Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Dmitry Mikhaylov, owner of Paranoia Quest, LLC., located in Atlanta, GA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Paranoia Quest is an escape room. Not an ordinary escape room where you simply have to escape from the small room filled with regular boxes and locks. Paranoia Quest is the next generation of escape rooms. Each escape consists of a multi-room experience filled with unique props and custom-made puzzles.

Tell us about yourself

My Name is Dmitry Mikhaylov, and I am the owner of Paranoia Quest. Before opening PQ, I was a real estate professional. In 2014, I went to NY to the real estate conference. And while there, during my spare time, I visited an escape room. I liked it so much that I decided to open one in Atlanta. We opened the first location in downtown Atlanta in 2015 and then the second location in Buford, GA, in 2018.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My biggest accomplishment is creating new businesses from the ground up and building a team that can run them successfully without me. Right now, I own two Escape rooms. Two Axe Throwing venues and two Spin Art Studios. With more locations to come soon.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Finding good people to work for me. Especially right now, because of COVID-19, it was becoming more and more challenging. And it's not always about price. I am always paying competitive salaries, but it's finding good, hardworking, dedicated people.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

The best is to start a new type of business that doesn't exist. So you won't have competition. Create a new niche. Or if it exists somewhere but not in your area, that's ok too. More competition equals harder to do business. And when I am talking about new business, I am not talking about opening a Mexican restaurant on the plaza where ten other restaurants are located just because there is no Mexican restaurant. I am talking about doing something radically new. If you open your first business plan, spend at least twice more vs. what you think it will cost. Have some extra money available. Don't listen to anyone who has never opened a new business before. They are wrong.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Check out our new business Spin Art Studio www.spinartnation.com

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.paranoiaquest.com/atlanta
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dimitry.5016

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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