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“UAFM in the faces”: Interview with Anton Pervachenko, co-founder of ViANT.

A dynasty of furniture makers looms

There are not so many family companies in Ukrainian furniture production and even fewer dynasties of furniture makers. In the Pervachenko family, the furniture dynasty was founded for a long time.

Those who have been in the region for a long time should remember the capital furniture factory “Alpha”: every second sofa was of its production. It was Pervachenko’s factory. The youngest of them – Anton – although he received higher education at the Poplavsky University, did not become a manager of international tourism, having joined the parental business. But a “warm place” was not prepared for his son. The tourism manager began to master the furniture business as a loader. And it was a wise decision: after going through all the steps of the furniture hierarchy, one could study the furniture business to perfection.

The parental “Alpha” could not stand the pressure of the financial and economic crisis of 2008 and disappeared from the industry. But at that time, the production of furniture was already grafted into Anton. “Alpha” disappeared, and Pervachenkov’s furniture ardour did not die out in Anton. Therefore, “Alpha” has disappeared not without a trace. But it was not possible to immediately revive the family business by starting a new production. I went a long way to my goal: I started selling someone else’s furniture, nurturing a dream of my own and bringing it closer to its realization. It also gave me some experience: I saw why one piece of furniture is successful in the market and why another is selling poorly.

When it became possible to acquire the three most necessary machines for the production of furniture – cutting, facing and drilling – and give them work, the revival of the family business began. The family tradition of the furniture business continued in the company “ViANT”, which Anton co-founded with his wife Valentina, which is recorded in both her name and the trademark of the same name. Of course, such a rather modest start of ViANT furniture production did not provide for serial production.

Three years have passed, the company has grown stronger, found its place in the market, gained credibility, but still specialized in the manufacture of custom-made furniture – kitchens, dressing rooms, wardrobes, and other cabinet furniture. In Kyiv, on three hundred square meters of production, the company has already become cramped, so they relocated to Bila Tserkva on a thousand “squares” They not only expanded geographically but also technically improved by acquiring several modern high-tech machines, including CNC.

The expansion of production led to the decision to expand the search for customers, going beyond the boundaries of the capital region – they have already “mastered” six areas. Behind this decision, another thing was also actualized: to cast an entrepreneurial glance abroad. An export breakthrough is in the plans for next year, but for now, says Anton, a new model range is being developed for this, quality indicators are being refined, product packaging is improving, approaching European requirements, and transportation is becoming safer. A sensible manager for foreign economic activity is looking for. Negotiations are underway with some well-known designers who could help in the implementation of the export project on a royalty basis.

“When I was exclusively engaged in the sale of someone else’s furniture,” says Anton Pervachenko, “I was primarily interested in money – revenue, and now, the more I immerse myself in furniture production, the less I am interested in money. Other values ​​have become more important: to earn not money, but professional authority and recognition of a furniture manufacturer. And to do this, do things that, in turn, would do you honour, that would be properly appreciated by fellow furniture makers, that would delight those for whom they were created, that would give a sense of the significance of your work.

Apparently, these words are the furniture credo of Anton Pervachenko. It also defines the essence of customer relationships – responsible, honest, open.

– For furniture makers who fulfil individual orders, the client is not an abstract buyer, but often a co-author of a furniture project, therefore, the relationship with him is special, due to the fact that he is at the centre of individualized furniture production. Therefore, you cannot deceive him, cheat with him, look for a one-time benefit, but you need to build relationships with a client for decades. This is how we work in the company. We do not hide anything from the client. If they want to see our production – the doors are open, they want to get acquainted with the regulatory or permissive documents on the basis of which we work and carry out his order – you are welcome.

– Anton, we started our conversation with the fact that the production of furniture is becoming your family business, and we will finish with the same topic. Would you like your children to continue it so that the Pervachenko furniture dynasty is finally formed?

– Of course, it would be good. But in a practical sense, it’s too early to talk about this, because the children are still very young. And in the future, I would like to inherit the company to my children, if they show a genuine interest in the production of furniture if I can make sure that they do not abandon what has become the cause and meaning of my life.

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