The development of a training system almost always starts with standardization – a critical component of business scaling.
For manufacturing, this is usually not a problem. Service businesses, however, especially in the beauty industry, require a very different approach. Manicure is both a product and a service. There is no identical “raw material” here – each client presents unique physical characteristics, habits, and expectations. Clients come not only for the result, but also for the relationship with the master. The masters themselves often see themselves as creative individuals rather than executors of a standardized process. This is why it may seem that large-scale unification would inevitably kill the liveliness of the service and staff motivation.
In reality, the task is not to make the service identical, but to make it predictable. The key step was clearly separating what should be standardized from what should not. It is neither possible nor necessary to standardize a master’s personality, communication style, intonation, small improvisations, or aesthetic decisions. At the same time, the aspects for which the brand itself is responsible – technology, hygiene and safety, quality boundaries, and the communication framework – must be strictly standardized.
From this, we arrived at several core conclusions. Creativity, talent, and an individual approach do not scale, but they can exist freely within certain boundaries. These boundaries – and everything beyond them – are fully subject to standardization. They do not limit the master; they protect them. They remove personal responsibility for systemic failures, set clear expectations for clients, and reduce conflict and burnout.
This shift in thinking made it possible to move toward building a training system for all employees – more than 3,000 people at the time, operating under conditions of high staff turnover as a structural characteristic of the nail service market. We deliberately chose a modular learning system, as it is the only format capable of maintaining quality while being updated quickly, without relying on the availability of trainers. When knowledge is broken down into modules, it can be delivered to thousands of people at scale while remaining individualized, without being tied to specific dates. Updating standards affects only a single part of the training rather than the entire program, which automatically results in faster implementation.
Such a system becomes self-reproducing while continuously improving through a cycle:
training – work – QA – standard correction – training updates.
As a result, QA is used not as a punitive tool, but as part of a feedback loop and a mechanism for improving the modules themselves. It is a control mechanism that evolved from monitoring people into caring for the system in which they work.
Automation removed manual control wherever it did not add value and covered everything that does not require human judgment: tracking module completion, basic checks, deviation signals, and standard updates. This made it possible to manage scale without losing attention to detail.
At a certain point, it became clear that we were no longer simply training staff. We were designing an operational system as a product – with its own logic, interfaces, and improvement cycles. When a company’s operating system becomes a product, capability building stops being a cost. It becomes – rather than individual star performers – the engine of the network. This is how we built an organization in which growth in headcount did not threaten quality, but instead made it more stable.
ALEXEY VOLVAK
Architect of Scalable Consumer, Platform & Multi-Location Businesses
1. PROFILE
Name: Alexey Volvak
Role: Founder, Co-Founder, Managing Director
Positioning: Architect of scalable consumer, platform, and multi-location businesses
Geography: USA,Russia, Europe, Southeast Asia.
Experience: 15+ years
Summary:
Alexey Volvak is a founder-operator who pioneers new business formats, designs scalable operating systems, and grows companies from zero to multi-million annual revenue, consistently achieving market leadership in highly competitive consumer industries. Product creation and product feet is a main point – Scale up.
2. MISSION & VALUE PROPOSITION
Mission
To create a product with high viral factor ( viral potential ) architect scalable business systems that grow faster than the market while remaining operationally efficient at scale.
Unique Value Proposition
- Builds and operates — not a consultant
- Works from unit economics → processes → scale
- Creates models that:
- are introduced to the market for the first time
- scale systematically
- are later replicated by competitors
3. FIELD OF EXPERTISE
- Scaling multi-location operations (90+ locations)
- New venture creation & hypergrowth launches
- Business architecture & process engineering
- Digital systems (ERP, CRM, proprietary technologies)
- Market expansion & strategic leadership
- Customer experience & hospitality systems
4. PROJECT PORTFOLIO (FACTS & REVENUE)
LENA LENINA NAILS (Beauty)
Link: https://llmanikur.ru/
- Role: Founder & Managing Director
- Scale: 110+ corporate + 50+ franchise locations
- Workforce: 3,000+ technicians
- Status: #1 nail chain in Europe
- Annual network revenue: $70–90M
- Innovations: mall-based nail islands, modular training system, automated nationwide operations
CHIKO (Korean Food)
Link: https://www.instagram.com/chicko_russia?igsh=dnNqYW5ibDA5cnhq
- Role: Co-Founder & Managing Director
- Scale: 40+ restaurants
- Growth: Revenue x41 during hypergrowth phase
- Annual revenue: $45–60M
- Status: #1 Korean food chain in Russia
- Innovation: 2-week menu launch cycle synchronized with K-pop and K-dramas
ATMOS (Wellness)
Link: https://www.instagram.com/atmos_bali/
- Role: Co-Founder
- Locations: Bali, California, Portugal
- Traffic: 150+ guests per day per location
- Revenue: $3–5M per location annually
- Innovation: communal steam experience (new wellness category)
SPIN4SPIN (Luxury Resale)
Links: https://spin4spin.com/
https://www.instagram.com/spin4spin/
- Role: Business Architect
- Position: Top-2 resale platform
- Inventory: 3,000+ items
- Annual GMV: $8–12M
- Innovation: same-day authentication and rental-before-sale model
WEPLAY MUSIC (Creative Platform)
Link: https://www.instagram.com/weplaymusicrooms/
- Role: Co-Founder
- Scale: 20+ studios
- Utilization: 90%+ occupancy
- Annual revenue: $6–9M
- Innovation: platform-based model replacing traditional music schools
AIRHD (Media Technology)
Link: http://airhd.tv/
- Role: Founder
- Technology: 4K live streaming over 3G/4G without satellite infrastructure
- Cost reduction: –70% per broadcast
- Outcome: technology acquired by a media company
- Deal value: $3–5M
5. ACHIEVEMENTS
- 6 businesses built and scaled
- 6 active market leaders
- 1 technology exit, 1 successful merger
- 1,500+ employees managed
- 90+ physical locations operated
- $140–180M+ cumulative annual revenue across portfolio companies
- Repeated performance impact:
- 41x revenue growth (CHIKO)
- 2–3x unit lifetime value (Spin4Spin)
- Up to 30% operating cost reduction via system redesign
6. MEDIA & RECOGNITION
Forbes.ru
- CHIKO growth and “Squid Game” effect
- Korean food as a global consumer trend
RBC
- A regional news article covering recent business developments in Tyumen.
Link: https://t.rbc.ru/tyumen/10/06/2023/648044159a7947509d495014
- Expert commentary on scaling, franchising, and operating models
7. CONTACT
E-mail: alexey.volvak@gmail.com