Russian invasion in Ukraine: Running an agency during the war
On this day, a month ago, russia started a full-on invasion into Ukraine, reasoning it with blatant lies that no one believed. The war was already here, and it began in 2014 when I was just 13 years old.
Honestly, I always thought that wars were something far from us, and waking up in the middle of the night to the bombing was unexpected for me, like many Ukrainians. Yeah, there were signals of the imminent invasion, but I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
Nonetheless, here we are right now. I hope this is russian’s last attempt at meddling in our internal and external affairs. After we win, we need to distance ourselves from russia as much as we can, so our children would never know what the war looks like.
Someone once said that reading about historical events is cool, living through them — not so much.
How we prepared
We didn’t have an “emergency plan” per se. A couple of weeks before the invasion began, I gathered the team for a meeting and said that if someone needed help transferring themselves or family members, Merge would provide all available resources. Also, just a week before the invasion, we informed our clients that we committed to continue working no matter what.
I’m still not sure whether we could do better in this case. It’s not that you expect a full-scale war in the middle of Europe in the 21st century, but here we are. Looking back at it, maybe we could have done something different, such as transferring some of the team members to Europe before the invasion. Nevertheless, I’m glad that everyone is safe, and we are working almost at full capacity now.
We were always a fully remote team, so we didn’t change much in the working process. We were shocked during the first week, and the uncertainty was immense. So, we took a short pause to understand what to do next. Then we decided that those who can move to Europe should probably do so, the rest should move to safer places if they wish. In one week, we could get back to work, only a few team members cannot fully commit right now, and that’s fine. The safety and well-being of our team members always come first.
God bless our team was evenly spread across Ukraine, with the majority of members in Kyiv and one member in Kharkiv. Kyiv is pretty safe for now, but just in case, some of the team members did evacuate to safer regions. Kharkiv had it rough, but our designer Alyona and her family are safe now.
How we support each other and our country
I decided to fully support the Ukrainian army after the first hours of the invasion. I understand that as long as russian troops are walking on our homeland’s soil, we won’t be able to work and live as we did before. That’s why I decided that we will donate all the profit we make starting from February to the Comebackalive fund. Also, every team member can select a fund to which we’ll transfer $1,000 on their Birthday. This isn’t much compared to what other companies are doing, but we are doing our best to support our armed forces to repel the attack and get back to their families soon.
As for the team support, we also provide everyone with free therapy sessions, so they can talk to someone when they need help. We didn’t fire anyone and will continue to do everything possible to pay salaries in time. I feel like it’s my responsibility to keep everyone secure about their future.
On top of everything, we also try to hire people who lost their job because of war. I think it’s the right thing to do now.
How our clients reacted
I would also highlight our clients. They are the best. First of all, no one has dropped us. Second, we got and still receive support from them every day. I always said that to be successful in the service business, one needs to build relationships with your clients. Not only get the job done (though it always comes first) but also be reliable and dedicated.
I’m using this chance to thank everyone who has been working with us, stayed with us despite uncertainty, and introduced us to new people and new opportunities. We, as a team, will do our best to make every partner happy with the result.
What else we are planning to do
And last but not least. In one of my previous posts, I mentioned Merge Academy, where anyone can learn to become a designer or web developer.
Merge Academy — is a new project by Merge and the best place to study how to code and design things.
My vision is to create a place that will focus on students and their knowledge, rather than a conveyor that produces undergraduates. The quality was my focus when creating Merge Development and it will be the same for the Academy as well. Stay tuned for more updates.
We didn’t scrap the plans to launch the Academy this year. We are working hard to launch it soon, as we understand the need of Ukrainians to master new skills and professions during these challenging times.
That’s why the price for the entire course will be only $50 instead of $1,500. And even that money will be donated.
We won’t be making money from the Academy any time soon. But to share the knowledge and expertise is another good thing the Merge team can do to support our homeland.
These are tough times for every Ukrainian. My heart is with those struggling in Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernigiv, and especially Mariupol, among other cities under constant shelling. But we need to stay strong, support each other, and do our best so we can win. We don’t have a choice: it’s either we win or will be subdued by the nazi regime of putin.
As long as the war goes on, I’m not thinking about goals and growth. As a CEO right now, the main priority for me is to keep everyone secure and help other businesses and our army.
Glory to Ukraine! We will prevail!
P.S. Just in case. Please read this article or use this guide with local tips to support Ukraine from abroad. There are countless ways to be helpful without spending a penny (or cent). I’m speaking on behalf of my great nation to say that we appreciate any help from you, and we will never forget it.
