Assessment of business digital readiness: how entrepreneurs can survive and grow in 2025. Olga Shykalo's lecture for the Brave 3 program and OKTOWN's role in the digital transformation of Ukrainian businesses in Spain

In a world where tourism, local services, and online presence are growing in competition by the hour, digital maturity is no longer just a check mark in corporate strategy. It has become a critical survival factor. Especially in Europe, where the pace of technological change creates new pressure on entrepreneurs.
This is what Olga Shikalo, a marketing strategist, brand expert and manager with more than seven years of experience in B2B and B2C segments (IT, FinTech, EdTech, wellness), whose clients included Google, Dell, Intel and SAP, discussed during her lecture for the participants of the Courageous 3 program. Her presentation "Assessing Digital Readiness and Diagnosing the Current State" was one of the most insightful events in the digital transformation module, and today this material is becoming part of the content platform of OKTOWN.es, a Ukrainian travel marketplace and SaaS solution for businesses in Spain, a startup that is also a participant of the Vidvazhna program(https://vidvazhna.org).

Olha is a co-owner of the ecological brand RAYANA, a partner and marketing manager at DUOTET agency, and a mentor for PRJCTR, Google IVO, and other educational products. She embodies a new generation of Ukrainian specialists who think in terms of data, efficiency, and value for the client. And it was this approach that was felt throughout her lecture: digital transformation is not about technology. It is a strategy.

"You can't transform what you don't understand" - this thesis opened the lecture and set the tone for the entire discussion. After all, before implementing CRM, ERP, AI, or chatbots, it is necessary to diagnose processes and determine the real level of digital maturity of the company. This, according to Shikalo, is the starting point for businesses seeking to reach a new level in the service, hospitality, or tourism industries - especially in regions such as Spain, where innovation has long ceased to be a trend and has become the norm.

In her presentation

Olga explained in detail how to determine the digital maturity of a business. She described five levels of digital maturity: from the initial one with minimal automation to the innovative one, where companies work with AI, big data, and automated scenarios. According to her, the vast majority of small businesses, especially in the service sector, are at levels 1-2, using individual tools chaotically, without integration and without consistency. At the same time, the market is moving towards level 4-5, where data influences daily management decisions.

Olga called the case of Nova Poshta one of the key examples of digital transformation. Back in 2015, the company conducted an in-depth diagnosis of customer experience and identified customer headaches such as queues at branches and non-transparent tracking. Through customer journey mapping, process audit, and analysis of customer interaction with the service, a solution was found: a mobile app, automated deliveries, chatbots, and a new logistics model. A small diagnostic is a huge breakthrough in the service. This is a classic example of how data and a proper assessment of digital readiness can transform an entire industry.

It is this logic that Shikalo recommends implementing for every business, regardless of size. She identifies four diagnostic methods: interviews with the team and analysis of how employees actually use digital tools; process audit and business process mapping; Customer Journey Mapping, which allows you to see the bottlenecks in the customer journey; and benchmark - comparison with similar companies. Benchmark, in her opinion, is the most honest mirror of the market: the example of Monobank shows how comparing the speed of service with traditional banks made them leaders faster than many competitors.

But despite all the power of digital tools, Olga emphasizes a typical mistake that thousands of companies repeat: implementing technologies "because they were advised" without a strategic need. AI, chatbots, and ERP may seem like modern solutions, but without being tied to a real problem, they only increase costs without bringing any effect.

This is the very path that OKTOWN, a travel services startup based in Valencia, is trying to avoid by helping Ukrainian businesses in Spain become digitally mature. OKTOWN works with exactly the levels of maturity that Olga mentioned: automated applications, SEO-optimized pages, multilingualism, basic analytics, lead tracking on WhatsApp, digital packages for promotion. It's not just a marketplace - it's a tool for businesses to move from level 1-2 to level 3-4, giving them what most local services in Spain lack: a structured digital infrastructure.

OKTOWN's participation in the Brave 3 program is a natural step. The program(https://vidvazhna.org) prepares women entrepreneurs to work in modern economic realities: from digitalization to financial literacy, business management, and strategic thinking. And Olga Shykalo's lecture is one of the key modules that helps to form the basis for the technological development of small businesses in the European space.

Today, when digitalization determines the pace of business faster than any external factors, entrepreneurs who do not conduct digital diagnostics find themselves in a situation where every day means a loss of opportunities. And those who consciously integrate technology gain a competitive advantage that not only increases profits but also builds brand reputation for years to come.

Lectures like Shikalo's are not just educational material; they set the direction for the development of a new generation of entrepreneurs who know how to think strategically, analyze, compare, and act on data. This is the reality that OKTOWN is part of, helping Ukrainian businesses in Europe adapt to new standards, become digitally strong, and gain more customers in the travel sector.

Digital readiness is no longer a matter of the future. It is a matter of the present. And it is trainings such as Olga Shykalo's lecture that make the transition to this present conscious and structured.