54M UAH Revenue Driven By Love for Children and Financial Precision: The Inspiring Story of ThinkGlobal Private School

Yana Moskovchenko is the head of the ThinkGlobal private school (Petropavlivska Borshchahivka) and the KUKU Kids kindergarten. Her business journey didn't begin with a business plan, but with a mother’s desire to find a place for her daughter where she wouldn't be "broken" by the rigid frameworks of the state system. Today, Yana manages a business with an annual revenue of 54 million UAH (≈ $1 272 770), organizes GLOBAL FRIENDS family camps worldwide, and knows the exact profitability of each project thanks to Finmap.

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We talked with Yana about the "Titanic" of state education, managing a business during the war, and why a well-structured financial tracking system is the best stress prevention for a business owner. Below is Yana’s story in her own words.

From Civil Servant to Entrepreneur

Since childhood, I dreamed of working with children. However, my father had his own plans: “Yana, what, are you going to be a pediatrician? Or a kindergarten teacher wiping kids' noses? An accountant — now that’s the best profession in the world.” I received my degree in Finance and Auditing, showed it to my dad, and never worked a single day in that field.

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I worked in the Department of Land Resources. But with the birth of my daughter, I realized I didn't want to return to civil service after maternity leave. I loved focusing on her development so much that I started diving deep into the topic, retrained, and began leading classes. In 2011, this evolved into my first early development center in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka — simply because I had nowhere to take my own child. As my daughter grew, I wanted to develop further, so I bought a kindergarten franchise.

“I borrowed $10,000 from acquaintances and bought the franchise for the 'Kuzya' children's early development center. At that time, it was an astronomical amount for our family. But I simply believed in the idea. And because of that, we never worked a single day at a loss.”

Breaking Stereotypes in State Schools

When my daughter started first grade at a state school, it was a total culture shock. After a private kindergarten, the child felt "suffocated" by the systemic rules. She didn't understand why she had to do things that made no sense or why she wasn't allowed to make mistakes. It was then, in 2017, that I bought the ThinkGlobal franchise.

“I was buying 'air.' Just an idea that I believed in deeply. Now it’s a large franchise with many schools in different cities. But back then, I was among the pioneers. What I learned in that first year was a quantum leap in business building and my personal growth. I never regretted starting with a franchise — it helped me avoid many mistakes.”

Team, Management Style, and the "Hugging Method"

I have 26 employees in the school and 7 in the kindergarten. When picking people for the team, besides evaluating hard skills, I have one secret method. I ask myself: “Do I want to hug this person?” If the answer is yes, they are our teacher. School is about the soul and the atmosphere; people spend the whole day here, so it’s like a second family. Atmosphere is especially important for Gen Z — it has to be high-energy, or they won't work. And I need exactly those energetic people.

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Regarding management style, I am soft and democratic. Sometimes even too much, so I’m currently working on learning how to say "no." I am very loyal and value relationships — perhaps the friendly vibe in the team is more important to me than purely professional metrics.

We are a "School of Meanings"

We explain why every subject is necessary. We teach adaptability because professions are disappearing fast. Our lessons are modern: neural networks, rhetoric, business, journalism. My mission is for senior students to understand what they want, rather than just getting a diploma.

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For me, success is when a graduate of my school comes back in 10 years and says: “Yana, thank you for not breaking me in school, but for teaching me to believe in myself.” And all while my business is stable, profitable, and gives me the opportunity to travel and enjoy life.

The core is emotional intelligence and communication 

Psychology is mandatory for us. It’s not science from a textbook, but practice: how to communicate using "I-messages," how to talk about fears, and how to set boundaries (“Stop, this is unpleasant for me”). We teach conflict resolution—solving problems through "words from the mouth."

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Students, when they see me, shout: “Yana!” and hang on me like grapes; they might even pull me down to the floor because we are in such warm and friendly relationships. I always have something nice to say: “what a wonderful bow you have,” “what a lovely sweater,” “I was told how cool your answer was in class, well done!” I love children, and they feel it.

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The Education Market: "A Small Boat Next to the Titanic"

State education is a massive "Titanic" that is hard to turn around quickly. A culture of fear regarding mistakes still dominates there. A child must get a perfect score the first time, or it's a disgrace. Our children are free. When a child comes from a state school, we "take them out of their shell," showing them that it is safe to make mistakes. If it weren't for Ministry of Education standards, I would abolish grades entirely until the 8th grade.

I see opportunities everywhere 

War, as strange as it sounds, provided quite a few. Blackouts caused an influx of children to us. State schools are machines that are difficult to heat or provide with light. In our case, it’s always warm, there’s internet, and we feed everyone. We became "Points of Invincibility" for our parents.

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The private education market will grow until the state can provide a high-quality level for free. The children currently studying in private institutions or abroad who return will be the elite that shapes the country.

Advice for Entrepreneurs and Those Starting an Educational Business

1. Do not be afraid. The demand for high-quality education in Ukraine is huge.
2. Search for meaning. If you go into education only for the money, you will burn out quickly. You have to love children and be on fire for the mission.
3. Calculate the financial model "on the shore" (before starting). Don't open a business blindly.

On Finance and Moving Away from Intuitive Management

At one point at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, I even thought about selling the school due to instability. But I realized that selling a business with just an "Excel sheet" was unprofessional. I heard about Finmap at a conference, implemented it, saw the real numbers, and said: “Wow, I’m earning this much! Why would I sell this?”

“Right now, I have a revenue of about 54 million UAH per year. The profitability for the schools is approximately 46%, and for the kindergarten, it's lower — around 14%. I know all this because I was preparing for the interview. It took two minutes: I just opened the Finmap app and checked everything,” Yana laughs

Life Before Finmap

Before this, everything was in Excel, and it was terrible. There were journals, everything was written by hand: how much we received, how much we spent, then we would try to reconcile these records, and they wouldn't match. Until I visited a location or called, I didn't know how much money was actually in the cash register. I had to constantly monitor it and keep it in my head: where did we forget to record something? Why is there a shortage? Why doesn't it match Excel? It was a nightmare. I don't even want to remember it.

Finance Now

Finmap helped me automate everything. When forming the tuition fees for the next year, I rely on data regarding rent in foreign currency, salaries, and expenses. It’s even a psychological factor: when I look at the numbers, I know for sure: I can pay the rent, I can maintain the school, there’s enough to pay salaries — everything is fine!

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I have two school locations and a kindergarten. Each has administrators with their own cash registers. They have access to Finmap and categorize payments "on the shelves." I can see the balances in every register at any moment. Separately, I manage the "Camps" project. This allows me to see how much money can be allocated to advertising and how much is net profit. It’s like building towers from blocks: I can see where I took a piece from and where it needs to go back.

“I used to do a lot of things with my own hands, spending my life's resources on it. The money I now pay for Finmap is nothing compared to the work I was forced to do before. It is a very profitable investment.”

Implementing Finmap: From Team Resistance to “How Did We Live Before?”

Generally, everything new is accepted by the team through resistance, by proving its value to them. Sometimes it just needs to be "pushed through." Naturally, everyone wants to work as before and change nothing. I said: “Listen, you don't want to ride horses or wash clothes by hand, do you? We are installing a 'dishwasher' for finances so that it’s done for you.”

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But there was great support from the Finmap team. First, I figured it out myself, and then Finmap organized an online meeting for my employees. They explained everything, and the team realized: “Aha, this isn't hard at all.” After a month, they were already telling me: “Yana, this is great! How did we live before?” The administration got rid of a massive chunk of work. And now I feel freedom: I can be in another city, open my phone, and see the real state of affairs.

“From a financial tracking perspective, Finmap is the best option for me. I am truly a big fan of the service. It frees up time for yourself: for love, for growth, for the opportunity to taste this universe.”

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Experience financial peace of mind today!

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