishing rod", give her the opportunity to earn money and create new jobs.

We want to emphasize that women are not a socially subsidized layer. If you support a woman in terms of teaching entrepreneurship, then you can, as they say, give her a "fishing rod", give her the opportunity to earn money and create new jobs. Again, this is one of the points of growth. And our index helps to understand what is needed for women's entrepreneurship in our country to be massively developed. After all, women do such types of business where men do not go, they are not interested. These are socially significant types of business that help develop the economy.

- What programs for women entrepreneurs have been created under the auspices of Opora Rossii?

We have many projects. One of them, for example, is called "Mom Entrepreneur", it is an educational program. How to write a business plan, how to keep financial records, what taxes are, how to combine motherhood, business and household responsibilities, and so on. We conducted a "pilot" and tested the project, handed over all the materials to the state corporation for the development of SMEs. There, the level of professionalism of this project was highly appreciated. I can't say exactly on the timetable, but we have everything ready, and we can bring this particular project to the federal level as early as May.

- Is the issue with the possibility of attracting funding being resolved? After all, according to your survey, the barrier is not only the lack of knowledge and experience, but also the lack of start-up capital.

If we take China as an example, then there women who completed an educational program received grants - either from microfinance organizations or from banks. In the near future I plan to go to the USA, study their experience, and then to China. We need to think about how we can do this.

Throughout the past year, bankers have said there is no demand for small business loans. Yes, and statistics show that last year the portfolio of SME loans has declined significantly. Banks are not eager to lend to small businesses, and entrepreneurs are far from always able to get a bank loan. What can be of interest to credit organizations in particular women's entrepreneurship?

Bankers today, it seems to me, look at the segment of small and medium-sized businesses through the prism of established clichés.

Banks should rethink their logic and try to see opportunities that they do not currently see.

Remember the standard “pancake”, the diagram of industry affiliation: 65–70% - trade enterprises , 20% - services, the rest - production ... We are a little frozen in this paradigm. We need to look at the small business segment more carefully, breaking it into subclusters. After all, there is still Internet commerce and everything related to digital business, banks also do not offer any programs for them. There are fintech start-ups that no one deals with during a crisis. At the same time, there are a number of areas that are actively developed and actively supported by accelerators. Banks should rethink their logic and try to see opportunities that they do not currently see. It is worth considering additional products for certain clusters and thereby making the second level of diversification of your portfolio.

29.09.2015 09:00

Our author Elena Makhota continues a series of interviews where she asks her speakers what their style in business and life is. In an informal atmosphere, she managed to meet and have a detailed conversation with Nadia Cherkasova, a member of the board of VTB 24 bank, director of the department for servicing small and medium-sized businesses.

- Nadia, I know that we chose this place for a reason, tell us why we are in the Ribambel children's club?

As a mother of three children, I have very good associations with this place. It seems to me that this restaurant beautifully and easily combines adult life and children's world, for which I love it very much.

- By the way, in several interviews I found mentions that you had a not so simple childhood. How did you grow up?

I never thought it was difficult for me. There was a "happy Soviet childhood", like many who were born in the USSR. I dreamed of communism, which I associated with free ice cream, and every summer I went to a pioneer camp with pleasure. When I was four and a half years old, my father died, I don’t remember him at all, only from photographs. Already now, being a mother myself, I understand how difficult it was then for my mother alone with two children. My brother was only two weeks old at the time. My mother is a unique person, we did not feel deprived of attention and care, she completely devoted her life to us. And what is the love of a father, I understood only after the birth of my daughter with my husband, seeing their special relationship.

- What role did your mother play in the development of your personality?

Mom was finishing her fifth year at the Plekhanov Moscow Institute of National Economy, when she was left alone with us. She did not give up, but successfully graduated from the institute, as she always prefers to act and go forward in the most difficult life situations. I think that the "genetic code" of action in any situation was transmitted to me without unnecessary delay. I decided, I went, I did. This is perhaps the most important lesson. And the second thing that was passed on is a positive attitude towards life, the perception of events happening to us is positive. Mom finds the bright side in everything and words to cheer her up. Now I myself form and lay these same “genetic codes” in my children.

- What do you think, is this ability to do, is it innate? Or can leadership skills be acquired? What kind of leader are you?

You know, I'm sure that we are shaped by the environment in which we grow and develop, and ourselves. What I mean? Children automatically copy and reproduce the model of their parents, watching them at home and in life, listening to conversations around. And even in some small things and in our habits, which we sometimes do not notice for ourselves. Therefore, if something is innate, then it is most likely minimal, we acquire everything else during our lives. It is the same with leadership, it is formed and copied. I think that the leadership style is influenced by the example of the first job in which we are faced with the first leader, this is like the first teacher in the school. It serves as the basis and foundation for subsequent add-ons.

What kind of leader am I? I sometimes combine incompatible approaches. As a leader, I am calm about a free work schedule, I like it when there is a feeling of freedom in a team, but at the same time I am meticulous in trifles and nuances, demanding on professional knowledge, with a strict system of control and discipline of execution. I don't like it when they try to "chatter" me and do not immerse themselves in the essence of the task. You know, there is such a type of bankers - "staff officers" who have never worked in the fields and in the regions and have little idea how everything works on the spot.

Few people know that in addition to a successful banking career over the years, you have recently been involved in your own innovative projects. How did you come to this? Tell me more...

That's right, I've invested in a number of projects.

On the one hand, I have been working in the market of lending and servicing small businesses for more than twenty years. From here I have a good idea and track the main trends in business. Of course, when you have been working in the segment of small and medium-sized businesses for so many years, entrepreneurship becomes a part of you. You look at different business stories and try them on for yourself. Just like in your case, Lena, you worked for almost fifteen years in banks and eventually went into your consumer services business.

On the other hand, you understand all the risks, as you evaluate the business from the point of view of an expert. I was thinking about a business operating in an online environment and solely within the framework of a commission-transactional model. These thoughts haunted me during my second pregnancy, and I began to carefully study the e-commerce market and look at projects developing on the Internet. As a person who is meticulous about the little things and loves to touch everything with my own hands, I even launched a prototype of an online store on my own. This experience helped me prepare a model for lending to online stores. In Russia, banks still lend only to offline trade, and e-commerce is financed at the expense of its own funds and investors, examples of lending by banks are rare. I was in the hospital for preservation and at the same time studied everything that I mentioned above.

I agree with you that standard credit analysis, the so-called classic of the EBRD, includes collecting data at the place of business, obtaining bank statements, balance sheets, calculating balances, customer flow, and here everything is completely different.

Yes, absolutely right. The approach to analyzing company data is based on other principles, since it is, in fact, the analysis of clicks to the site, ad impressions on the Internet, activity on social networks, and so on. Only after giving birth to my two sons and being on maternity leave, in parallel, I actively met with representatives of various Internet projects. This is how I met the guys from the Boomstarter crowdfunding platform (an analogue of the successful American Kickstarter), of which I am now one of the co-owners. The essence of the service is to attract investments from individuals for various projects: from organizing a children's rock festival to buying equipment for an online bakery. You can exhibit your project and pay with a product that you will make later, or with some kind of lot that you come up with. For example, I bought a lot for 10,000 rubles for a project to organize a children's rock festival, and the organizers paid me to go on stage and sing a song with the Electronics group. Or, for example, quite recently a young man was doing an online confectionery, he needed to purchase two ovens, and a lot was offered - every month a subscription for the delivery of eight eclairs to any address you specified.

- Yes, great.

You know, there is a feeling of not only positive, but also that you really help people to launch their dream projects. What, in fact, is our business: a project is presented on the site, if it collects 100% of the money for implementation, then we get our commission percentage. This is approximately 5-6% of the project amount.

- As I understand it, this business does not require your serious involvement?

You're right. My role is more strategic. An excellent team, a professional CEO and my partners are wonderful and successful people in their own right, with a number of projects behind them. Our platform is three years old today, I joined the guys after two years of business. They were looking for an investor and turned to me as an expert. When they asked if I could recommend someone, I offered myself. There is such a principle: “If you really want something and they don’t offer you, then stand up, raise your hand and say: “I want to do it!” By the way, this is also a lesson from KMB-Bank, one of my leaders once said: “Don’t sit and wait for nothing, if you want to take on a new task or project, then raise your hand, stand up and offer yourself!” That's what I did in the Boomstarter situation.

This project is developing me, I am learning new things in this business, there are many terms that I simply do not know. I don’t even admit that I don’t know, I just write it down, and then I study and understand.

- Let's discuss the topic of inner freedom, what gives you this project ... Freedom from the bank?

You know, I am very interested in the bank, this is a topic that has been close to me for many years. But I am one of those people who always look to the future. On the one hand, sometimes it even worries me, on the other hand, it gives free-thinking. Returning to our years at KMB-Bank, you also started your career there, at one training you had to write what you would like to feel at the end of your life. And I remember how now, I wrote: "To be free from circumstances, free from people and have inner freedom." The Boomstarter project for me is like, you know, with Baron Munchausen, you take and pull yourself out of your comfort zone by the hair. What else is close to this project for me? I see a lot of doers there. They do not whine and do not say that someone did not give them something, did not single out, did not help. They just get on and do it. And it is important for me to be involved in this. It is also an alternative to the development of financial instruments, which is very interesting for me as a banker.

At their core, people love to discuss and pass on success stories, and hundreds of business and management books have been written about them. At the same time, often the force of defeat or primary failure, from the point of view of experience, is sometimes more powerful than the force of success, since only the force of defeat makes you “pull yourself by the hair” and move forward. It's like the inventor of the Gillette razor for many years proved that his invention completely changes the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bshaving, which eventually turned the entire shaving industry upside down and created a huge multi-billion dollar business (by the way, many years later). He was not recognized for almost ten years. What professional defeats were very important for you and forced you to leave your comfort zone?

I completely agree with you that a chocolate-pineapple life does not make you strong, and failure gives you the opportunity to open a second wind. One of my stories is related to the crisis of 1998 when I worked at Inkombank. Then I dreamed of working there all my life and reaching the coveted stage - branch manager. But the crisis that threw many people out into the street, including, should have touched me, since I was also waiting for the layoffs. However, the crisis opened up new opportunities - I jumped over several steps and headed the branch of KMB-Bank, from the position of the head of the department in an instant I was transferred to the chair of the head. For me, crises have become a happy sign - I always find new opportunities.

What about personal crises?

Yes, there was a period that played a big role in my life. When I was pregnant with my sons, the situation was complicated and sometimes critical, I was in the hospital for more than six months and hid for a long time that I was expecting children. When you - a public top manager - suddenly disappear from view, people from the business environment begin to evaluate your career as unsuccessful, your name begins to acquire all sorts of rumors. This is extremely annoying. Especially when you're fighting for the lives of two children at the same time. And then this outside world begins to quickly forget you. Few people are interested in your opinion anymore, you rarely receive answers to mail and calls, many suddenly have no time to answer SMS just because you are no longer in the stream. At this moment, only really close people remain next to you, there is a reassessment of values. After this personal crisis, which I must say, I experienced for a long time, my family is my unequivocal priority, I will always choose my family and my closest friends. This does not mean that people are bad, greedy or constantly want something from you, they just need you when you make decisions and have a certain resource of authority. Realizing this was an important milestone in my life. As a result, as a person, I gained more freedom.

How do you imagine your life in twenty years? You are sixty-four, Nadiya Cherkasova...

Oh, I know what I'll be doing at eighty! You will not believe, but I have a plan, now I will show the entry in the Notes.

Nadia, how many people do you think have a plan for eighty years? I know maybe only a couple of people. Usually the question even about five years causes a stupor. So, Nadia Cherkasova, eighty years old, what's the plan?

Yes, I have a plan called “Big Goals”, task number five: to become world champions in ballroom dancing among non-professional couples over the age of eighty with my husband Vadim (laughs ) . This goal was set three and a half years ago. What am I doing now for this? She began to discuss with her husband and received his consent to dance classes. It is beautiful and will encourage us to be in shape. In addition, according to scientists, dancing is the only activity that makes the brain work consciously, and not turn on autopilot. Just knowing how to dance is not enough for me, but setting a big goal is what inspires me.

I was just thinking about the way successful people think. A successful person does not think about the process, but about how to be the best at what he does. And I am absolutely sure that this is impossible to learn. The DNA of the doer is what is given at birth and makes a person go forward. Be the best in your business: whether to bake the best buns in the city, whether to make the best advertising or launch the best Internet project in your field. Great people do the same, but on a national and global scale, because they do not feel boundaries.

I agree, it is very important for me that big and small goals inspire and motivate me to move forward.

- It's time for our traditional blitz. What is your clothing style?

Democratic.

- What are you like in motherhood?

Democratic.

- What is your leadership style?