How to bring your business to the US market: Anzy Home case study with support from AmCham Ukraine and WMarketplace

How do you bring your business to the US market? To solve recurring problems and solve frequent tasks in modern society, it is customary to seek support from each other and join forces. An example of such associations are business organizations, which in Ukraine deal with a whole range of issues - from personal support for female entrepreneurs, to advocacy for sectoral and industry changes and lobbying for business interests.

So, where to start looking for a sure path to entering the US market, so desirable for many,

we asked the team of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine. It is this organization that helps establish and develop business relations between Ukraine and the USA. 

We asked for an effective and successful example of assistance in the development of trade relations. The AmCham Ukraine team spoke about current initiatives aimed at supporting women's economic leadership, and also shared a case of the acceleration of the Anzy Home brand in the WMarketpalce pilot program, which develops businesses founded by women.

Thanks to this initiative, Anzy Home was able to increase sales and open a new direction for business development.

"Involving women is critically important to supporting Ukraine’s recovery efforts, given their prospects and opportunities to strengthen their economy and society. That is why it is important to provide all available resources to empower them. The goal of the Chamber and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s collaboration was to provide Ukrainian women entrepreneurs and women leaders of Chamber member companies with the necessary resources and opportunities to grow their businesses. Investing in women’s economic empowerment is investing in Ukraine’s future. In addition, the Chamber is committed to supporting the next generation of strong women leaders.”

- Tetyana Prokopchuk, 

Vice President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Chamber, together with the US Department of Commerce, launched a series of webinars " Empowering Ukrainian Women Entrepreneurs through Trade " and, together with the American Accelerator platform WMarketplace , which specializes in the development of women's entrepreneurship, joined forces to develop a Practical Business Development Program.

“In the spring of 2022, I had the honor of participating in a series of webinars organized by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Empower Her program. This initiative brought together a group of passionate speakers who were united by a desire to support women entrepreneurs in Ukraine. This event had a profound impact on me, inspiring me to turn promises of support into real results for these resilient businesswomen.

After all, online sales are the fastest growing sales channel in the world, and this is an incredible opportunity for women in Ukraine to maintain their current business or grow their business. I have developed a program that will use the WMarketplace E-Commerce Accelerator and the pledged capital to provide tangible support to Ukrainian women entrepreneurs. The program provides not only technical support and training, but also access to essential tools such as artificial intelligence, mentorship, and, importantly, the capital needed to scale the business.”

- Kate Isler, CEO of TheWMarketplace

Thanks to sponsors and program partners, brought in by the American Chamber of Commerce, Ukrainian women's business Anzy Home was selected to launch this initiative. Following the successful results of the program, five more Ukrainian businesses were supported.

After participating in the accelerator, Anzy Home developed sales and hired two new employees. The company also opened a new direction and added a B2B business model by launching the  TradewithUA project .

“Anzy Home was selected as the first female-owned business from Ukraine in the pilot launch of the Practical Business Development Program. As a business owner and CEO, I and our marketing director Olena Gorchakova went through a 4-week accelerator program, received a free annual membership to WMarketplace and support in developing a comprehensive marketing plan to support sales in the US.This participation and the information provided was very interesting for us, because 85% of our sales were B2C sales to the US. We started selling our products online on foreign marketplaces back in 2018, but previously our promotion was based only on our own knowledge, studying the market and target audience using all possible online means. But participating in the accelerator opened new doors for us. The information provided from an American perspective, insights into how the US e-commerce market works, and how the target audience thinks, helped us better understand and adjust our marketing.

The opportunity to ask questions during the sessions and get feedback from the trainers on our specific problems was very important. We received a lot of useful information and are now effectively implementing it in our marketing activities.

We have participated in numerous trainings, webinars, and courses in Ukraine. But none of them offered as much specific, concrete, and targeted information that met our needs as the WMarketplace accelerator.

After the accelerator, our sales in the US increased by about 15% and are still growing. Another important point of support for us was the direct financial assistance we received as part of the accelerator thanks to the involvement of commercial partners. We used this money to travel to New York to study the market even better and visit home decor exhibitions. This trip was very useful and gave impetus to a new direction of development for Anzy Home - towards the B2B US market. Together with our partners, we created the TradewithUA project - an alliance of craft manufacturers of home decor in Ukraine, the goal of which is to jointly promote products for export. Thanks to the connections established during the trip to New York, in August

In 2024, we organized a collective Ukraine Designs stand at the largest decor and accessories exhibition in New York, Shoppe Object, where 6 Ukrainian brands were presented, including Anzy Home.

Ukrainian brands were presented at this exhibition for the first time, so we can say that the impact after participating in the accelerator is very long-term, and applies not only to Anzy Home, but also to other Ukrainian enterprises, most of which are women-owned businesses."

- Anna Zmievska, Founder and CEO of Anzy Home

Read the original article on Marie Claire