AMA: Alex Tomchenko, founder of Glambook

Alex Tomchenko is the founder of Glambook, an online platform for beauty and wellness experts that offers their clients a seamless booking experience.

Hi Alex! Tell us a bit about your company.

Glambook is a new SaaS platform for independent beauty industry professionals and their clients, designed to create a seamless digital booking experience.

In addition to connecting clients looking for a broad range of beauty services, we also offer opportunities to start and grow businesses for independent beauty industry professionals through easy-to-use built-in tools and micro marketing efforts.

How did the idea for Glambook come about?

Since 2008, I’ve been growing my digital marketing expertise and my wife (and now also my business partner) Anastasia, has been developing as an independent beauty industry professional.

I’ve been supporting her throughout her journey and was privy to the needs that she had and the challenges that she was growing through in the beauty space.

At one point, I realised that she wasn’t the only one experiencing those challenges – it was an industry-wide issue and many other beauty services professionals were going through the same experience and had similar needs.

We started to think about a product that would help her tackle these issues and that would eventually help other independent beauty service professionals.

Together, we had the right expertise from both the beauty industry and the digital sides, and we had a clear vision of what beauty professionals may need to succeed and how to promote it.

Fantastic. How do you keep your team aligned?

We have daily meetings and weekly status updates to share excitement about our accomplishments and do long-term planning.

When the entire team sees the results of our work and how it impacts thousands of beauty professionals through their messages and positive feedback, it becomes the best motivation to move forward and reach new heights.

Do you have a share or option scheme in place for your team? 

Yes, we offer options to the team, and they know that in addition to their salary they will also be able to get something extra in the future. This serves as a source of motivation.

I believe that it helps everyone to do their best work and think about how they can improve the products and bring more value to our users.

Couldn't agree more. Can you share any practical tips or processes to help people work remotely?

While I believe that you need to separate your work and life, it’s easier said than done. So, I prefer to choose a time when I have maximum levels of concentration and use it to tackle as many tasks as possible.

The rule of thumb is to find a block of time without any distractions and be prepared to work hard.

Another tip – do the most unpleasant or challenging work early in the day. That will make the remainder of your day flow more easily and worry-free.

What is the biggest mistake you’ve made as an entrepreneur?

While I’ve been a business owner of a digital marketing agency for more than 12 years, I’ve been spending my time and resources on growing others’ products.

It took me a while to start thinking of building my own product. You need to be good about prioritising, including long-term planning.

So, if you were going to invest in a startup business and you could only give one piece of advice to the team running that company, what would it be?

Start selling your product as early as possible, regardless of your development stage.

What’s your morning routine?

I wake up at 7:00 am and after a nutritious breakfast, I start checking my inbox and messages. We meet with the team at 9:00 am to help us align on priorities and set up the tone for the day.

Before lunch, I’m focused on monitoring our results and growth and take a few more business meetings. After lunch, I spend time mapping out business goals and tasks, aligning on workflow and hosting additional meetings.

Towards the end of the day, I look at our daily progress and that helps me identify our goals and tasks for the next day. I go to bed at 11:30 pm.

Clear and consistent. What’s your favourite band or musician?

I’m a fan of a band called Little Big. They do incredible things that question the status quo and break stereotypes. From the classics, I enjoy Scorpions and Muse.

And finally, favourite film?

The Wolf of Wall Street and Inception. 

Two great films, it's hard to choose a favourite! Thanks so much for your time Alex.