Any change in the world affects the economy, and no matter what those changes are, businesses are often among the first to feel the impact. Business consultant Olena Udovytska works with major Ukrainian companies and has helped them stay balanced at least twice during periods of severe crisis: first during the COVID-19 pandemic, and later after February 2022, when Ukraine was hit by Russia’s full-scale invasion. A well-known Ukrainian business consultant, Olena Udovytska, shared with us which business management trends prove most effective in times of extreme stress for companies.
Udovytska has been working in business consulting for over ten years. This field brings out her strongest professional qualities: the ability to see the full picture from the outside, sharp analytical and strategic thinking, the capacity to think at scale, and the talent to inspire clients to take calculated risks that inevitably lead to growth.
Since 2018, Olena has firmly established herself in Ukraine as an expert in business development and has also paved her way internationally. Among her clients are major national players such as the Ukrainian drugstore chain EVA and the nationwide supermarket chain Silpo.
She collaborated with EVA for more than four years and worked with Silpo from 2019 to 2023. For at least three of those years, the company operated based on Udovytska’s anti-crisis strategy—a framework that continues to influence elements of Silpo’s operational system.
“My role is to identify weak points and ‘blind spots,’ strengthen them, and bring structure and clarity into every layer of the business—from operations to customer interaction—so everyone understands what is happening and why. Only this kind of deep, systemic approach makes it possible to maintain stability even in the most turbulent times,” Olena explains.
For Udovytska, this work is a way to fully express her strengths and potential. Influencing change, transforming businesses, making them stronger, larger, and more resilient—this is what she loves most about her profession. As she puts it: “I am genuinely inspired by turning complexity into simplicity, helping businesses grow stronger, and creating solutions that will work for years.”
This talent also caught the attention of the owners of the Georgian supermarket chain Ori Nabiji. “The company was actively scaling, and as a result, previously invisible problems started to surface—gaps in processes, management, and service quality,” the expert notes. After conducting a comprehensive audit, Olena and the company’s team developed an updated model for launching new stores. As a result, openings became fast, more structured and with fewer operational losses. In addition, employees began undergoing specialized training to ensure a smoother and more thoughtful adaptation process.
Olena Udovytska also shared the key insights she has gained throughout her career—insights that can serve as a practical guide for growing one’s own business.
The Trend Toward Digitalization
From 2018 to 2020, Udovytska worked on launching EVA’s online direction. She initiated the company’s full transition to online operations—an innovative move at the time and now an absolute necessity for any business that aims to scale successfully.
“According to internal company data, revenue grew by 19% in the first year. And in 2020, having a website, an online store, and digital loyalty programs helped EVA navigate the pandemic period with greater stability despite the restrictions,” the consultant explains.
The Trend Toward Consulting
Business consulting is one of the most in-demand areas today. Companies turn to consultants with a wide range of needs—from assessing overall performance to building growth strategies or crisis management plans.
“I specialize in comprehensive transformations of retail companies. My approach combines analytics, strategic thinking, and hands-on implementation, which gives businesses fast, measurable results,” Olena explains.
In this sense, a consultant is often compared to a doctor, diagnosing organizational challenges and recommending solutions, whether it’s preventive strengthening or addressing deeper systemic issues.
The stronger the specialist, the broader their experience and the more real cases they have worked through. Udovytska has been sharing her expertise for several years as a lecturer as well. Her portfolio includes speaking at the Ukrainian CFO Forum.
The Trend Toward Updating Operational Systems
“It’s quite simple: if the operational system is digitized, user-friendly for different departments, and designed to enhance the customer experience, the business will not only be efficient but will also develop sustainably,” Udovytska says.
For Silpo, in particular, Olena optimized operational processes, which helped reduce expenses by approximately 15% and improve margins by around 8%, according to project estimates.
The Trend Toward Strategic Thinking
A business consultant must possess strong analytical skills and be able to calculate the approximate outcomes of the changes they propose.
It is precisely this innate ability that has attracted interest from large companies in Ukraine and Europe to Udovytska. Among her most significant achievements, she highlights leading EVA into the premium segment with the launch of EVA Beauty Lab, as well as the repositioning of Silpo and the implementation of numerous advanced tools. These include a next-generation CRM system that contributed to a reported 25% improvement in demand forecasting accuracy, and the Smart Retail analytics system, which measures the efficiency of sales floors in real time.
