Diana Verkhoturova: “Even If You Have a Flawless Plan, Things Can Still Go Wrong”
Anymaster Founder and CEO on Being Agile and Fast, Cyprus as a Testing Ground, and the Daunting Challenges of Launching the Platform
Behind many business ideas and initiatives lie personal stories. One such example is the story of Diana Verkhoturova, founder and CEO of Anymaster. After relocating to Cyprus and struggling to find prompt and reliable craftsmen, she identified gaps in the on-demand service market. A few years later, after her tenure as CEO at Lumi Wallet, her next venture became crystal clear.
Anymaster is a platform offering on-demand services for households and office spaces, effectively operating as a service marketplace. The company has seen rapid growth in Cyprus and is poised to expand into Athens this year. Anymaster's unique business model involves partnerships with large DIY and furniture stores like Leroy Merlin, Superhome, and IKEA, to provide a range of customer services, including last-mile delivery, assembly, installation, and more.
In her interview with FastForward, Diana reflects on the challenges of securing initial investment and discusses the distinct challenges and opportunities Cyprus offers for entrepreneurs. At the end of the day, as Diana puts it, "entrepreneurship is an infinite game."
Anymaster was born from solving a problem I was facing when I moved to Cyprus. The on-demand service market was highly inefficient.
The on-demand service market was highly inefficient... As an entrepreneur, I resolved to address this problem head-on.
While renovating Lumi's office, I struggled to find prompt and reliable craftsmen, often facing unexpectedly high costs or lengthy wait times. As an entrepreneur, I resolved to address this problem head-on.
Running Lumi for four years imparted invaluable lessons, particularly the importance of managing resources well and to keep everything in order to keep the growth of the company.
I learnt the importance of moving fast, sometimes breaking things but always keeping the company going. Even if you have a flawless plan, things will still get wrong. Being agile and fast, it's the best approach that worked for me, especially when you run an early-stage company.
Above all, I learned that a company's greatest asset is its people. I constantly seek out individuals driven to achieve greatness, as their intrinsic motivation is essential to building something extraordinary.
Securing the initial investment proved to be one of the most daunting challenges I faced when launching Anymaster. Transitioning from an employee role, where funding wasn’t my concern, to being a founder meant shouldering a myriad of responsibilities. Balancing product development, sales, marketing, and fundraising simultaneously poses a significant challenge.
As an entrepreneur, I quickly realized the weight of accountability. Not only was I responsible for the growth of Anymaster, but I also had the commitment to my team, partners, and customers.
Reflecting on those early days, I wouldn't have approached the situation differently. The challenges and mistakes I encountered served as invaluable lessons, shaping me into a more resilient and knowledgeable entrepreneur. Each misstep contributed to my growth, equipping me for the journey ahead.
From its inception, Anymaster prioritised product excellence, aiming to alleviate real pain points for both customers and service providers. For customers, pricing transparency was a major concern, so we ensured they could easily compare multiple offers to gauge market averages.
Recognizing that many service providers struggle with marketing and business development, we aimed to support them by generating a steady stream of orders and building their public reputation through aggregated reviews.
A unique aspect of our business is our provision of software to major DIY and furniture stores like Superhome Center in Cyprus
However, a unique aspect of our business, though less visible, is our provision of software to major DIY and furniture stores like Superhome Center in Cyprus. This software facilitates after-sales services such as deliveries, furniture assembly, and installations. For example, when a customer purchases a shower cabin from Superhome,order goes through Anymaster to arrange delivery and installation by trusted professionals. This model benefits all parties involved: stores reduce operational costs and improve NPS, clients receive prompt and reliable service, and service providers enjoy a consistent flow of orders.
This model serves as our primary growth strategy, as it creates a win-win situation for all stakeholders involved.
This is a very cool story. The main lesson is do what you do best and opportunities will open up. When we at Anymaster were struggling with customer acquisition (we were spending money on ads and other promotions and not getting the results we wanted), we decided to bet on the growth of Instagram Reels. One of the videos was dedicated to Superhome.
This video [on Instagram Reels] received 120 thousand views organically and caught the attention of Superhome's marketing agency
This was not a planned PR campaign with them, we simply believed that Cyprus was interested in this content. This video received 120 thousand views organically and caught the attention of Superhome's marketing agency.
Subsequently, we met with Superhome's Director, George Giovanni, and discovered mutual enthusiasm for a partnership that could benefit all parties involved. As a startup founder, I'm immensely grateful to the Superhome team for their trust and for being early supporters of our ideas and vision. This experience reaffirms the importance of embracing innovative approaches and seizing unexpected opportunities in the entrepreneurial journey.
Cyprus, despite its small size compared to other European countries, served as an ideal testing ground for us at Anymaster, offering both advantages and disadvantages.
On the positive side, the smaller market allowed us to test hypotheses with less marketing expenditure. Additionally, Cyprus's multilingual and multicultural environment enabled us to support three languages from the outset, facilitating easy expansion into new markets with different languages.
Moreover, building our product to cater to Cyprus as a country, with its distinct cities and regions, inadvertently prepared us for scaling into larger countries. We already had systems in place for order matching, logistics, and zone-based operations, which proved invaluable for potential expansion.
However, the downside was that many investors perceived our focus solely on Cyprus as limiting our scalability and investment potential. They viewed expansion beyond Cyprus as essential for significant growth, making it challenging to secure investment solely for the Cyprus project.
Despite these challenges, Cyprus served as an invaluable testing ground and provided crucial insights that have helped shape our trajectory toward broader expansion and scalability.
Entrepreneurship is an infinite game and for now, my focus is to grow and expand Anymaster. However, all ventures have an endgame, aka as an exit.
Over the next years, we envision expanding our services to encompass over 30 European cities
Over the next years, we envision expanding our services to encompass over 30 European cities, with a strong presence in locations where international franchise brands are prominent.
Currently, there's a gap in the market for a centralised solution like Anymaster that facilitates after-sales services for large retail chains. By filling this void, we anticipate making a significant impact on the industry landscape. Our goal is to establish Anymaster as the go-to platform for consumers seeking reliable and convenient services, ultimately enhancing the customer experience for both retail partners and end-users.
Anymaster's vision involves continued growth, expansion into new markets, and solidifying our position as a key player in the service marketplace sector. We aim to deliver value not only to our customers and service providers but also to potential strategic partners seeking innovative solutions to enhance their business operations.
