How it all began

For Ruslan, the start of his printing activities became the brightest and at the same time quite difficult period of his life. One day in January 2017, a friend called the entrepreneur and proposed to buy a business focused on the Ukrainian market. The friend was transitioning to Etsy, meaning he was more focused on foreign customers, and could no longer sustain both directions at a decent level.

Ruslan was inclined to refuse. The day before, he had hurt his leg and could barely move around on crutches even at home. However, two days later, he agreed — he met with his friend, they made a deal, and shook hands.

“The first month I worked alone. I handled everything: from receiving orders to printing and post-processing. It was very difficult. I ran around the table, processed the material, and then rushed to the printer to start printing. And all this on crutches! I had no experience in printing, because I was involved in a completely different business before. There were many problems. Clients were angry and dissatisfied, sometimes even resorting to insults. But, fortunately, everything started to improve afterward.”

Shop on Etsy

Ruslan started conquering Etsy practically from the day he bought the company. The first order was dated January 21. Interestingly, the same client was making purchases every two weeks. He could have bought everything in one order, especially since the sizes of the canvases were the same, but for some reason, he decided to buy in three separate units. The entrepreneur still remembers this client’s name — Cameron Pasik.

Sales began with prints applied to canvases. These paintings were created through trial and error: an image was chosen on a photo table that looked promising, then this image was printed in various versions.

“We did it without any analysis. At that time, we didn’t understand the US market at all. We simply took conditional categories: nature, cars, sports — and tried them in different colors, shapes. For the first year, we didn’t even have a dedicated designer. And we were still not very familiar with Photoshop.”

About half a year later, the first original layouts appeared. Then, there was an early version of the world map, which later turned into a quite popular product. The team began to look more carefully at what people liked, which colors they preferred. Over time, a designer was even involved, although now she physically cannot keep up with the tasks — the company has ten working shops, each with very different specifications.

“The last shop we launched this week (end of January 2023 — ed.) — and this is not a spontaneous decision like ‘I want to open it now, and then we’ll figure it out’. No, we carefully prepare for the opening: creating descriptions, banners, logos, preparing materials, cutting listings. When everything is ready, we make a decision in one day and only then open the shop.”

All the information for such a newly created site is uploaded completely within a day. As for products, they are added gradually, 10–20 items per day. Interestingly, for the team, the opening date of a shop is not when the first listings appear online, but when they reach at least 150. Usually, sales start from this number.

“Our record was six months ago — it took only four days from launch to the first order. On average, in the first month, we get three to four orders, and then the number gradually starts to grow. Previously, it developed faster. Shops proved their worth in just three to four months: they became fully functional, broke even, and started generating profit. Now, it takes up to half a year.”

Currently, Upstream works with three directions. The first — products from plywood. Clients usually choose from what is available. Rarely do they have to come up with custom orders.

The second — printing on canvas. One picture, due to the difference in aspect ratios, exists in 20 different sizes. As a result, the team has to manually create cardboard packaging for each new canvas — buying them in advance is economically unfeasible.

The last — production of photo wallpapers on three different materials: on self-adhesive film called Oracle, on wallpaper base, and on self-adhesive wallpaper.

“People are looking for wallpapers that are easy to glue. For this purpose, there are self-adhesives. You can stick them yourself, just minimally prepare the wall. No need to even invite a specialist.”

From year to year, the demand for products changes. For example, canvases sold very well before. They were sold so quickly that the team couldn’t keep up with replenishing the range. The peak of sales was at the beginning of the pandemic. Now, orders for canvases have drastically decreased. According to Ruslan, the high cost of services plays a significant role — to send an order to the States via express shipping for a canvas, you will have to pay $900 or more. However, photo wallpapers, which in rolled-up form don’t take up much space, are in trend, precisely because they are convenient for express shipping.

However, there are some inconveniences in the work. They are related to the specifics of the products, or rather, to copyright issues regarding prints. Despite the fact that Upstream develops many of its own layouts, filling the shop completely with their designs is impossible. The company still uses images from photo stocks, trying to take on general themes without images of personalities or movie characters.

In 2017, there was an incident when the company used an image of a Japanese-style tree. It turned out that the copyright belonged to a Finnish firm. Due to oversight, they had to pay 2000€. It was a crazy yet valuable lesson, after which Upstream hired its own designer and the team began exploring niche markets.

“The team is really tired of me entering rooms saying: ‘You won’t believe it, but I came up with something.’ They just run into other offices because they know there will be experiments — with paints, materials, and everything imaginable.”

Most of the expenses in Upstream are invested in experimentation. For example, instead of regular paints, the company now uses oil-wax. One liter costs about three to five thousand hryvnias. After numerous trials, the team settled on the highest quality, certified material from European countries, which Upstream has been using for the last two years.

“The quality and safety of materials are very important to us. We are planning to launch a children’s line, and unlike top Ukrainian manufacturers, we do not intend to use the cheapest paint for coloring plywood. Such carelessness is nonsensical — it’s chemistry. What if a child develops an allergy or some other reaction? With tested oil-wax, I know exactly that the child will be safe, even if they chew a piece of plywood.”

After February 24

The morning of February 24 started with calls from friends. Ruslan lives in Akademmistechko, and his windows face Irpin, Bucha, and the Hostomel airport where everything began. The primary task was to ensure his family’s safety. The team dispersed across Ukraine. Ruslan was in Ternopil region, Oleksiy in Khmelnytskyi, and Mykyta stayed in Kyiv.

All shops, both on Etsy and the Ukrainian market, stopped. But in mid-March, friends began to persuade Ruslan to gradually resume work. The final argument was a call to Western Bid.

“What surprised me was not just that they answered the phone, but that the guy who answered, with a calm voice like Aréstovich, said: ‘We are doing well. New realities, new requirements, but we are working’.”

The first shop resumed operations on March 23. Manufacturing was labor-intensive, considering the team worked separately. They started with photo wallpapers, printing even in Chernivtsi. Travel to production was required every two or three days from Ternopil region.

“The most interesting thing was that I didn’t understand where the orders were coming from. They came from Kyiv, Khmelnytskyi region. We printed them in Chernivtsi and packed directly on the floor of a removable apartment in Ternopil region. It was terrible! When I first took an order to Ukrposhta in Zalishchiky, the staff there were trembling with surprise, because the shipment was worth 10-15 thousand hryvnias.”

By summer, the team returned to Kyiv. Difficult times prompted Upstream to develop — the idea of self-adhesive wallpapers was implemented, allowing to reduce logistics costs.

“I don’t know what’s connected to, but when everything is good, we don’t develop. I even calculated that since buying the company, I’ve only had 17 months without force majeure… Only 17 months of peace, although the company exists for six years.”

Western Bid

The first year working with Western Bid was quite difficult for Ruslan due to constant rule changes, which were hard for a beginner to accept. But now, Upstream easily adapts to innovations and constantly develops together with the partner.

“We use Western Bid’s services, probably, at 80-90%.”

The most helpful and lifesaving for Ruslan is express shipping. The team tried different services (FedEx, UPS, DPD, Consolidation), but now the main one is Nova Poshta Global via Western Bid.

“What else I’d like to note: Western Bid always answers calls, always helps out. ‘We don’t know, we can’t help’ — that’s not about them. Usually, they say: ‘Give us some time, we will call you back’. If more complicated questions arise beyond their competence, they will still definitely advise where to turn. But until now, I have no example where Western Bid didn’t help us.”

Conclusion about Western Bid’s role

The experience of Upstream confirms that Western Bid is a foundation for scaling Ukrainian manufacturing:

• Reliability in chaos: A calm and confident support response in the first months of the war became an incentive for Ruslan’s entire business recovery.
• Flexible logistics: Providing access to express shipping helps offset the high cost of shipping large items (like canvases) by switching to more profitable formats (photo wallpapers).
• Partner support: Western Bid team’s willingness to support clients even on issues outside their competence makes them a full-fledged back-office for exporters.